(ABC 6 News) — It was almost 25 years ago when a 911 call was placed, directing the Mason City Police Department to the corner of State Street and Madison Avenue.

There, police would find 50-year-old Gerald Best laying on the floor of his apartment. The man, who was deployed to serve in Vietnam before his 18th birthday, was now dead.

Best’s throat had been slashed, and police would leave the scene with a folding knife, pocket watch, and a section of carpet marked with a bloody boot print.

Later, while Best was laid out on an autopsy table, hair was discovered in each of his hands.

Now 25 years later, the question remains, who killed the father of four children?

“I do want answers and I want things to come to light, said Lyndie Best, Gerald’s granddaughter. “Even if everyone were dead, I would still want to the truth to be known like they did that. They did that. They took him away from us.”

Mason City police now say they would need someone to come forward with new evidence, or they would need to stumble across new evidence to move forward on the case.

However, with recent developments in other cold cases, and the new cold case unit established in Iowa, both police and Gerald’s family hope that there will be a break in the case.

“We’re always hoping that someone would come forward or present something new to us, but at this point, nothing to my knowledge has come forward or no one has come forward. Nothing new has been presented to us so right now it just remains unsolved,” said CID Lt. Brett Hollander of MCPD.

If you have any information as to who murdered Best, you can reach out to Lt. Hollander of MCPD at 641-421-3644.

Next Monday, December 30, will mark exactly 25 years since Best’s death.