Cal Ripken Jr. just raised the stakes in hopes of finding the criminal who abducted his mother Vi Ripken a little more than a year ago. The former Orioles star is now offering a $100,000 reward for any information regarding his mother's kidnapper.

Vi Ripken was abducted from her own home, held at gunpoint July 24^th and returned 24 hours later, unharmed. Cal hopes the reward will breathe new life into the investigation.

"I think in some ways maybe this should've happened earlier," Ripken said of the belated reward. "I think in the beginning ... we were all hopeful that (an arrest) would happen pretty quickly, and we were all encouraged. But, you know, it is what it is."

Though the Aberdeen Police department has received many tips since re-issuing the press statement, no new videos or photographs have proven substantial enough to identify the perpetrator.

Issued days after the abduction, Ripken initially offered a reward of $2,000.

Regardless, Vi Ripken isn't backing down from fear, though she admits sometime's being in public is a fine line to walk.

"I didn't want to go and hide," Ripken said at Aberdeen IronBirds' stadium. "I felt like if I keep away from things, it's not going to be very fun for me. I just had to face it."

Anyone with information regarding the case should call the America's Most Wanted hotline at 1-800-CRIME-TV or go straight to the FBO [410-265-8080].