Alexandria police said they have no suspects in the case. Last week, they launched a Web site, http://www.alexandriava.gov/dunning , to encourage people with tips to come forward, anonymously if they wish. Police say the investigation remains a top priority.

"We do not consider this case a cold investigation," Alexandria Police Chief Charles E. Samarra said in a statement. "We still believe that Nancy was targeted and that her murder could be connected to an event or relationship in her recent past."

The billboard was first put up Dec. 5 on Commonwealth Avenue, across the street from Mount Vernon Elementary School, not far from the crime scene. It was moved Saturday, in part because the message had upset some schoolchildren, according to organizers.

Dunning's son, Chris Dunning, said that plans to erect the sign, as well as a vigil organized by a committee offering a $100,000 reward, took the family by surprise.

Dunning said that his father, outgoing Alexandria sheriff James H. Dunning, and his sister, Liz Dunning, were notified about the event just days before it occurred. Neither James nor Liz Dunning, who lives out of the state, attended, but Nancy Dunning's sister, Patty Moran, spoke at the Dec. 5 vigil.

Chris Dunning called the billboard a well-meaning gesture but criticized it as an ineffective method to solve the murder and said it is a painful reminder for family members. Chris Dunning and his father found his mother's body in the entryway of the family's home after she failed to show up for a scheduled lunch.

"There's no one who's going to drive by [the sign] and have an epiphany and say something" to police, Chris Dunning said. "I'm all for things that will really help the investigation, but I don't need to drive by a huge sign with my mother's picture on it every day on my way to the office."

Members of the reward committee said they have no plans to stop publicizing the case. They said they plan to increase their efforts by distributing smaller signs throughout the city early next year, and they might approach television shows such as "America's Most Wanted" to help get out the word.

"For the past two years, we've tried to be very careful," said Gayle Reuter, a member of committee. "We've held back on doing things because we wanted to be sensitive. But the bottom line is the word we're getting from the police is that they believe very strongly that someone in our community knows something that they're not aware they know or haven't felt comfortable coming forward. So if we don't do something, if we don't put this back in the public eye, then nothing will ever happen. We couldn't do that to Nancy."

Police investigating Dunning's murder have said they believe that she was targeted by someone she knew. Federal prosecutors have joined the investigation, pursuing the theory that someone might have been recruited to kill her.

In January 2004, police sought the public's help to identify a man captured on tape by security cameras at a Target store where Dunning, 56, was shopping the day she was killed. That never yielded a solid lead.

Chris Dunning said he plans to get more involved in the reward committee, adding that he is "tired of watching things being done without our input."

"We had our own private plans to meet," Dunning said. "My dad and I wanted to spend time together and do our own private thing, and [the memorial] was just dropped at our feet."

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