Helen Zia, the executor of the estate for Vincent Chin, said it can use some help keeping tabs on Ronald Ebens in Nevada.

Ebens, now 75, is the man who killed Chin in1982 in a disputed hate crime in Michigan.  Ebens plead guilty to a lesser charge and escaped jail time. A civil rights trail convicted Ebens in a subsequent trial in federal court. But that was reversed in appeal. (Read more about the case on the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund blog).

Still, there was  a civil judgment of $1.5 million against Ebens that was won in Michigan. And that had grown to $8 million in 2012.

Zia told me opportunities to collect money are  often missed. Recently,  Ebens was the executor of the estate of a friend, who had just received a portion of a $4 million personal injury settlement.

In general, Zia  fears that too much time has passed to expect much of a recovery of the funds owed.  Time has also meant the Chin case has faded from the public’s memory. (See more of her comments on NBCnews.com).