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The family of missing 22-year-old UW-Whitewater student Kelly Nolan Tuesday decided that money may be what's needed to pry loose pieces of information that could help police find her.

Mary Jane Nolan, mother of the missing woman, and her two other daughters, April, 20, and Candice, 25, also said they were optimistic after meeting with Madison Police Department investigators though they wouldn't reveal any details they'd learned.

"She's out there," Mary Jane Nolan told media attending a hastily called press conference in front of St. Paul's University Catholic Center on State Street. "She will be found. It's just a matter of the next person sharing a little more specific information as to her whereabouts.

"I'm not crying today because I really have hope . . . if it takes money, we have it, and it's going to be given to . . . anyone . . .who can tell us that last piece of the puzzle."

The family said a donor, who they wouldn't name, is offering a "significant reward" for information about Kelly's whereabouts. But they couldn't reveal the amount of the reward on Tuesday.

Police haven't turned up evidence of foul play in the disappearance of the college senior who was subletting an apartment on Mifflin Street for the summer before returning to her journalism program at UW-Whitewater.

April Nolan said Kelly had gone out with friends Downtown on June22, but close to midnight, they decided they wanted to go home.

"They parted ways," April Nolan said. "Her friends wanted to go home, and Kelly didn't."

Mary Jane Nolan said Kelly had signed up for a fall semester four-credit journalism class at UW-Whitewater on the Monday before she disappeared.

National interest in the disappearance of the UW-Whitewater student is building, with reports on at least three national news channels and alerts on Web sites for tracking missing persons.

"Madison still seems to be a key search for Kelly," Mary Jane Nolan said. "The outlying areas are possibilities, nationwide is a possibility."

Mary Jane Nolan said Madison police shared "significant pieces of information" with the family Tuesday morning.

"There is a lot of information that brings a smile today instead of sobbing tears as I feel Kelly is out there, and she can and will be returned safely," she said. "We have all the individuals who were with Kelly throughout the evening. We are still working on the last piece, but we have a lot of people all sharing where they saw her last. We just don't know who the last person was or she'd be here right now."

Mary Jane Nolan said police have told the family not to share details with the media. "Small pieces are not going to be shared at this time based on police advice," she said.

A Web site has been created at http://helpfindkelly.org.