ORANGE PARK, Fla. -- Investigators in the Somer Thompson murder case said they've now received nearly 4,000 tips in the three-week-old investigation.

The 7-year-old disappeared last month while walking home from school in her Orange Park neighborhood and was found dead days later.

Detectives said they're checking out each tip they've received, saying each one is important in finding Somer's killer.

"There's no such thing as a bad tip," said Lt. Barry Abramowitz, the lead coordinator for the case in charge of dissecting the information that comes in. "Everything's evidence. Sometimes you'll get a tip on somebody that may not have anything to do with the case, but that's important. We want to make sure they did not have anything to do with the case."

Abramowitz said investigators have gotten lots of meaningful tips to follow up on immediately and others they hold onto just in case.

"If we have a tip that came in from tipster No. 1, we may not know anything about what that means unless until we get a tip from tipster No. 10, and then we say, 'Oh my goodness, right here, that's it right here,'" he said.

When asked if the investigation was becoming a cold case, Abramowitz said the sheriff won't let that happen.

"It's not another case," he said. "It's far from another case. We have a child that's murdered. There's nothing worse than burying a child, and I think I've said enough."

If you know anything that could help police in their search for Somer's killer, call the Clay County tipline at 877-227-6911 or Crimestoppers at 866-845-TIPS. You can also e-mail Clay County investigators at cart@claysheriff.com.

The total amount of reward money in the case stands at $45,000.