CHEERLEADER, 15, KIDNAPPED, MURDERED FROM SCHOOL BUS: WHO KILLED LARALEE

Published Jun 21, 2024, 5:52 PM

Laralee Spear, 15, in her freshman year at DeLand High School, is over the moon after learning she has made the Junior Varsity cheer squad.

Many other hobbies keep her busy--piano lessons, church choir practice, and volunteering with the Keyettes, a school service organization. Spear’s daily routine is to walk home from her bus stop on the corner of Deerfoot Rd and South Spring Garden. The ½ mile walk usually takes about 10 minutes.

Laralee always meets her mother at home by 3:30 p.m., even if she stops to watch the neighbor’s horses. When Laralee is half an hour late, Barbara Spear calls 911 in a panic, reporting her daughter missing.

Just 16 minutes after Barbara Spear was reported missing, Volusia County Sheriff investigators are on the ground searching for the teen. Air One, the Sheriff’s helicopter, is already in the air, and scanning the neighborhood for Laralee.

At 5:35 p.m., the pilot spots a body, behind an abandoned home. A quarter mile from the Spear home, officers on the ground find Laralee Spear lying crumpled on a concrete slab behind the burned-out home, shot to death.

Laralee Spear is found lying in a pool of her blood, shot in the back of the head three times. Spear’s hands had been tied together and much of her clothing was missing or torn away. Spear has bruising across her body, leading investigators to believe she was beaten. It appears Spear’s attacker attempted to assault her sexually, and the teen fought back in her final moments. Remnants of Spear’s clothing are found scattered along Deerfoot Road in the days after her death.

Detectives believe Laralee only made it about 200 yards from the bus stop when she was attacked and abducted. They estimate Laralee was dead within 25 minutes of getting off the bus.  Officers from the Ormond Beach Police Department join Volusia County Sheriffs to canvass Spear’s neighborhood for a week.

Over 1,000 tips are collected in the month following Laralee’s murder, and police learn a group of people were hanging out and shooting guns at the burned-down home where the body is found.

Neighbors also report seeing a dark-colored truck near the crime scene.

Who killed Laralee? 

Joining Nancy Grace Today: 

  • Virginia Bussell - Laralee’s sister
  • Sheriff Mike Chitwood - Volusia County Sheriff; X: @VolusiaSheriff 
  • Detective Cordell Lemay - Major case/homicide Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, 
  • Sheryl McCollum - Cold Case Investigative Research Institute Founder, Host of "Zone 7;" X: @149zone7
  • Alexis Tereszcuk –(CA) CrimeOnline.com Investigative Reporter, Writer/Fact Checker, Lead Stories; X: @swimmie2009

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A gorgeous young cheerleader just fifteen years old, kidnapped then murdered straight off the school bus in broad daylight. Who killed Laura Lee? Good evening, I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. The tragic slaying of a young fifteen year old girl haunts a small Florida town. Kidnapped from her school bus and shot dead. Who killed Laura Lee's spear? This rural area Deerfoot Road had been insulated from crime in fear since his inception for decades until this beautiful young girl. And I've got to tell you, this girl was everybody's dream. She sang in the church choir shoes with the keynotes, beautiful voice, straight a's cheerleader, you name it. This girl was it, the it girl. So how is it that she steps off her bus, her school bus, a public school bus with all the other children, and within minutes she's gone. First of all, take a listen to this.

Don't you even to stay.

In the end?

I don't know what something, Laarlie? What's what's your birthday?

Jean Paper's name set?

How do you feel anything?

The car.

That one's word.

Yes, I need the first department.

What's the problem.

My daughter got off the box.

The job on left her card.

Get off the bus, my neighbor's car. Get off the bus and start down the road. It's seven tenths of a mile to our own. You've always like clockwork at home at three thirty, my child is not at home.

List okay, how old is she?

Fifteen years old?

You can hear a mom's voice starting to crack there at the end. She calls nine to one one to report her child missing, her little girl missing within the hour, within the hour of her stepping off that bus, doing everything right? How can nobody see anything? Nobody hears, nobody knows, nobody tells anything about the disappearance and the murder of Laura Lee. Listen to more of that nine to one one call.

How long has she been missing?

So got a little left to three this afternoon? I would say approximately between three ten and three fifteen.

The sets to glass of come.

Okay, where's your bus?

Stout?

Her boss stop is at Wing Garden Road and dem Foot Row. We live on dem Foot Row.

You're hearing moms staying calm, cool and collected that she gives the information to nine one one, but I can hear her voice cracking with me at All Star Pedel to make sense of what we know right now. I always like to start with a nine one one call, as I do when prosecuting a case, because it's unlike anything else. It's not a witness telling a jury what happened through their own vision, through their own glasses. It's what did happen in the moment. And we learn so much again with Me at All Star Pedel. But first two special guests Virginia Jenny Bissell. This is Laura Lee's sister, Jenny. Thank you for being with us, Thank you for having me. Can you remember day that Laura Lee went missing?

Definitely, it's hard to forget. Well. I remember.

Getting off the school bus that day and walking down the road, and typically what I do is I just look at the footprints in the in the on our dirt road, just to see It's kind of it was a game that I would use to play where I would try to figure out Larley's outfit because she would always walk right before I would. Because I was in middle and she was in high school, and I saw that there was multiple sets of footprints, and so I figured that my mom walked up to the bus stop to come get her, which was not uncommon. And as I made my weight down, I encountered one of my neighbors that told me that I really need My mom had been looking for me and she didn't know where I was, which I thought was odd because it was.

My normal time.

And so I hurried home to find her on the phone with the Sheriff's department, and she was in hysterics at that point, and she was asking me to check the house, go upstairs to check her room to see if she was there, and maybe she had missed her, like she may have taken a nap or something and she just didn't hear her come in. So I went and I looked, and I couldn't find her, and I relead the information to my mom, and shortly thereafter we had a deputy come to the house to assist. Then, I want to say a few hours later, maybe time kind of stood still, we had a chaplain come to the house. I didn't know at the time why.

But.

When he related the information to my parents, that had to be the hardest thing to watch. At first, I thought, oh, she's hurt, she's somewhere, she's at the hospital. We'll go and get her. I think goes in shock, but then realizing that she wasn't going to come home. That's what it hit hard.

When Ginny did you discover that she had been killed?

At that time, when the chapelain came and my mom was in hysterics when he told her the news.

When you say his Derek's what do you mean, she.

Was crying and yelling out, my baby, think they killed my baby.

Guys with me is Jenny Bissell. This is Laura Lee's sister, recounting the moment a chaplain showed up at their home to tell them laure Lee wasn't just missing, she was dead and someone had killed her. In addition to Virginia Jenny Bissell is Sheriff Mike Chitwood from the Vlusha County Sheriff's Office and Detective Cordell LeMay. Gentlemen, thank you for being with us, along with Cheryl McCollum and Alexis Terreschuk. To Sheriff Chitwood, I want to thank you gentlemen so much for being with us. Sheriff. I've seen that over and over and it happened to me as well when I became a victim of violent crime. The families trying to think of any alternative other than she's dead and someone killed her. We just heard Jimmy stating, Oh, well, she's at the hospital, we can go get her. Are we're going to fix it or she's going to be okay, And then that moment when they're told, for instance, in this case, this child is never coming home and that someone killed her.

Yeah.

I think Jinny hit it right on the head when she said that she was in shock and it doesn't sink in the finality of what has occurred. And I think most crime victims, you know, they leave the room of their loved one intact the way it was the last time they sold them forever because that losing a loved one and having that piece of you cut out, there's no way that's ever going to get put back there. It's never going to come back, and you kind of disassociate yourself from the reality of it because you don't want to believe that this actually happened.

To understand a kidnap murder, to begin to even try to solve it, you have to understand who is your victim listens, Laura.

Lee Spear, fifteen in her freshman year at DeLand High School, is over the moon to learn she's made Junior varsity cheer squad. Many other hobbies keep her busy, piano lessons, church choir practice, and volunteering with the Keiettes, a school service organization. David and Barbara Spear are immensely proud of their model student, and Laura Lee's punctuality and stellar grades make her a great role model for her younger sister, Jenny.

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace straight out to another special guest joining us attadive Cordell LeMay, Major case homicide detective in Volusia County Sheriff's Office. Detective, thank you for being with us. I also think, detective, that the start the harsh dichotomy, the trying to get your mind around the fact that you just saw your daughter a couple of hours ago when she left to go to school, and everything was fine. I've heard that phrase one hundred times from crime victim's families. Everything was fine, and then suddenly they learn not only is the little girl dead, kidnapped off the school bus after she takes a few steps from a school bus, but that someone killed her. It wasn't a car accident, it wasn't some other type of mishap. Someone actually targeted a little teen cheerleader getting off the school bus and murdered her.

Yeah, just to look at the facts of the case like that, it's it's horrible, obscene even and it's a it's a terrible situation. You have Laurley Spear here, fifteen year old girl, like you said, a model student, a model daughter, and she's a true victim. Didn't have a bad bone in her body, just minding her own business, going about her life getting off the school bus. From what I understand, she wanted to be a doctor, I think a veterinarian when she grew up, and that all that was taken away from her, she never got that chance. All that was taken away from her family by some you know, awful person out there that probably got most likely free, you know.

And knowing the entire time that he and I guarantee you, of course I'm not an eyewitness, but it is a he knowing he has little really gotten away with the murder. Well not if we have anything to do it. Let's go back to the moment that Mom realizes Laura Lee is not coming home. She hasn't made it home off that school bus.

And she was.

Very, very punctual. We hear that throughout. She doesn't go meander around the neighborhood. She doesn't go to a friend's house without telling mom. Nothing like that. No trips to the mall after school. She walked straight home. That's how Mom knew in her core that something was horribly wrong.

Listen, start walking home, Yeah, my neighborhood. Start down the road.

Start walking towards the house.

Yeah.

And she's not today neighbor's house or anything we have. You know, if you're checking the.

Neighbors, call all the neighbors, they all say that.

Well, but.

May said the next compty not fear at their house.

Okay, hold on one second.

Okay, So she got on about three three fifteen. He got off the books for approximately three tens of Previousteen, okay, hold lot of seconds.

Joining me In addition to Laurlee's sister Jenny Bissell, Detective LeMay, and Sheriff Chitwood, Cheryl McCollum is joining US forensics expert, the founder of the Cold Case Research Institute and star of a hit podcast Zone seven. Cheryl, thank you for being with us. You and I have seen a lot of missing person cases. We've seen a lot of homicide cases as a matter of fact, the last seven to eight years, and the District Attorney's office I handled strictly and exclusively murder, serial murder, cerial rape, cyril child, mola station and any type of arson. So we have certainly seen a lot of cases. But a child getting kidnapped and murder straight off the school bus, and of course everybody looks at the school bus driver. It wasn't the school bus driver. The driver just kept going with the children, was still driving the bus by the time that Laurale's body was found. Cheryl, here is a stark and jarring statistic that I learned from Mark Class Victims' Rights Champion. Over well over thirty percent of child strangers stranger abductions occur on a school route, going to school, walking to school, walking to the bus, coming back home, getting off the bus, drop off, pickup. That right there, and that should shake the shoulders of everybody in Congress if they could look up for their money making ventures and realize that that's where money needs to go in policing, school bus trouts, school bus stops, school buses. But that's a whole nother can of worms. Let me get back to something that I can actually affect, and that is finding Laura Lee's killer.

Jump in Nancy from where the bus dropped her off the walk to her home. When I walked the scene and drove it with Detective le May, what leaped out at me is from where she was dropped off to the crime scene, she literally had to pass her house.

This person in broad daylight.

Knew a remote location of a house that had been burned down a year before half law Lee's home to drive her to that location. So to me, that tells me this killer was familiar with that area.

Spears daily routine is to walk home from her bus stop on the corner of Deerfoot Road out Spring Garden. The one half mile walk usually takes about ten minutes. Laura Lee always meets her mother at home by three point thirty, even if she stops to watch the neighbor's horses. When laur Lee is a half an hour late, Barbara Spear calls nine to one one in a panic, reporting her daughter missing.

Laura Lee's Spear only fifteen years old, abducted, shot just yards away from her home. Her body found in a burned down, abandoned house.

I've been listening very carefully to all the nine one one calls, and I want you to hear something that is integral and every parent should know this. Listen.

Could I'd come back out and look she would be carrying or she would have had the room her.

Back back back.

Yeah, okay, Mom knows exactly what Laura Lee is wearing. She can describe the backpack. I can describe my children's shoes, their socks, what they're wearing. The works eggsists exactly every day. I know my children wore today and summer break. Did you hear the mom? She is that attentive to her child that she knows exactly what Laura Lee's even her backpack looks like joining me in All Star panel, But I want to go back to Laurreley's sister, Virginia Jenny Bissell and speaking to Jenny. As I have discovered with so many other crime victims of violent crime, it never goes away. It's always just beneath the surface and anything much less somebody asking you a direct question about it, anything can trigger it. It never goes away. Would you agree with that, Jenny.

That's absolutely correct.

How that affected your life? What makes you remember, Like in the middle of a day, You'll be having a perfectly fine day and all of a sudden, somebody brings it up up or something reminds you. What triggers that Laura Le's the memory of Laura Lee's disappearance and murder.

Anything can really trigger a memory, like just going about my day, or even like talking.

To my parents.

It's it can be anything, to be quite honest, like even hearing a song from back in the day. It's it can be a multitude of things. Even driving around town because I still live in DeLand and stay close to my parents, So just even driving to the house because they still live in the same house, so taking that road every day, it just reminds me.

I understand, your parents, particularly your mom has never quote gotten over Laura Lee's murder.

Right, Yeah, It's significantly impacted her.

All of our lives really, but definitely for her, she feels the guilt.

I think it's survivor's guilt for.

Us because for me, just walking down knowing that I took the same step so she did that same day and thinking why her it should have been me, you know, like I wish it was me, you know, I mean, those thoughts happened a lot.

One thing I know is that the moment that nine on one call was made, Ellie, law enforcement jumped into action Lessen.

Just sixteen minutes after Barbara Spear reports fifteen year old Laura Lee missing, the Lucia County Sheriffs are on the ground searching for the teen. Air one the Sheriff's helicopter is already in the air and begins scanning the neighborhood for Laura Lee. At five point thirty five pm, the pilot spots a body lying behind an abandoned home, while from the Spear home, officers on the ground find Laura Lee Spear lying crumpled on a concrete slab behind the burned out home, shot to.

Death and shot multiple times. This girl, this teen cheerleader, an honor student, shot multiple times, her body only spotted by helicopter flying over. It was so far back in a burned out home that only a local would have known about. In addition to our all star panel, including laur Lee's sister, Jenny, Alexis Terschak is joining us investigative reporter crimeonline dot Com Alexis, thank you for being with us. For those just joining us, give me a recap about how Laura Lee went missing that afternoon.

So Laurlee, fifteen years old, freshman in high school, gets off her school list. She lives kind of on a whirl road. This is Florida, in DeLand, Florida. It's a little bit east in a little bit south of dayt Ti a beach, very leafy. This isn't right on the water. And she normally walks home less than a mile point seven tenths of a mile takes her about ten minutes. She walks every single day. She comes home from the school on the school bus. She does not arrive at home. She gets off the bus between three and three fifteen pm. She is always home by three thirty. The neighbors in between the school bus and her house they have horses. She loves to stop there and look at the horses and then we'll make her way home. So she does not arrive at home, and her mom panics. She starts calling around. She calls her friend. The friend says, nope, I saw her get off the bus. She calls the neighbor the next do her neighbor. There's one house between them. The neighbor says, no, she is not here, and then the mom calls the police immediately, right away, doesn't wait two hours, doesn't think, well, maybe she stayed at school or a friend picked her up or anything. Because this girl is so punctual. She's a straight A student. She just made the JV cheerly squad. She volunteers at school. She never give she as you can see, she plays the piano. She does everything by the book. So her mom knew immediately that something was wrong.

Exactly how was Laureley found tilled, because, as we all know, details matter.

Laura at least Spear is found lying in a pool of her own blood, shot in the back of the head three times. Spear's hands had been tied together, and much of her clothing is missing or torn away. Spear has bruising across her body, leading investigators to believe she was beaten. It appears Spears's attacker attempted to sexually assault her, and the teen fought back in her final moments. Remnants of Spear's clothing are found scattered along Deerfoot Road in the days after her death, The tragic slaying of a young fifteen year old girl haunts a small Florida town. Kidnapped from her school bus and shot dead. Who killed La relieve spear what clues were left behind?

Listen immediately after Laura Lee's spear has found shot. It's all hands on deck to find out what happened to the teen in her short walk home from the bus. Detectives believe Laura Lee only made it about two hundred yards from the bus stop when she was attacked and abducted. They estimate Laura Lee was dead within twenty five minutes of getting off the bus. The bus driver says, nothing seemed out of the ordinary as you watched Laura Lee start her walk home, and a small group of people selling plans along the route also don't recall seeing anything or anyone suspicious as Laura Lee passed by.

To Cheryl McCollum, a forensics expert who has personally investigated this case as well, along with Sheriff Chipwood and Detective le May, Cheryl, two hundred yards, it's all over in two hundred yards. That tells me the purp had to be in a vehicle, who would know about that area and that burned out house other than a local. The house was not right on the street. And it all happened within two hundred yards that's not even a football field. That also tells me this was not just a crime of opportunity. Somebody knew about that bus stop. Somebody had targeted Laura Lee. That opens me up to who. Okay, I know where mom and dad are, so they can be ruled out, But who had seen her at one of the games where she was a cheerleader, Who had seen her at some of her many activities she took part in, of course, And you've got to look at those closest to her. Although I mentioned the parents have been ruled out, but beyond that, you've got to look at uncles. You've got to look at family. Somebody that knew she was getting off that bus stop. Then what do you make of just two hundred yard Cheryld Nancy?

You make bus stops. They are a pattern built in for kidnappers. They know exactly when that bus is going to be at the intersection, and they don't have to follow it more than one day to know that only one student gets off there from the high school.

I believe this person is local.

I believe they did know her in some way, and I absolutely know they knew that area, no doubt about it.

Well, I mean, Cheryl, I don't disagree with you, but that's just a bald assertion. Explain why again.

That house is way off the road, it had been burned out a year before. Local teenagers went there to drink and smoke pot and hang out.

It's a very narrow group that would know.

That house, be familiar with that house, know that Laura Lee would get off the bus by herself, be able to grab her, control her, because they did have a firearm, drive her to the house, tie her up, assault her, get rid of her book bag, and drive away.

This was very fast. This was not a long drawn out crime by any means.

To Sheriff Mike Shipwood, the elected sheriff in Volusia County Sheriff, thank you for being with us. Listening to Cheryl speak, it jumps out at me that if this was a teen hangout, then a natural assumption, not a leap of logic, would be that a teen, an older teen did this. And of course we know the killers typically not always, but typically kill within their own race. That tells me I'm looking at a white male between I know we can drive between sixteen and to really push it, I go to twenty five to twenty nine max. What do you make of that?

That's exactly what the investigators focused on in the yearly goings. You know, this killer brought a firearm, and the killer brought a ligature to be able to fasten her hands together and tie her up. And again, as everybody keeps saying, this burned down house, when you if you go see the topography, you don't know about that unless you're from that area. You're back there drinking, you're back there smoking weed. It's got to be somebody that can drive. It's somebody that's familiar with the comings and goings there, And that's what the investigation has focused on through all of these years.

And it's somebody to detective of Cordell Lea May. It's somebody that's not at work in the middle of the day that strikes me. I grew up in one of those homes where everybody either went to school or they went to work, and nobody ever laid out. Nobody even dared say, ooh, I feel bad today. No, everybody goes to work. And I walked home every day from school on a dirt road, just like Jenny is describing where crime nobody ever even heard of it, just like around the time when she Laura Lee goes missing. Hey, Detective le May, I'm curious about the ligature, and the Sheriff's brought up a really good point. This person came prepared, they had ligatures, they had a gun, they were in a vehicle, they wanted at work, and they knew about this hideout and this old burned out house where tane smoked. And did pot So question what type of ligatures were used?

So it's it was.

It was rope.

It was a thin rope like twine almost, and it was loosely tied around her wrists. So it's not like this person was, you know, an expert or you know, a boy scout or something like that where they were familiar with tighten note knots. I was looped around a couple of times, not super tight, but uh, you know, it was enough to bind her hands and keep keep her from using them. And you know, unless at some point during during what happened, she managed to loosen up herself and for herself a little bit, there's no way to know that.

You know Sherylan colem Based on what Detective Cordell Lea May just said, it may not have required tight buying. If she had taken a blow to the face or any attack at all, I doubt that she could have fought back, but she wasn't bound leading me up to that is an excellent source of DNA. Why because whoever's tying the knot has to pull the rope and it goes across your hands if it is collected correctly and at that time I mean touch DNA. The advent of touch DNA has just been in the last couple of years. Nobody knew about epithelial cells when Laura Lee was murdered. That has just happened. That's a major advancement. But that is an incredible source for DNA evidence.

Ryl it is and that's something Detective LeMay and I have talked about to test and retest all the items and Nancy.

The other thing that is.

Pretty clear is because of the Lucia County, this evidence was located and collected so quickly. You're talking about within thirty minutes they had it. They saw her. And here's the other thing about this killer. Yes, he came with a loaded weapon and something to bind her with, but he made no effort to conceal her body. So again this leads me to think this person is young, they were inexperienced in this type of crime, and I believe his DNA will be on some of the items that were left at.

That saintle.

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace to Sheriff Mike with special guests joining us today elected Sheriff Felicia County Sheriff. Was she sex assaulted this fifteen year old teen girl?

She was, and we have again because of the great work by the initial detectors, we have that DNA and it has been I guess we've excluded probably fifth these suspects based on that y star DNA that we have.

So she was molested. I understand Cheryl McCollum that she was partially nude.

Correct, That's my understanding.

So again, some of the clothing left owned her is extremely interesting to me because I believe we can get more DNA and maybe develop an entire profile from that.

Okay, what I'm getting at, Cheryl, I'm glad that she was partially clothed. Why because there's a better chance of me getting DNA off the clothes, if her pants were yanked down, or sure it was ripped open, anything along those lines, I'm getting more of a chance of getting DNA. You know, some victims are forced to disrobe themselves. That's not what happened here, because she was tied up. And I want to apologize to Virginia Jenny at Basel. This is Laura Lee's sister, who is haunted by this to this day. We have launched into the only thing we know how to do. This is all we're good for. Jenny is analyzing facts, analyzing evidence, and building a case. And you're sitting there hearing me talking about her being bound. Was she partially clothed? Was she forced to disrobe herself while you're thinking of your sister as one of the loves, the great loves of your life. And I want to apologize about the analytical way we're describing what happened. And I hope you understand what we're doing.

No, No, I totally understand.

I want to talk about retesting, and I also want to you know, so often we hear, oh, the cops did this wrong, they did that wrong, the sheriff screwed this up, blah blah, blah, and sometimes it's true, but not in this case. If you only knew the immediate rollout out, the canvassing, the aerial, the dogs, everything they were on it. Listen.

Officers from the Ormond Beach Police Department joined Belusia County Sheriffs to canvas Spears neighborhood for a week. Over one thousand tips are collected in the month following Laura Lee's murder, and police learn a group of people are hanging out and shooting guns at the burned down home where the body is found. Neighbors also report seeing a dark colored truck near the crime scene.

Laura Lee's Spears family continues their fight to identify the teen's killer. Police call for the public's help to solve the case and bring a killer to justice.

Then there is what we think is going to be a big break in the case. Listen.

Six months past and then a tip from an inmate comes in claiming Bobby Rawley says he killed Laura Lee Spear. Raleigh, twenty is a waiting trial for the double murder of two West beallusihah men killed six weeks after spears death. Raleigh also owns a dark colored truck matching the description of the one spotted near the crime scene. Raley is charged with the murder of Laura Lee Spear. He vehemently denies involvement. Nearly three years in, Raley manages to produce a solid alibi, receipts showing he was at a car repair shop at the time of the murder. The chargers, they're dropped, and the Lucia County Sheriffs are bank to square one.

Jenny Massel, Laura Ley's sister. That had to be like a gut punch. They think they've got the guy. They investigate, investigate, and investigate. Three years pass and suddenly he has a rock solid alibi. Why he didn't produce it earlier that I don't know, but he did produce it, and after three years of thinking the killer was caught, you find out no, that's not him. That had to be horrible for your family, right.

It was like taking the window of our sales kind of. We were very hopeful that.

We had the.

Guy, but then to be let down to say though, no, it didn't work out. It was disheartening to say the least. And then having to go back to square one to try to figure out who it could potentially be now your guard is up now because you think, oh I can breathe, you know, because before you're always having to look over your shoulder, or you know, is it this person?

It?

Could it be that person?

You know?

I mean we're still living in that and that fear of who could it be?

Now?

That has got to be complete. Hell that every time you get to the local grocery store you look at a guy and think, well, was it you? Were you the one watching my sister? Did you sex assault and murder her? Did you bind my sister and leave her lying out in the open? That way? I would be suspicious of everybody I saw you. Look at the preacher, You'll go to church, custodian, the school, custodian, the neighbors. Everybody is under a cloud of suspicion. But today Sheriff Mike Chitwood has a major announcement for us. He is not sitting back and just reviewing case files. He's doing something about it. Sheriff Chitwood, could you describe the new reward that you are announcing? I kind, Nancy.

Today would have been Laura Lee's forty six birthday.

It's thirty years since this horrific brutal sexual assault and execution occurred to this young lady and that finally was destroyed. We are offering one hundred thousand dollars reward for information leading to the arrest of persons or persons who were responsible for this horrific act.

You know, Sheriff, that is amazing. Number one, that you and Detective le May are still working this case. You want justice, but somehow you have managed to raise one hundred thousand dollars to finish this investigation. That never happened, Sheriff. That never happens. Most cases have no reward at all, nothing much less one hundred thousand dollars reward. That's amazing, Nancy.

We don't know what else to do.

The detectives throughout the decades have poured their heart and soul into this case. Detective de LeMay even was up in Philadelphia with the Ydox Society going through this case with dozens and dozens of cold case investigators.

We have to do something.

As you said, this whole segment, people knew, people know this was not this was This was not something that happened in the strange. It was not something that was a spur of the moment it was planned. People know they need to do the right thing now for Laura Lee and for her family.

The hunt continues for Laura Lee's spears killer. Could a jailhouse confession be the key to closing this cold case?

Every day now day goes by that I don't think about her. Always wonder what she would think of her Christmas or Thanksgiving, her birthday. Always wonder where's she'll be at if things were different, if somebody had just left her alone that day and let her live, what life would be like with her here. I'm sure it had been a lot happier.

You are hearing sister Jenny Bissell, who to this day is haunted by her sister's kidnap, assault, and murder just two hundred yards less than two hundred yards from the bus stop. Cheryl McCollum, I want to talk about retesting this DNA. How can we make that happen? In addition to this incredible, incredible reward, the sheriff has cobbled together Sheriff Chitwood and Detective La May announcing today a one hundred thousand dollar reward for information leading to solving Laura Lee's murder. What about retesting.

Cheryl McCollum, you know, the detective Lamy and I have already talked about getting perhaps her broad essentially to a private lab like OUTHRAM. It's going to be critical that they retest everything, even if something's already been tested. The technology today is nothing compared to what they could do in nineteen ninety four. They can do things now that would have been unheard of. Author only needs six sales to get a full, you know, profile of a suspect. We've got to get everything to this as soon as we can. And I'll tell you, Nancy what I just heard the sheriff say. There is one hundred thousand reasons for somebody to come forward and.

To Sheriff Mike Chitwood, the Lucia CA On the elected sheriff who's announcing one hundred thousand dollar reward to solve this case. Sheriff, the perp may not have been in the database at the time Laurelle was murdered, but I guarantee you this guy didn't commit a one time sex assault, kidnapped, murder, no way. He had to have done something else, some violent crime. Since Laurelle was murdered, he should be in the database. Now, would you agree with that? This ain't a one off?

Yeah, I absolutely one percent agree with that. And you know he did it, he got away with it. This is something I believe was in his DNA. There are other probably sexual assault victims or homicide victims out there related to this guy.

We've got to get this DNA to off Ram Labs or a similar lab that handles UH degenerated or degraded DNA or old DNA. It's a specialty Niche to Virginia Jenny Bissell, this is Laura Lee's sister. What is your message today? To whomever you want it to be heard, wherever you want it to be heard. It can be to DeSantis, the governor. It can be to Moody, the Florida Attorney General. It can be to the public. What is your message?

My message would be that Larley needs justice, our family needs to find peace, and on top of that, laar Leine needs to rest in peace. We need to find her killer and we need to do by whatever means necessary to find it. And the fact that someday has been quiet for this long.

Unacceptable. You can run, you can hide, but we'll catch up to you. I'm not giving up.

And it's not just the purp Jenny. It could be the mom who washed bloody clothes. It could be the dad who realized his teen had taken the family gun that day. It could be a number of people. Someone may be the purp bragg to or new too much information and talked about it, or asked too many questions, or followed the case in an odd or obsessive way. Someone knows the answer to this riddle who killed Laura Lee. If you know or even think you know any information about Laura Lee's kidnapped from the school bus and murder, dial three eight six two five, four five three seven. There is a new one hundred thousand dollars rewards to share of Mike Chitwood. Thank you to our guests for being with us. Thank you to you for joining us here, but especially to Jenny Bissell, who tells the story of her sister's murder. Nancy Grace signing off, goodbye friend.