30 Years After Laralee Spear’s Unsolved Murder A $50,000 Reward Offered

On April 25, 1994, 15-year-old Laralee Spear was abducted, shot, and killed after she stepped off her school bus outside DeLand, FL. Her murder has never been solved. A $50,000 reward is available for the tip that leads detectives to the killer.

Guest Bio and Links:

Detective Cordell LeMay with the Volusia County Sheriff's Office, has 14 years of experience, including 11 as a detective. He holds a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and a professional certificate in profiling from the University of Central Florida.

In this episode of Zone 7, Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl McCollum, sits down for a part two series with Detective Cordell Lemay to discuss the unsolved case of Laralee Spear, a 15-year-old high school student from DeLand, Florida, who was tragically murdered in 1994. Detective LeMay details the events of that day, the investigation's progress, and the current focus on finding new leads through DNA evidence. They discuss the importance of community involvement and the $50,000 reward for information leading to the case's resolution.

Call the Major Case Unit at 386-254-1537 or email ColdCaseUnitTips@volusiasheriff.gov if you have any tips on the Laralee Spear case.

Resources:

Who Killed Laralee Spear? 50K Reward and 30 Years Later with Sheriff Michael Chitwood

Show Notes:

(0:00) Welcome back to Zone 7 with Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl McCollum
(2:00) Sheryl introduces guest, Cordell Lemay to the listeners
(3:00) Overview of Laralee Spear's Case
(6:00) The crime scene and initial investigation
(12:30) The search for suspects
(17:30) Community involvement and call to action
(20:30) “The easiest secrets to keep is the secret only one person knows about because you don't got other people that can rat you out. But even if it's just one person, I firmly believe over 30 years somebody had to get this off their chest to somebody.” -C.L
(23:00) Detective LeMay's commitment
(30:25) “Even when a case wasn't mine if I thought I could contribute, whether with my forensics expertise or investigative doggedness. I always found a way to insert myself.” -P.H
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Sheryl “Mac” McCollum is an Emmy Award winning CSI, a writer for CrimeOnLine, Forensic and Crime Scene Expert for Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, and a CSI for a metro Atlanta Police Department. She is the co-author of the textbook., Cold Case: Pathways to Justice. Sheryl is also the founder and director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, a collaboration between universities and colleges that brings researchers, practitioners, students and the criminal justice community together to advance techniques in solving cold cases and assist families and law enforcement with solvability factors for unsolved homicides, missing persons, and kidnapping cases.

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