Who Killed Laralee Spear? 50K Reward and 30 Years Later with Sheriff Michael Chitwood
Zone 7 with Sheryl McCollum
iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline
4.4 • 696 Ratings
🗓️ 29 May 2024
⏱️ 22 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
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:
Sheriff Michael J. Chitwood is a second-generation law enforcement officer with a Bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Management and a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice. Sheriff Chitwood was elected Sheriff of Volusia County in August 2016 sworn in Jan. 3, 2017, and re-elected without opposition in August 2020.
In this episode of Zone 7, Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl McCollum, sits down with Sheriff Michael Chitwood to cover the unresolved case of Laralee Spear, a young girl brutally murdered in 1994. Sheriff Chitwood details the investigative efforts and ongoing commitment to solving this case, emphasizing the importance of community involvement and modern forensic advancements.
Call the Major Case Unit at 386-254-1537 or email [email protected] if you have any tips on the Laralee Spear case.
Show Notes:
- (0:00) Welcome back to Zone 7 with Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl McCollum.
- (0:30) Sheryl introduces Sheriff Michael Chitwood to the listeners
- (3:00) The Laralee Spear cold case
- (5:30) Initial investigation and findings
- (8:00) Details of creating the suspect pool
- (14:00) Role of the original detectives
- (16:30) Challenges in the investigation
- (19:30) $50,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in this case
- (21:00) Call the Major Case Unit at 386-254-1537 or email [email protected] to help
- (21:40) “I am not afraid. I got a gun. I want to shoot back. Let's see how much balls you got and come and get me.” -S.M.C
- Thanks for listening to another episode! If you love the show and want to help grow the show, please head over to Itunes and leave a rating and review!
---
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.
Social Links:
- Email: [email protected]
- Twitter: @ColdCaseTips
- Facebook: @sheryl.mccollum
Instagram: @officialzone7podcast
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | The men and women of our organization have pledged to protect and serve with courage, honor, and integrity by fighting crime, maintaining trust, and building community partnerships. |
| 0:24.6 | That is our mission. |
| 0:28.5 | The man that stands behind those words is Sheriff Michael J. Chitwood. |
| 0:35.5 | Now y'all, let me tell you by him. He was born in Philadelphia, and you're going to hear that accent, baby. |
| 0:41.3 | He is a second-generation law enforcement officer. |
| 0:44.3 | He has three daughters and three grandchildren. |
| 0:48.3 | He has a bachelor's degree in organizational management and a master's degree in criminal justice. |
| 0:54.4 | He was elected sheriff in 2016, re-elected in 2020, without opposition, I might add. |
| 1:04.5 | He has worked patrol, narcotics, detective division. |
| 1:08.6 | This man has received 58, 58 commendations for valor, bravery, |
| 1:17.7 | terrorism, and merit. It is my honor to welcome to Zone 7, Sheriff Chitwood. Sheriff, thank you so much for being with us. Thank you so much for that |
| 1:31.0 | incredible introduction. It sounds like my obituary almost. Well, let me tell you, speaking of your |
| 1:39.2 | obituary, you had some threats, some significant threats, and you played that thing just like a child |
| 1:47.1 | out of the city of brotherly love. |
| 1:49.6 | You came at them and said, okay, you want to come at me? |
| 1:53.1 | Come on. |
| 1:54.4 | You did not back down from a hate group, sir, in one of the most impressive and unbelievable ways I've ever heard. You just said, |
| 2:04.1 | hey, here's my address. Come if you're ready. That is true. That is true. You know, we had |
| 2:10.5 | we had the neo-Nazis come to town and really go after our Jewish population and somebody had to stand up and that's all they |
| 2:21.0 | understand. It's like being a kid again in school, if you don't stand up to the bully, |
| 2:24.2 | they're going to continue to bully you. So you have to stand up and call them out for what they are. |
| 2:27.5 | Amen. No question about it. And fighting for people that need your help and fighting for folks that cannot any longer fight for |
... |
Transcript will be available on the free plan in -305 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.