New Hope in 30-Year-Old Murder Case: Reward Doubled to $100,000

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Volusia County sheriff’s detectives are hoping that a $100,000 reward and the re-testing of old DNA with new technology will provide the breakthrough needed to solve the 30-year-old murder of Laralee Spear.

Sheriff Mike Chitwood announced the reward increase from $50,000 to $100,000 on CNN’s Nancy Grace show, coinciding with what would have been Spear’s 45th birthday.

“We don’t know what else to do,” Chitwood remarked when questioned about the reward increase.

Laralee Spear, a 15-year-old DeLand High School student, was kidnapped and murdered in 1994 shortly after getting off the school bus.

Her body was found on a slab at a house that had burned down the previous year. She had been sexually assaulted, her hands tied, and shot three times in the back of the head. Detectives believe she was murdered just 200 yards from her bus stop, 25 minutes after she started walking home.

Reward for Cold Case Increased

Detective Cordell Lemay, currently working on Spear’s cold case, detailed on the Nancy Grace show that the rope used to tie Spear’s hands was similar to twine.

“It was loosely tied around her wrists,” Lemay explained. “So, it’s not like this person was an expert, or you know, a Boy Scout or something like that where they were familiar with tying knots.”

Detectives are hopeful that DNA left on the rope, the victim’s clothes found near the crime scene, and evidence from a rape kit can be re-tested with new technology, potentially leading to the identification of Spear’s killer.

Although the DNA from the rape kit has already been tested and used to eliminate 50 suspects, advances in technology at Othram labs could provide the needed breakthrough.

Sheryl McCollum, Director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute in Atlanta, is assisting Lemay with Spear’s case.

McCollum spoke on the Nancy Grace show about re-testing the DNA, highlighting the potential of Othram Labs’ Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing (FGGS) to overcome previously insurmountable forensic DNA challenges and solve cold cases.

Othram Labs’ website states that they perform all casework-related services in-house, ensuring the essential infrastructure and process for testing forensic DNA evidence.

According to the source, despite the degradation of forensic evidence over time, Othram claims to have achieved results even when other methods have failed.

Charges Against Suspect Dropped

In 1994, Bobby Allen Raleigh, a high school dropout charged in the double murder of two men in DeLeon Springs, allegedly confessed to an inmate that he had killed Spear. As a result, the State Attorney’s Office indicted Raleigh for first-degree murder in Spear’s case.

Raleigh, who was convicted and sentenced to death for the DeLeon Springs murders, has always denied involvement in Spear’s murder. A special prosecutor assigned to the case later agreed, and all charges against Raleigh were dropped in 1998.

The dropping of charges was “disheartening,” Laralee Spear’s sister, Virginia Bussell, told Nancy Grace. Bussell expressed her family’s ongoing struggle for justice, calling on elected leaders to help resolve her sister’s case. “Laralee needs justice.

Our family needs to find peace, and on top of that, Laralee needs to rest in peace,” Bussell said. “We need to find her killer and we need to do it by whatever means necessary.”

Hope for Closure

The re-testing of DNA evidence, coupled with the increased reward, brings a renewed sense of hope to Laralee Spear’s family and the detectives working on the case.

As new technology continues to advance, there is optimism that the killer will finally be brought to justice, providing closure for Spear’s family and ensuring that she can rest in peace.

Sheriff Chitwood and his team remain committed to solving this cold case, and the community is encouraged to come forward with any information that might aid the investigation.

The hope is that the increased reward will incentivize someone with knowledge of the crime to step forward, ultimately leading to the resolution of this tragic case.

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