Counting 'em Down: For better or for worse, this is the Headline Surfer countdown of the 2021's Top 100 biggest news stories of Central Florida along the tourism-driven stretch of Interstate 4 (Orlando Attractions and east to I-95 & the World's Most Famous Beach in Daytona). Each recap segment is posted with its own headline, culminating with the unveiling of No. 1 in the first two weeks of January, if not sooner, before switching to the Top 5 storylines -- the good, the bad & the ugly on the horizon in "2022: The Year That Lies Ahead."
Headline Surfer photo illustration / Bobby Raleigh, a condemned killer sits on Florida's Death Row, and while authorities had tried pinning the brutal slaying of 15-year-old Laralee Spears, on him, there was no forensic evidence or witnesses tying him to the DeLand High School freshman honor student's killing 27 years ago, just a stone's throw from her family's home in the woods. A quarter-century has passed and the murder remains unsolved. Murder charges filed against him early on were formally dismissed in early 1998.
By HENRY FREDERICK / Headline Surfer
DELAND, Fla -- Laralee Spear, figuratively and literally, was the girl next door when she met her cruel fate 27 years ago on April 25, 1994.
Her case has remained unsolved all these years later. A $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of her killer or killers has not generated any lads over the years. Out of the blue Sheriff Mike Chitwood, in the elected office since 2017, announced back in April a new $50,000 on the 27th anniversary of her murder.
"For nearly 27 years, the case has remained unsolved despite the sustained efforts of sheriff’s investigators and detectives," Chitwood's lead PIO, Andrew Gant, stated in a press release promoting the reward.
Why now was the big question?
Gant's explanation: "Recently, Sheriff Chitwood and the Major Case Unit met again with members of the FBI to discuss any new technology or techniques that could be used to pursue a new break in the case."
"The single biggest break, however, may come from someone who can give detectives a new piece of information, even a small detail." Gant wrote in the media release, which quoted Chitwood as follows: “No family deserves to experience what Laralee’s family has been through for all these years."
Chitwood's written statement continued: “If anyone out there has information that could help bring this innocent girl’s killer or killers to justice, now is the time to clear your conscience and come forward.”
But there have been no takers on Chitwwood's reward.
Jim Gillum, a retired Pasco County sheriff now living in DeLand, said Chitwood's reward is nothing more than grandstanding.
"He's looking for attention," Gillum said. "He'll do anything to get his name mentioned in the news."
Chitwood's generous reward, the largest in the history of the VCSO has drawn no new leads. Nothing. And Gillum, who ran for sheriff along with four others againstChitwood in 2016, is not alone in criticizing the size of the reward and the timing of it.
"This had to be an April fool's joke, right?" asked one such critic from Deltona, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Is Chitwood that desperate for media attention?"
It was on the afternoon of April 25, 1994, that the 15-year-old DeLand High School honor student and cheerleader crossed paths with her killer after she stepped off the school bus and walked along the dirt path in the woods to her family's Deerfoot Road home.
Ninety minutes missed had passed when her parents became worried after she hadn't come through the front door and so they frighteningly called the cops, only to see their worst fears realized in a matter of hours when her partially-nude body was first spotted by a Volusia County Sheriff's helicopter a quarter-mile from her family's home on the backyard patio of the ruins of an old abandoned house destroyed by fire the year before.
Spear lay dead in a pool of her own blood, the result of three mortal bullet wounds to the back of her head when responding cops got to the grisly crime scene.
Her hands were tied, tied, much of her clothing was torn away and missing. There were signs of physical trauma, indicating she may have been beaten and an attempt made to sexually assault in the final moments of her life before the kill shots into her brain.
In the ensuing days, some remnants of Spear's clothes were found scattered alongside Deerfoot Road, as if haphazardly discarded by a killer intent of barrelling out of the scene of the crime.
A profile of the killer was made: Portrayed as a young male, possibly even an older teenager, he may have had a new handgun that he was obsessed with. He probably talked of the murder beforehand, had anger issues and likely was very inexperienced in the act of killing. He may have attempted to kidnap Spear and then tried to rape her when she fought back before he gunned her down and flerd the scene.
The investigators all along have been tight-lipped as to forensic evidence, the type of gun used, and even the position of her body.
Her autopsy remains sealed despite the passage of time since it is still an active investigation. Witnesses from the neighborhood told cops they saw a black low-rider truck speeding away from the vicinity that afternoon.
But the trail grew cold quickly.
That Oct. 14, investigators released a letter Spear wrote to God two months before she was murdered. Investigators were unable to pin down any leads as to who she might have feared.
In the letter, dated Feb. 16, Laralee wrote what eerily appeared to be a precursor to her possibly being raped or worse: "Lord, in church we learned that you are the one to fear, not the people of this world for they can only hurt my body, but you Lord can send me to hell."
A $10,000 reward was also being offered in the weeks and months following the discovery of her slaying for information leading to the arrest of the person responsible for the homicide. But still nothing concrete.
It’s believed her killer took her shortly after she got off the bus around 3:15 p.m. at her stop at Deerfoot Road and Spring Garden Avenue.
For several years, VCSO investigators suspected her killer was Bobby Raleigh, on death row, but on Jan. 9, 1998, murder charges against him in the slaying of Spear were dropped. The case has remained cold since.
YouTube embedding / VCSO video / A $50,000 reward was offered by Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood on the 27th anniversary of the murder of 15-year-old Laralee Spear of DeLand, but there have been no takers.
About the Byline Writer: Henry Frederick is a member of the working press and publisher of Headline Surfer, the award-winning 24/7 internet news outlet launched in 2008, that serves greater Daytona Beach, Sanford & Orlando from Lake Mary, Florida via HeadlineSurfer.com. Frederick has amassed close to 150 award-winning bylines in print & online. He earned his Master of Arts in New Media Journalism from Full Sail University in 2019. He was a breaking news reporter (metro cops & courts beat) for the Daytona Beach News-Journal for nearly a decade. And Before that worked the same beat for The Journal-News/Gannett Suburban Newspapers in Rockland/Westchester counties, NY, dating back to 1989. Having witnessed the execution of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Florida's death chamber and covering other high profile cases, Frederick has appeared on national crime documentary shows on Discovery ID, Reelz, and the Oxygen Network series "Snapped" for his analysis. • Award-Winning Journalism: Florida Press Club recognizes Headline Surfer for nine stories in 2020 statewide competition. • Award-Winning Journalism of Henry Frederick.