Volusia sheriff offers $100,000 reward for information leading to arrest in 1994 murder case

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Florida. – Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood says the reward has doubled for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the man who killed 15-year-old Laralee Spear in 1994.

A $100,000 cash reward is now being offered for that information, the final piece of the puzzle investigators have sought for 30 years.

Spear, a DeLand High School student, was sexually assaulted and killed after getting off her school bus on April 25, 1994. Investigators say her body was found just 200 yards from her home along Deerfoot Road.

The sheriff's office marked 2021 as the 27th anniversary of Spear's murder, offering a $50,000 cash reward for information leading to her killer. Although the current $100,000 cash reward doubled that amount, the old amount was itself twice as high as the $25,000 offered just a month before the 27-year-old.

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Chitwood announced the higher reward amount on social media, confirming the same in a Facebook post sharing Nancy Grace's coverage of the fatal kidnapping on her podcast “Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Major Case Unit by email at [email protected] or 386-254-1537.

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