December 3, 2025 • 29 mins
During Halloween weekend of 1993, a 34-year-old teacher and mother of three, Cherilyn Hawkley, vanished from Granite Bay, California. Two days later, her body was discovered inside her minivan, less than a mile from the school where she taught fifth grade. In this episode of Zone 7, Sheryl McCollum and Laura Ingle revisit the case that shocked the community, retracing the timeline, the missing hours, and the single piece of rope believed to have been used in Cherilyn’s murder. With the newly established cold-case team reopening the files, they explore how advances in forensic science and a new round of DNA testing may hold the key to solving this 32-year-old cold case.
If you have information about this case, contact the Placer County Sheriff’s Tip Line at (530) 889-7830.
Highlights:
• (0:00) Welcome to Zone 7 with Sheryl McCollum and guest Laura Ingle
• (1:00) Laura Ingle recounts growing up near Granite Bay and Cherilyn’s final hours after the school’s Halloween party
• (3:30) The van’s location and why it suggests a local offender
• (9:30) The rope used in the killing and new DNA testing by the Placer County Sheriff’s Office
• (11:45) Cleared suspects: ex-husband, boyfriend, and school custodian
• (16:00) Sheryl breaks down potential motives and why the crime does not fit the typical pattern
(17:30) The detailed witness sketch of a man driving a white VW Bug
• (21:00) Laura describes visiting the school and the plaque that bears Cherilyn’s name
• (24:15) Why it’s important to re-examine every witness and every clue, and how uniting
the original detectives with the new cold-case team could uncover what was never written in the files
• (26:30) Tip line information and closing message
Guest Bio:
Laura Ingle is an Emmy Award-winning journalist and the host of The Ingle Edit, a YouTube series and podcast dedicated to re-examining unsolved cases through on-scene reporting and firsthand interviews. As a longtime network correspondent, she has covered many of America’s most notoroious crime stories and continues to champion cold-case investigations.
Learn more about the case and view Laura’s on-scene reporting on The Ingle Edit: www.youtube.com/@TheIngleEdit
Enjoying Zone 7? Leave a rating and review where you listen to podcasts. Your feedback helps others find the show and supports the mission to educate, engage, and inspire.
Sheryl “Mac” McCollum is an active crime scene investigator for a Metro Atlanta Police Department and the director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, which partners with colleges and universities nationwide. With more than 4 decades of experience, she has worked on thousands of cold cases using her investigative system, The Last 24/361, which integrates evidence, media, and advanced forensic testing. Her work on high-profile cases, including The Boston Strangler, Natalie Holloway, Tupac Shakur and the Moore’s Ford Bridge lynching, led to her Emmy Award for CSI: Atlanta and induction into the National Law Enforcement Hall of Fame in 2023.
Social Links:
• Email: coldcase2004@gmail.com
• Twitter: @ColdCaseTips
• Facebook: @sheryl.mccollum
• Instagram: @officialzone7podcast
Preorder Sheryl’s upcoming book, Swans Don’t Swim in a Sewer: Lessons in Life, Justice, and Joy from a Forensic Scientist, releasing May 2026 from Simon and Schuster.
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Swans-Dont-Swim-in-a-Sewer/Sheryl-Mac-McCollum/9798895652824
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Cheryl Lynn Halkley was thirty four years old, a fifth
grade teacher, real popular. The kids loved her, other teachers
loved her, parents loved her. She was a mother of three.
But on October the twenty ninth, nineteen ninety three, she
went missing. Just two days later, on Halloween, she has
(00:33):
found murdered in her own mini van part less than
a mile from the school that she taught at where
she was last seen alive. So it's been thirty two years, y'all.
But we have got Laura Ingele from the Ingle Edit
on this case. Laura brought it to me. I had
never heard about this case, but she's got some compelling
(00:56):
video and information that she's gotten from law enforcement. So Laura,
tell us what just gravitated you toward this.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Case, Hi, Cheryl. I mean, this has been a case
that has haunted the Sacramento County, Sacramento area for as
you mentioned, over thirty years, and this takes place in
Granite Bay. Now, I was born and raised in Sacramento,
and I can tell you that Granite Bay is this
area near the main town of Sacramento that is just
(01:30):
it's just where all the fancy people live. I mean,
it's just it's always been considered the really nice part
of Sacramento. You've got downtown Sacramento, but you drive out
to the foothills and you've got fulsome lake and it's
just this really beautiful stretch of area that a lot
of people would move to if they have money. And
(01:52):
so this was a really and it was thirty years ago,
over thirty years ago, so it wasn't as built up
as it is now, I mean right now, and I
was just there. You drive around and you've got really
nice gated communities, homes that have you know, the mechanical
gates and all of that and all of that that
comes with. But back then it was much more rule,
(02:14):
but it was still considered a very nice part of town.
And when this happened, when Chryln Hackley, this beautiful teacher,
mother of three, you know, vanished on a Friday after
a Halloween party that had happened at the elementary school,
and everybody remembers, you know, that fifth sixth grade Halloween
(02:35):
energy and Halloween was on a Sunday that year, and
so Friday was that exciting time where the kids would
get to trick or treat from classroom to classroom at
this elementary school, and she was a fifth grade school teacher,
and she was last seen picking up popcorn. A janitor
(02:55):
had gone by her her classroom, and the party had
died down. All the kids that said goodbye for the weekend.
Everybody was in a good mood. Everybody was excited. Cherylyn
stayed behind because from according to all reports, she wanted
to clean up her classroom and kind of take down
Halloween because come Monday, it was November first, and Halloween
(03:17):
would be over, and she wanted to have a fresh start.
And that is the last time anybody saw her alive,
was in her classroom picking up the Halloween mess and
picking up some popcorn.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Okay, so what I love about the way you work
a case. It's real similar to myself. You like to
go there, you like to walk it, understand it, talk
to everybody that will talk to you. And here's my
question for that area. Would she have locked her van
in the school parking lot.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
That's a really good question. I mean, back then, maybe
maybe not, especially now that you say that. I mean,
let's say that she was packing up Halloween parties.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Applies.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
They're just Halloween decorations, right, We all know when school teachers,
elementary school teachers, they loved to decorate their classrooms for
their kids. And again she was adored. She had twenty
five students. She was friendly, she was social, and she
loved music, so she had a lot going on in
her classroom. And there's old pictures of her in her
classroom and you can see how nicely she had it
(04:21):
set up. So she might have been making trips. We
don't know because there weren't cameras back then, but that's
a good point.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Well, I guess what I'm thinking is she was last
seen alive inside the school, not even walk into her van,
so somebody could have been laying in Wait, that's the
first thing you've got to think about. Did somebody follow her?
Did they already know that was her van? Was hers
the only one unlocked? Like? What was her normal routine?
(04:50):
And maybe her daughters can answer that. But here's the
other thing that kind of strikes me. Where her van
was found, You're talking about less than a mile, Laura.
This was quick. This wasn't a long drawn out thing.
She wasn't tortured for days. I think whoever did this
crime got her. However, they got her either they acted
(05:14):
like they needed a ride, they were already in her van,
or they had some type of weapon and forced her
to do what they said, But they didn't go far.
And I'm thinking watching your video that you sent to
me and then looking at the crime scene pictures, there's
grass that's dead if you look at where her van
is left. So that's a place that's been traversed a lot.
(05:38):
People know that area, whether they go there to park
or smoke weed, or that's a cut through to get
to the other school that I'm not sure. But the
aerial photograph that you showed with all the woods around,
I mean in nineteen ninety three, this was isolated.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
It was really isolated.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
And I'm thinking, as the crow flies just a to
B be a direct line, how fast could you get
back to the scope in that area? So it might
have been a mile driving, but it ain't a mile cut.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Through right well, and especially if you are say a runner,
if you you know, if you if you're walking at
a good clip, it would probably take you about twenty
minutes if you're running, maybe faster. But you do bring
up a good point because these these rolling golden hills
of this area of the foothills of Granite Bay. They're
(06:31):
not they're not big mountains. I mean, it's it's pretty flat,
but there are you know what, there's a lot of
oak trees, these big lofty trees, great hiding spot and
if you see that, and you'll see the pictures that
are on my on my social media and that you
will share as well. But the oak trees are such
great hiding spots because they are so big. And that's
(06:51):
where her van was found, kind of tucked away. It
wasn't on the side of the road like right on
the shoulder. It was tucked away under these oak trees.
And according to reports, there were people. Remember, so she
goes missing on Friday evening sometime between five thirty six o'clock,
between five thirty and six thirty, maybe even that window there,
and then she's not found until Sunday on Halloween. And
(07:14):
according to reports, there were people that noticed the van
on Saturday that there was apparently some kind of a
sports team that had traveled by there and joggers had
seen it, but nobody stopped to go into that off
the shoulder area to look inside and peer inside the car.
Why would you write, why would you think to do that.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
But you're right.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
I mean, there's certainly there's certainly a chance that whoever
did this could have just done that cut through. And
if there were no structures as there are now their
homes and gates and all of that. But you make
a really good point. If somebody knew that area, they
could have made a bline easy.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
And here's the deal. They used her van.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
The only known crime scene.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Yeah, the only known crime scene. And this does not
appear to be a two person situation, so it's not
like another car followed them and then he got in
that car and took off right. And my understanding from
you is she was not sexually assaulted.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Correct, those are the reports as of right now. That
was you know, everything is being retested now. So the
Plaster County Sheriffs and what you asked me. You know,
first of all, I remember the story from nineteen ninety three.
I you know, I was doing other work at the time,
but I circled back to this because the Plaster County
Sheriff's Department just created a cold case team two years
(08:33):
ago and they put out a video that's really really compelling,
and they interview Sheryl and Hackley's children. They interview the
original detectives and one of my what the other thing
that really caught me was Anne Marie Schubert is now
on the cold case team. And that name may sound
familiar to people listening because she was part of She
(08:56):
was the DA who prosecuted the Golden State killer. So
Amory Schubert retires, Like, I mean, hero, hero, move here.
So Amory Schubert retires from Sacramento County. Now she's over
in Plaster County trying to solve these cold cases, which
I love.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Good for you, Anne, Yeah, that's that's that's what you
should be doing with all the talent and gifts you have.
I mean, she can help in ways that other people can't.
So good for you. Love it. So let's talk about
Sheriff wu now, because he's got one piece of evidence
that absolutely has my undivided attention, and that's a piece
of rope. Tell everybody about that rope.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
So they believe that SHERYLN. Hackley was strangled inside of
her vehicle with a rope, and that rope, surprisingly was
in the minivan. She was found in the backseat of
her minivan and the rope was there. There were some
other items, and I asked, I actually when I just
did my boots on the ground and I went there
(09:57):
a couple of weeks ago to talk to the communications
manager of the Plaster County Sheriff's Department. We talked about
They said, well, we're retesting all of the other evidence
that was there. And I said, well, can you tell
us what it is? What are we talking about? They
said they couldn't reveal it, but that basically everything in
the van, whatever it was, all of it is being
retested with the new DNA technology that is you know
(10:19):
now in this world. So they're just they're running it
all over again.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Well that's what should happen. Her clothing, the rope, whatever
else was found in there, if there was a beer can,
no matter what it is, it should all be tested. Yeah,
all of it.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
And there were fingerprints. We know that there were fingerprints,
but nothing came up at the time. And you know,
I'm not sure. It's a little unclear if back then
she may have given people rides. You know, it was
a different time in nineteen ninety three. If you could
give a kid a ride home, Laura.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
That's one of the first notes I have to ask
the daughters Is she the type of person that would
give a kid a ride, even a former student that
can now be seventeen. That was the question that I had.
Do we have a kid that knew her was troubled,
dropped out of school? Was he a problem for her?
Because let me tell you something. Let's just be real.
(11:10):
Anybody that is, as Dateline says, the life of the party,
everybody loved them. There may be one person that had
a problem with them, whether it was warranted or not.
There could be some child that thought she was not
this sweet, vivacious person that everybody else knew. Maybe she
(11:33):
gave them a bad grade and they got in trouble
and that started them on this path. I don't know,
but you can't rule it out because again, some people
may have a problem with you when you don't even
know who they are. Correct.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Yes, And she was relatively new to this area. And
what's interesting just the background on her family situation. She
was married and divorced. She had three children. At the time.
Her children were sixteen years old Melissa, fourteen year old Heather,
and ten year old Ryan. They were living with their
father in Chico. And that's that's a good eighty miles
(12:08):
away up north, so her family she divorced. She really
wanted to become a teacher. She got her teaching degree
up in Chico and then got this great job.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
Again.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
This is a primo area. This is a great school district.
This is where you want to be. Roseville is a
beautiful community. That's where she had recently bought a house,
like she was getting this whole new life. She had
a new boyfriend. And the boyfriend plays into this because
he was the one that realized that she They were
supposed to meet up that night, and he was the
(12:40):
one that went looking for her. And then he actually
called the ex husband in Chico, according to reports, and
said there's something going on. I can't find her, and
so that and then the police report was filed.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
Okay, and he's been cleared.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
According to the Placar County Sheriff's Department, he has been cleared.
The janitor who saw her picking up the popcorn and
cleaning up has been cleared. The husband who lives in
Chico has been cleared. And the question is you know
what happened in that parking lot. She was seen around
five point thirty cleaning up the popcorn. The janitor makes
(13:17):
another lap around six, doesn't see her. There was another two.
Everybody had cleared out. I mean, it's Friday, first of all,
it's Friday. Friday is a Friday at school no matter what,
and everybody was excited to get to their Halloween party.
So this was a pretty vacant parking lot when I
went there. I went to it's now a different type
of school, but the school still stands, and I went
(13:39):
to the front of the school. I walked around the
parking lot. I went to the side. We did our
interview with the Plaster County Sheriff's communications person in the
pouring rain under an awning. You know, I got a
really good look at all of the different areas of
this school, and it's a pretty traditional parking lot. There
is now a side parking lot on the side of
(13:59):
the school, but I was told from staff members who
were locking up and leaving for the day with the
day I was there, that that parking lot could have
been where she had parked if it was on the side.
But the Sheriff's department told me that that parking lot
was not there back in nineteen ninety three. That was
an addition, So we have to move that out of
our It's a perfect view to look like, Oh, it
(14:21):
looks like this could be something that might have happened.
But I've got to get the building plans to look
for hear into that. But it is, you know, when
you look around, there's there's no cameras. But it was
on a relatively busy street. But back then in nineteen
ninety three, again not there wasn't the homes that are
(14:42):
there now. But it is a busy area because people
are going around to Folsom Lake, which is a very
popular area to hang out November or not.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
So where the van was located. That looks to me
like somebody that knew the area. Would you agree with that? Yeah? Absolutely?
How long did she date the boyfriend?
Speaker 2 (15:00):
That's a great question it had I would guess, well,
I don't want to guess, but I know that she
had recently moved to the area, so I'm not sure exactly,
And that's a great question.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
And this was her first home that she bought on her.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Own, that's what it sounds like.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
And how long have the children been with their dad?
Do we know that?
Speaker 2 (15:16):
It's my understanding that she got her degree. I'm not
sure of the date of the divorce. But her children,
you know, they all knew that mom really wanted to
be a teacher. And I think that this was the
job that came out. It came up, this was the
job that came up, and this is the job she took.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
And so it sounds like they had a co parent
and thing down pretty good. He's going to help her,
she's going to help him. The kids were settled. Everybody's good.
It wasn't like she lost custody. I want to be
clear on the No, Yeah, that's what I thought. So
I just want to be sure that everybody's understanding what
I'm understanding. So, Laura, here's the deal. People are normally
(15:57):
killed for three reasons, right, Normally they're killed for money,
so they want something of value. Well, the most valuable
thing she had was her van. They didn't take that,
or her purse. Her purse was her purse was in
the van, or any money, right, I mean, nothing was
taking checks weren't use later on, a credit card wasn't
use later on. And then of course sex. So nobody
(16:20):
raped her that we know of that hasn't come out.
Nobody again assaulted her over a period of time, and
then of course you have revenge. This does not sound
like a woman in a high risk lifestyle. She's a
fifth grade teacher, well liked and respected in two situations.
(16:40):
She's got an ex husband, they're on good terms. She's
got a boyfriend, they're on good terms. She hasn't been
there long enough to make anybody too mad, you know,
parent or otherwise, or neighbor. So this kind of sounds
like stranger on stranger. And here's the other thing. If
it were a boyfriend or an ext has been chances
(17:00):
are this would have been done inside her home because
she would have let them in. This sounds like either again,
a student needed to ride, maybe somebody that she recognized
in some way in a gas station, convenience store, neighborhood,
I don't know, or they were laying in wait, And
(17:23):
I would start with that one.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
The one thing that you know came out at the
time that has been quiet, but now is kind of back.
You know, I'm going to I've circulated the picture. But
there was a person who was spotted going into the
school that didn't seem to belong. Now the plaster kind
of Sheriff's Department investigators are not calling this person a
(17:48):
suspect or even a person of interest. They just want
to speak to this person. And according to the police
files that have just been gone through, it was one
person who spotted this man. And there is a really
good suspect description and drawing of this man. And as
(18:09):
we sit here today, Cheryl, I got the description directly
from the investigators, and I'll read to you what they
sent me because it's pretty it gives you a good list.
Here here's the official description that was shared with the
media and the public at the time back in nineteen
ninety three. This man was in his mid thirties. He
(18:30):
was approximately six feet He was husky or muscular build,
hairy arms and legs, dark brown or dark chocolate brown,
wavy hair just over the ears, dressed in blue shorts
and a faded, sweat stained pink tank top. Believed to
be wearing sandals or possibly barefoot, and was driving an older,
(18:52):
faded white Volkswagen Bug that was parked near the entrance
to the Eureka Elementary School.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
And law enforcement doesn't have that vehicle in any other Crown.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Not that I am aware of, not that they have
shared with me. They this was this was a person
who was spotted near the school around the time. We
don't know who spotted this person, and I have been
told this is you know, we're not calling this person
a suspect. It's not a person of interest. It's just
maybe maybe this person, well you want to talk to him,
(19:26):
of course, because maybe he saw something. Right. Well, here's
the thing. Is this picture, this sketch was circulated widely
back then. So is this somebody that never watched the news?
Is it somebody who was a drifter? Is it somebody
you know, because you'll see the picture when you go
to our socials and you check it out. It's it's
(19:47):
very distinctive.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
And I will share it too, because here's the thing.
If somebody took notice that, hey, it's way after school.
I mean it's hours after the kids are out, and
it's Halloween, so parents on Halloween weekend are usually a
little heightened anyway, And he doesn't have a child with him,
and he's barefoot walking into a school. So again, now
(20:10):
my question becomes from the front door. If you walked
in the front door versus a side door, where's her classroom?
Could they have intersected? Could he have said, hey, I'm
looking for so and so and she goes, hey, let
me walk you here or let me see and then
he brandishes a knife and say where's your car, you know,
get in it or whatever. I don't know. There's a
(20:30):
million things that could happen, but your mind starts to
try to put these pieces together. Not in a fabulous portrait.
I mean, we have to play worst case scenario because
the reality is somebody murdered her in her own car
and somebody could have easily gotten back to another vehicle
or a home.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
Yes, I mean it's one of these cases. Like I said,
when I was there at the school and I was
I was in the front of the school. I was
filming through the bars the front gate, and of course,
you know, I got busted. Somebody came out and they
said what are you doing and I said, I'm just here.
You know, it was after hours, there were no children there,
(21:12):
and I said, I'm a reporter and I'm investigating this.
And they said, yeah, every once in a while we
get people that a film crew that shows up. You know,
it depends on an anniversary. But they were talking about
it and they it still has spooked to these people
that work there. They didn't want to go on camera
and apparently there is a plaque in the back of
(21:32):
the school that has her name on it that remembers her.
And he said, you know, we do know about it
here at the school, and everybody is still trying to
piece it together. You know, who who could have done
something so horrific? Who knows something? And if somebody, you know,
they they are putting out this information now hoping that
(21:53):
somebody will come forward, and obviously hoping that DNA will
will solve this thing, and the rerunning of all of
it with the depart and of Justice, will we'll come
up with something. We'll come up with some type of
a hit that will give us more information to report.
But maybe somebody was afraid to come forward. Back then,
maybe this man who was spotted at the school saw something.
(22:14):
Maybe he'll see his picture out there and think, oh
my gosh, you know I should come forward, Or maybe
somebody recognizes the sketch and knows who it is. That's
what we're hoping for is just keep telling the story,
keep getting boots on the ground and going back there
and saying, does this any of this look familiar to
you now? Is it something that's been gnawing at you
or something that you just didn't think was important back then,
(22:36):
it's important.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
And maybe somebody wives recognize the picture. Have they thought
about exooming her at all to make sure they collected
everything off of her?
Speaker 2 (22:47):
Not that I have been told or I'm aware of,
but we can certainly look into that.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Well, you've done a great job, and y'all, we are
going to share the composite. We're going to share Laura's
videos and you need to check out the angle edit
because it again, she's got a ton of vital information
and it's visual. I'm a visual person. Laura drives the
route and even though it's built up and these homes
(23:11):
are beautiful, the landscape and is flawless, you still get
a sense of just how quick somebody could get there.
But again, for me, it's how he left there. And
to me, as the crow flies is going to be
critical because I think he got back pretty quick.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
We've just got to get this information out there and
help this family. These you know, you can hear it
in their voices. They were interviewed by the Plaster County
Sheriff's Department for this video to remind everybody that this
case is unsolved and bravo to the Plaster County Sheriff's
Department that has created this cold case unit and all
(23:50):
the people and there are not only the current detectives.
And I always love this. And when I hear that
the former detectives who worked a case years and decades
ago are helping out. Yes, maam and asked, fam, I
love to hear that, and I want to hear that
so that we know that everybody who has had eyes
on this from the beginning gets at the same table
and talks about it, shares the information, goes down the road.
(24:13):
Who knows what comes of it. But this is a
this is a cold kick. Yeah, this is a cold
case that needs the attention.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
But here's the reality. There are things those detectives know
that didn't make it in the file. So everybody get
in the same room. The original detective can say, hey,
we always thought this guy, but we had no proof,
so they didn't write it down. But I know you
and I talk about this all the time. Nine times
(24:40):
out of ten, the name's in the report. So they
need to go back ground zero and work it. Just
because somebody else cleared them, clear them again, that's right.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
I mean when I was talking to the team that's
doing this and also the people that have been reporting
on this as well, talking about the documentation. This is
better than anyone that keeps everything all those old interviews
from nineteen ninety three, the crime being photos, the transcripts,
the witness interviews, anything that you can think of that
goes into every report, every all of it that goes
(25:14):
into this file that goes through that they're going through
again now and they've been going through it now. We're
waiting for DNA, but we just hope that there's something
in there. And maybe there was something in there all along.
I keep thinking about Rex Huerman and you know, the
trooper that found the Chevy Avalanche, and maybe there's something
like that in the file that will come forward.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Do you know if the rope was cut, like, was
it you know, strangle ready? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (25:41):
I am unclear of that at this point, and that
information has not been released. They've only called it a rope.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
Okay, that's good enough. That's good enough for me. Hold
it close to the vest I get it right.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
But yeah, in the DNA technology. And I keep thinking
too about going back to the Suffolk County Crime Lab.
Years before a couple of years before Rex Chuerman was
arrested and I was shown the Suffolk County Crime Lab
and I always remember the MVAC machine and talking about
how they can extract and they actually had a piece
of physical piece of rope next to that, and how
(26:13):
you know it's so porous and it can hold so
much and you've talked about it with BTT. I mean,
rope is so important and it can hold so much information.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
And everybody does the same thing with rope. They pull
it straight, they pull it straight, and every time you
do that, you're leaving more skin self, you know. And
most people even wrap it and then start to strangle.
So that's even better. And here's the thing. You know,
Laura again, you've done an incredible job. We're going to
share everything, and I'll even give the tip line, y'all.
(26:45):
The tip line is five three zero eight eight nine
seven eight three zero. If you know anything, if somebody
has said something and you thought, oh he's just talking,
he's crazy, he's drunk. Maybe maybe not any information no
matter how small, could break this thing wide open. And
(27:07):
in the meantime, wait on DNA. I say, we listened
to the nine one one call. Do a statement analysis
on it do a geographical profile. There's things we can
do while we're.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
Waiting, and the other thing I wanted to bring up
when I went to the school. I went to the
school twice on the recent trip that I had in California.
I went when I first got there. I went and
it was pouring rain and alas so Vir is the
communications director, and God bless her. She stood with me
in the rain under the awning of the administration building
(27:39):
that's right next door, and we talked and we looked
at the parking lot together. And then I went back
again a second time, and after I got done filming
and showing a little bit closer up by the gate
because I didn't want to show any school children when
I was there the first time, And I went when
I knew everybody was gone. And I came back to
my friends house where I was staying, and we talked
(28:01):
about the case, and her family happened to be over
and they said, oh, we remember this case, like people
were really really shook by this. I mean, and talk
about and talk about the children who came back from
Halloween weekend, her chi children and her well her children of.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Course, no, I meant her students. That's her children, I meant,
her classroom. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
Can you imagine they had to have grief counselors the
whole schlashook. I mean, these these little kids that you
know your teacher is dead.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
Yeah, and in a horrible way, not a car wreck,
you know, and you're thinking about they're ten years old,
and you know, you get close to a teacher pretty quick,
you know what I mean. I mean, that's a that's
a tough age to not be able to even comprehend
what's happened. But you know your parents are scared, your
(28:51):
neighbors are scared. Other teachers are scared. That would be horrible, horrible.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
It was somebody who did this to Chryln Hockley, who
is still out there today. We have to just keep
sharing the story. We have to keep sharing anything that
we get. Somebody out there must know something.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
Well. Laura Engel, thank you so much, and we're only
it now, honey.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
Thank you, thank you very much for having me and
sharing this story. I always appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
Y'all. Won't get an end Zone seven the way that
I always do with a quote. It's not about being
in the wrong place and the wrong time as a woman.
You're just coming home from work, going out, living your life,
and every moment can be your last. Professor Mary mccaulty,
(29:38):
violence against Women expert. I'm Cheryl McCollum, and this is
Zone seven.
Cheryl Lynn Halkley was thirty four years old, a fifth
grade teacher, real popular. The kids loved her, other teachers
loved her, parents loved her. She was a mother of three.
But on October the twenty ninth, nineteen ninety three, she
went missing. Just two days later, on Halloween, she has
(00:33):
found murdered in her own mini van part less than
a mile from the school that she taught at where
she was last seen alive. So it's been thirty two years, y'all.
But we have got Laura Ingele from the Ingle Edit
on this case. Laura brought it to me. I had
never heard about this case, but she's got some compelling
(00:56):
video and information that she's gotten from law enforcement. So Laura,
tell us what just gravitated you toward this.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Case, Hi, Cheryl. I mean, this has been a case
that has haunted the Sacramento County, Sacramento area for as
you mentioned, over thirty years, and this takes place in
Granite Bay. Now, I was born and raised in Sacramento,
and I can tell you that Granite Bay is this
area near the main town of Sacramento that is just
(01:30):
it's just where all the fancy people live. I mean,
it's just it's always been considered the really nice part
of Sacramento. You've got downtown Sacramento, but you drive out
to the foothills and you've got fulsome lake and it's
just this really beautiful stretch of area that a lot
of people would move to if they have money. And
(01:52):
so this was a really and it was thirty years ago,
over thirty years ago, so it wasn't as built up
as it is now, I mean right now, and I
was just there. You drive around and you've got really
nice gated communities, homes that have you know, the mechanical
gates and all of that and all of that that
comes with. But back then it was much more rule,
(02:14):
but it was still considered a very nice part of town.
And when this happened, when Chryln Hackley, this beautiful teacher,
mother of three, you know, vanished on a Friday after
a Halloween party that had happened at the elementary school,
and everybody remembers, you know, that fifth sixth grade Halloween
(02:35):
energy and Halloween was on a Sunday that year, and
so Friday was that exciting time where the kids would
get to trick or treat from classroom to classroom at
this elementary school, and she was a fifth grade school teacher,
and she was last seen picking up popcorn. A janitor
(02:55):
had gone by her her classroom, and the party had
died down. All the kids that said goodbye for the weekend.
Everybody was in a good mood. Everybody was excited. Cherylyn
stayed behind because from according to all reports, she wanted
to clean up her classroom and kind of take down
Halloween because come Monday, it was November first, and Halloween
(03:17):
would be over, and she wanted to have a fresh start.
And that is the last time anybody saw her alive,
was in her classroom picking up the Halloween mess and
picking up some popcorn.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Okay, so what I love about the way you work
a case. It's real similar to myself. You like to
go there, you like to walk it, understand it, talk
to everybody that will talk to you. And here's my
question for that area. Would she have locked her van
in the school parking lot.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
That's a really good question. I mean, back then, maybe
maybe not, especially now that you say that. I mean,
let's say that she was packing up Halloween parties.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Applies.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
They're just Halloween decorations, right, We all know when school teachers,
elementary school teachers, they loved to decorate their classrooms for
their kids. And again she was adored. She had twenty
five students. She was friendly, she was social, and she
loved music, so she had a lot going on in
her classroom. And there's old pictures of her in her
classroom and you can see how nicely she had it
(04:21):
set up. So she might have been making trips. We
don't know because there weren't cameras back then, but that's
a good point.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Well, I guess what I'm thinking is she was last
seen alive inside the school, not even walk into her van,
so somebody could have been laying in Wait, that's the
first thing you've got to think about. Did somebody follow her?
Did they already know that was her van? Was hers
the only one unlocked? Like? What was her normal routine?
(04:50):
And maybe her daughters can answer that. But here's the
other thing that kind of strikes me. Where her van
was found, You're talking about less than a mile, Laura.
This was quick. This wasn't a long drawn out thing.
She wasn't tortured for days. I think whoever did this
crime got her. However, they got her either they acted
(05:14):
like they needed a ride, they were already in her van,
or they had some type of weapon and forced her
to do what they said, But they didn't go far.
And I'm thinking watching your video that you sent to
me and then looking at the crime scene pictures, there's
grass that's dead if you look at where her van
is left. So that's a place that's been traversed a lot.
(05:38):
People know that area, whether they go there to park
or smoke weed, or that's a cut through to get
to the other school that I'm not sure. But the
aerial photograph that you showed with all the woods around,
I mean in nineteen ninety three, this was isolated.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
It was really isolated.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
And I'm thinking, as the crow flies just a to
B be a direct line, how fast could you get
back to the scope in that area? So it might
have been a mile driving, but it ain't a mile cut.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Through right well, and especially if you are say a runner,
if you you know, if you if you're walking at
a good clip, it would probably take you about twenty
minutes if you're running, maybe faster. But you do bring
up a good point because these these rolling golden hills
of this area of the foothills of Granite Bay. They're
(06:31):
not they're not big mountains. I mean, it's it's pretty flat,
but there are you know what, there's a lot of
oak trees, these big lofty trees, great hiding spot and
if you see that, and you'll see the pictures that
are on my on my social media and that you
will share as well. But the oak trees are such
great hiding spots because they are so big. And that's
(06:51):
where her van was found, kind of tucked away. It
wasn't on the side of the road like right on
the shoulder. It was tucked away under these oak trees.
And according to reports, there were people. Remember, so she
goes missing on Friday evening sometime between five thirty six o'clock,
between five thirty and six thirty, maybe even that window there,
and then she's not found until Sunday on Halloween. And
(07:14):
according to reports, there were people that noticed the van
on Saturday that there was apparently some kind of a
sports team that had traveled by there and joggers had
seen it, but nobody stopped to go into that off
the shoulder area to look inside and peer inside the car.
Why would you write, why would you think to do that.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
But you're right.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
I mean, there's certainly there's certainly a chance that whoever
did this could have just done that cut through. And
if there were no structures as there are now their
homes and gates and all of that. But you make
a really good point. If somebody knew that area, they
could have made a bline easy.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
And here's the deal. They used her van.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
The only known crime scene.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Yeah, the only known crime scene. And this does not
appear to be a two person situation, so it's not
like another car followed them and then he got in
that car and took off right. And my understanding from
you is she was not sexually assaulted.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Correct, those are the reports as of right now. That
was you know, everything is being retested now. So the
Plaster County Sheriffs and what you asked me. You know,
first of all, I remember the story from nineteen ninety three.
I you know, I was doing other work at the time,
but I circled back to this because the Plaster County
Sheriff's Department just created a cold case team two years
(08:33):
ago and they put out a video that's really really compelling,
and they interview Sheryl and Hackley's children. They interview the
original detectives and one of my what the other thing
that really caught me was Anne Marie Schubert is now
on the cold case team. And that name may sound
familiar to people listening because she was part of She
(08:56):
was the DA who prosecuted the Golden State killer. So
Amory Schubert retires, Like, I mean, hero, hero, move here.
So Amory Schubert retires from Sacramento County. Now she's over
in Plaster County trying to solve these cold cases, which
I love.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Good for you, Anne, Yeah, that's that's that's what you
should be doing with all the talent and gifts you have.
I mean, she can help in ways that other people can't.
So good for you. Love it. So let's talk about
Sheriff wu now, because he's got one piece of evidence
that absolutely has my undivided attention, and that's a piece
of rope. Tell everybody about that rope.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
So they believe that SHERYLN. Hackley was strangled inside of
her vehicle with a rope, and that rope, surprisingly was
in the minivan. She was found in the backseat of
her minivan and the rope was there. There were some
other items, and I asked, I actually when I just
did my boots on the ground and I went there
(09:57):
a couple of weeks ago to talk to the communications
manager of the Plaster County Sheriff's Department. We talked about
They said, well, we're retesting all of the other evidence
that was there. And I said, well, can you tell
us what it is? What are we talking about? They
said they couldn't reveal it, but that basically everything in
the van, whatever it was, all of it is being
retested with the new DNA technology that is you know
(10:19):
now in this world. So they're just they're running it
all over again.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Well that's what should happen. Her clothing, the rope, whatever
else was found in there, if there was a beer can,
no matter what it is, it should all be tested. Yeah,
all of it.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
And there were fingerprints. We know that there were fingerprints,
but nothing came up at the time. And you know,
I'm not sure. It's a little unclear if back then
she may have given people rides. You know, it was
a different time in nineteen ninety three. If you could
give a kid a ride home, Laura.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
That's one of the first notes I have to ask
the daughters Is she the type of person that would
give a kid a ride, even a former student that
can now be seventeen. That was the question that I had.
Do we have a kid that knew her was troubled,
dropped out of school? Was he a problem for her?
Because let me tell you something. Let's just be real.
(11:10):
Anybody that is, as Dateline says, the life of the party,
everybody loved them. There may be one person that had
a problem with them, whether it was warranted or not.
There could be some child that thought she was not
this sweet, vivacious person that everybody else knew. Maybe she
(11:33):
gave them a bad grade and they got in trouble
and that started them on this path. I don't know,
but you can't rule it out because again, some people
may have a problem with you when you don't even
know who they are. Correct.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Yes, And she was relatively new to this area. And
what's interesting just the background on her family situation. She
was married and divorced. She had three children. At the time.
Her children were sixteen years old Melissa, fourteen year old Heather,
and ten year old Ryan. They were living with their
father in Chico. And that's that's a good eighty miles
(12:08):
away up north, so her family she divorced. She really
wanted to become a teacher. She got her teaching degree
up in Chico and then got this great job.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
Again.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
This is a primo area. This is a great school district.
This is where you want to be. Roseville is a
beautiful community. That's where she had recently bought a house,
like she was getting this whole new life. She had
a new boyfriend. And the boyfriend plays into this because
he was the one that realized that she They were
supposed to meet up that night, and he was the
(12:40):
one that went looking for her. And then he actually
called the ex husband in Chico, according to reports, and
said there's something going on. I can't find her, and
so that and then the police report was filed.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
Okay, and he's been cleared.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
According to the Placar County Sheriff's Department, he has been cleared.
The janitor who saw her picking up the popcorn and
cleaning up has been cleared. The husband who lives in
Chico has been cleared. And the question is you know
what happened in that parking lot. She was seen around
five point thirty cleaning up the popcorn. The janitor makes
(13:17):
another lap around six, doesn't see her. There was another two.
Everybody had cleared out. I mean, it's Friday, first of all,
it's Friday. Friday is a Friday at school no matter what,
and everybody was excited to get to their Halloween party.
So this was a pretty vacant parking lot when I
went there. I went to it's now a different type
of school, but the school still stands, and I went
(13:39):
to the front of the school. I walked around the
parking lot. I went to the side. We did our
interview with the Plaster County Sheriff's communications person in the
pouring rain under an awning. You know, I got a
really good look at all of the different areas of
this school, and it's a pretty traditional parking lot. There
is now a side parking lot on the side of
(13:59):
the school, but I was told from staff members who
were locking up and leaving for the day with the
day I was there, that that parking lot could have
been where she had parked if it was on the side.
But the Sheriff's department told me that that parking lot
was not there back in nineteen ninety three. That was
an addition, So we have to move that out of
our It's a perfect view to look like, Oh, it
(14:21):
looks like this could be something that might have happened.
But I've got to get the building plans to look
for hear into that. But it is, you know, when
you look around, there's there's no cameras. But it was
on a relatively busy street. But back then in nineteen
ninety three, again not there wasn't the homes that are
(14:42):
there now. But it is a busy area because people
are going around to Folsom Lake, which is a very
popular area to hang out November or not.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
So where the van was located. That looks to me
like somebody that knew the area. Would you agree with that? Yeah? Absolutely?
How long did she date the boyfriend?
Speaker 2 (15:00):
That's a great question it had I would guess, well,
I don't want to guess, but I know that she
had recently moved to the area, so I'm not sure exactly,
And that's a great question.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
And this was her first home that she bought on her.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Own, that's what it sounds like.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
And how long have the children been with their dad?
Do we know that?
Speaker 2 (15:16):
It's my understanding that she got her degree. I'm not
sure of the date of the divorce. But her children,
you know, they all knew that mom really wanted to
be a teacher. And I think that this was the
job that came out. It came up, this was the
job that came up, and this is the job she took.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
And so it sounds like they had a co parent
and thing down pretty good. He's going to help her,
she's going to help him. The kids were settled. Everybody's good.
It wasn't like she lost custody. I want to be
clear on the No, Yeah, that's what I thought. So
I just want to be sure that everybody's understanding what
I'm understanding. So, Laura, here's the deal. People are normally
(15:57):
killed for three reasons, right, Normally they're killed for money,
so they want something of value. Well, the most valuable
thing she had was her van. They didn't take that,
or her purse. Her purse was her purse was in
the van, or any money, right, I mean, nothing was
taking checks weren't use later on, a credit card wasn't
use later on. And then of course sex. So nobody
(16:20):
raped her that we know of that hasn't come out.
Nobody again assaulted her over a period of time, and
then of course you have revenge. This does not sound
like a woman in a high risk lifestyle. She's a
fifth grade teacher, well liked and respected in two situations.
(16:40):
She's got an ex husband, they're on good terms. She's
got a boyfriend, they're on good terms. She hasn't been
there long enough to make anybody too mad, you know,
parent or otherwise, or neighbor. So this kind of sounds
like stranger on stranger. And here's the other thing. If
it were a boyfriend or an ext has been chances
(17:00):
are this would have been done inside her home because
she would have let them in. This sounds like either again,
a student needed to ride, maybe somebody that she recognized
in some way in a gas station, convenience store, neighborhood,
I don't know, or they were laying in wait, And
(17:23):
I would start with that one.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
The one thing that you know came out at the
time that has been quiet, but now is kind of back.
You know, I'm going to I've circulated the picture. But
there was a person who was spotted going into the
school that didn't seem to belong. Now the plaster kind
of Sheriff's Department investigators are not calling this person a
(17:48):
suspect or even a person of interest. They just want
to speak to this person. And according to the police
files that have just been gone through, it was one
person who spotted this man. And there is a really
good suspect description and drawing of this man. And as
(18:09):
we sit here today, Cheryl, I got the description directly
from the investigators, and I'll read to you what they
sent me because it's pretty it gives you a good list.
Here here's the official description that was shared with the
media and the public at the time back in nineteen
ninety three. This man was in his mid thirties. He
(18:30):
was approximately six feet He was husky or muscular build,
hairy arms and legs, dark brown or dark chocolate brown,
wavy hair just over the ears, dressed in blue shorts
and a faded, sweat stained pink tank top. Believed to
be wearing sandals or possibly barefoot, and was driving an older,
(18:52):
faded white Volkswagen Bug that was parked near the entrance
to the Eureka Elementary School.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
And law enforcement doesn't have that vehicle in any other Crown.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Not that I am aware of, not that they have
shared with me. They this was this was a person
who was spotted near the school around the time. We
don't know who spotted this person, and I have been
told this is you know, we're not calling this person
a suspect. It's not a person of interest. It's just
maybe maybe this person, well you want to talk to him,
(19:26):
of course, because maybe he saw something. Right. Well, here's
the thing. Is this picture, this sketch was circulated widely
back then. So is this somebody that never watched the news?
Is it somebody who was a drifter? Is it somebody
you know, because you'll see the picture when you go
to our socials and you check it out. It's it's
(19:47):
very distinctive.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
And I will share it too, because here's the thing.
If somebody took notice that, hey, it's way after school.
I mean it's hours after the kids are out, and
it's Halloween, so parents on Halloween weekend are usually a
little heightened anyway, And he doesn't have a child with him,
and he's barefoot walking into a school. So again, now
(20:10):
my question becomes from the front door. If you walked
in the front door versus a side door, where's her classroom?
Could they have intersected? Could he have said, hey, I'm
looking for so and so and she goes, hey, let
me walk you here or let me see and then
he brandishes a knife and say where's your car, you know,
get in it or whatever. I don't know. There's a
(20:30):
million things that could happen, but your mind starts to
try to put these pieces together. Not in a fabulous portrait.
I mean, we have to play worst case scenario because
the reality is somebody murdered her in her own car
and somebody could have easily gotten back to another vehicle
or a home.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
Yes, I mean it's one of these cases. Like I said,
when I was there at the school and I was
I was in the front of the school. I was
filming through the bars the front gate, and of course,
you know, I got busted. Somebody came out and they
said what are you doing and I said, I'm just here.
You know, it was after hours, there were no children there,
(21:12):
and I said, I'm a reporter and I'm investigating this.
And they said, yeah, every once in a while we
get people that a film crew that shows up. You know,
it depends on an anniversary. But they were talking about
it and they it still has spooked to these people
that work there. They didn't want to go on camera
and apparently there is a plaque in the back of
(21:32):
the school that has her name on it that remembers her.
And he said, you know, we do know about it
here at the school, and everybody is still trying to
piece it together. You know, who who could have done
something so horrific? Who knows something? And if somebody, you know,
they they are putting out this information now hoping that
(21:53):
somebody will come forward, and obviously hoping that DNA will
will solve this thing, and the rerunning of all of
it with the depart and of Justice, will we'll come
up with something. We'll come up with some type of
a hit that will give us more information to report.
But maybe somebody was afraid to come forward. Back then,
maybe this man who was spotted at the school saw something.
(22:14):
Maybe he'll see his picture out there and think, oh
my gosh, you know I should come forward, Or maybe
somebody recognizes the sketch and knows who it is. That's
what we're hoping for is just keep telling the story,
keep getting boots on the ground and going back there
and saying, does this any of this look familiar to
you now? Is it something that's been gnawing at you
or something that you just didn't think was important back then,
(22:36):
it's important.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
And maybe somebody wives recognize the picture. Have they thought
about exooming her at all to make sure they collected
everything off of her?
Speaker 2 (22:47):
Not that I have been told or I'm aware of,
but we can certainly look into that.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Well, you've done a great job, and y'all, we are
going to share the composite. We're going to share Laura's
videos and you need to check out the angle edit
because it again, she's got a ton of vital information
and it's visual. I'm a visual person. Laura drives the
route and even though it's built up and these homes
(23:11):
are beautiful, the landscape and is flawless, you still get
a sense of just how quick somebody could get there.
But again, for me, it's how he left there. And
to me, as the crow flies is going to be
critical because I think he got back pretty quick.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
We've just got to get this information out there and
help this family. These you know, you can hear it
in their voices. They were interviewed by the Plaster County
Sheriff's Department for this video to remind everybody that this
case is unsolved and bravo to the Plaster County Sheriff's
Department that has created this cold case unit and all
(23:50):
the people and there are not only the current detectives.
And I always love this. And when I hear that
the former detectives who worked a case years and decades
ago are helping out. Yes, maam and asked, fam, I
love to hear that, and I want to hear that
so that we know that everybody who has had eyes
on this from the beginning gets at the same table
and talks about it, shares the information, goes down the road.
(24:13):
Who knows what comes of it. But this is a
this is a cold kick. Yeah, this is a cold
case that needs the attention.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
But here's the reality. There are things those detectives know
that didn't make it in the file. So everybody get
in the same room. The original detective can say, hey,
we always thought this guy, but we had no proof,
so they didn't write it down. But I know you
and I talk about this all the time. Nine times
(24:40):
out of ten, the name's in the report. So they
need to go back ground zero and work it. Just
because somebody else cleared them, clear them again, that's right.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
I mean when I was talking to the team that's
doing this and also the people that have been reporting
on this as well, talking about the documentation. This is
better than anyone that keeps everything all those old interviews
from nineteen ninety three, the crime being photos, the transcripts,
the witness interviews, anything that you can think of that
goes into every report, every all of it that goes
(25:14):
into this file that goes through that they're going through
again now and they've been going through it now. We're
waiting for DNA, but we just hope that there's something
in there. And maybe there was something in there all along.
I keep thinking about Rex Huerman and you know, the
trooper that found the Chevy Avalanche, and maybe there's something
like that in the file that will come forward.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Do you know if the rope was cut, like, was
it you know, strangle ready? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (25:41):
I am unclear of that at this point, and that
information has not been released. They've only called it a rope.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
Okay, that's good enough. That's good enough for me. Hold
it close to the vest I get it right.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
But yeah, in the DNA technology. And I keep thinking
too about going back to the Suffolk County Crime Lab.
Years before a couple of years before Rex Chuerman was
arrested and I was shown the Suffolk County Crime Lab
and I always remember the MVAC machine and talking about
how they can extract and they actually had a piece
of physical piece of rope next to that, and how
(26:13):
you know it's so porous and it can hold so
much and you've talked about it with BTT. I mean,
rope is so important and it can hold so much information.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
And everybody does the same thing with rope. They pull
it straight, they pull it straight, and every time you
do that, you're leaving more skin self, you know. And
most people even wrap it and then start to strangle.
So that's even better. And here's the thing. You know,
Laura again, you've done an incredible job. We're going to
share everything, and I'll even give the tip line, y'all.
(26:45):
The tip line is five three zero eight eight nine
seven eight three zero. If you know anything, if somebody
has said something and you thought, oh he's just talking,
he's crazy, he's drunk. Maybe maybe not any information no
matter how small, could break this thing wide open. And
(27:07):
in the meantime, wait on DNA. I say, we listened
to the nine one one call. Do a statement analysis
on it do a geographical profile. There's things we can
do while we're.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
Waiting, and the other thing I wanted to bring up
when I went to the school. I went to the
school twice on the recent trip that I had in California.
I went when I first got there. I went and
it was pouring rain and alas so Vir is the
communications director, and God bless her. She stood with me
in the rain under the awning of the administration building
(27:39):
that's right next door, and we talked and we looked
at the parking lot together. And then I went back
again a second time, and after I got done filming
and showing a little bit closer up by the gate
because I didn't want to show any school children when
I was there the first time, And I went when
I knew everybody was gone. And I came back to
my friends house where I was staying, and we talked
(28:01):
about the case, and her family happened to be over
and they said, oh, we remember this case, like people
were really really shook by this. I mean, and talk
about and talk about the children who came back from
Halloween weekend, her chi children and her well her children of.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Course, no, I meant her students. That's her children, I meant,
her classroom. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
Can you imagine they had to have grief counselors the
whole schlashook. I mean, these these little kids that you
know your teacher is dead.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
Yeah, and in a horrible way, not a car wreck,
you know, and you're thinking about they're ten years old,
and you know, you get close to a teacher pretty quick,
you know what I mean. I mean, that's a that's
a tough age to not be able to even comprehend
what's happened. But you know your parents are scared, your
(28:51):
neighbors are scared. Other teachers are scared. That would be horrible, horrible.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
It was somebody who did this to Chryln Hockley, who
is still out there today. We have to just keep
sharing the story. We have to keep sharing anything that
we get. Somebody out there must know something.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
Well. Laura Engel, thank you so much, and we're only
it now, honey.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
Thank you, thank you very much for having me and
sharing this story. I always appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
Y'all. Won't get an end Zone seven the way that
I always do with a quote. It's not about being
in the wrong place and the wrong time as a woman.
You're just coming home from work, going out, living your life,
and every moment can be your last. Professor Mary mccaulty,
(29:38):
violence against Women expert. I'm Cheryl McCollum, and this is
Zone seven.
Host
Sheryl McCollum
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