Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Little leaguer shot dead on bike, NEW EVIDENCE TO CRACK MURDER OF CHUCKIE MAUK?

Episode Date: December 22, 2020

Just after supper, Chuckie Mauk asks permission to ride his bike to the store to get candy. He never comes home. The 13-year-old boy is seen talking to someone in a white car and is then found shot in the head, still clutching the bubble gum he had bought. Today Chuckie Mauk's neighborhood friends, who saw him that day, join Nancy Grace to tell what they saw, including someone who saw Chuckie talking with the man in the white car.On our panel today: Cathy Miller - Chuckie's mom Sheryl McCollum - Forensics Expert and Cold Case Investigative Research Institute Founder Chris Pate - Neighborhood friend Jason Cranford - Chuckie's friend Chanda Burch - Chuckie's girlfriend Chris Panaczek - Neighborhood friend Dr. Bethany Marshall - Psychoanalyst, Beverly Hills Levi Page - Investigative reporter Crime Online Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Whenever I get my twins ready for one of their games, be it soccer or basketball or my daughter plays volleyball, and I'm getting their uniform ready for them. Very often I think of another little boy in his uniform because that's how I will forever envision Chucky Mock. He had a little little league outfit. It was red and white with white pants and the red shirt and the red white cap and he's holding a glove. Today in a highly unusual program we have gathered friends of his before he was murdered. The cold case of Chucky Mock.

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Chucky Mock, a little boy, a little leaguer, gunned down, riding his bike. What happened? We want justice. With me, a panel unlike any other I have ever seen. With me, to put this cold case back together again, Chucky's mother, now my friend, Kathy Miller. Cheryl McCollum, director of the Cold Case Research Institute.

Chris Pate Robillard, a neighborhood girl that saw Chucky the day he was gunned down riding his bike, Still unsolved. Jason Cranford, Chucky's friend who has put up a hundred thousand dollar reward. Shonda Burch, Chucky's girlfriend. He asked his mom, could he give Shonda her emerald ring to save it for them for their engagement. Chris Panachek joining me. Chris at a red light in a car with his sister when he saw Chucky just before Chucky was murdered. With me, Dr. Bethany Marshall, psychoanalyst to the stars and CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter Levi Page. First, I want you to take a listen to our friends at 41 NBC WMGT. This is Skyler Henry. He lived right behind the bowling

alley on Burns Drive. He'd ride his bike to a nearby convenience store all the time to buy candy. But one February night was different. Sometime within those ensuing minutes, someone heard a loud pop. One witness that I've talked to actually described it as thinking it was a firecracker and kids playing. This is where Chucky's body was found. He lived in the neighborhood just beyond this fence post. Witnesses say they saw him talking to someone in a light-colored car, but they don't know who.

We had a lot of witnesses. A lot of people saw things. They see a vehicle speeding away. As they approach, within the next two minutes, Chucky's found deceased. What happened? You are hearing our friend at WMGT NBC, Skylar Henry, speaking to the Houston County Sheriff, Captain John Holland. Let me go straight out to Chucky's mother, Kathy Miller, joining me now. Kathy, I'm going to hold on this to this case as long as we have to. And I want you to tell our listeners, our viewers now what happened the evening you last saw Chucky. The last evening I saw Chucky, it was a Monday evening.

We had just finished supper, and I'm cleaning up the table and everything, and Chucky asked me if he could go to Giant to buy candy for the next day at school, which I heard later that he would sell to make money to buy more candy to sell at recess or whatever it was. And I'm thinking, you know, no, you really shouldn't go. But I said, yes. I said, yes, you can go. Not looking at it, just cleaning up. And I didn't look at him, and he walked out the door.

And that was it. What happened next? The next thing I know is about 30 minutes later, a friend in the neighborhood came and knocked on my door and said, Chuckie's hurt. I can see him laying up here by a giant. And I thought, oh, my God, he's fallen off his bike. He's hurt his leg or something.

So Pete, Chuckie's stepfather, and Greg, his little brother and myself, we just ran up there to get him. I thought I'd just see him sitting there. And as I'm running, I can see that it is so much worse. And it's like I can't get there. I'm running in slow motion. Pete stopped me and told me that it was Chucky and that he was dead and that somebody had hit him with a car is what they thought at first. And then a lot of things aren't clear after that, but that was it.

So I never really got to see him. But he was not hit by a car. No. This little boy, this little leaguer, was shot dead. This little boy riding his bike. It was no more than three blocks as the crow flies from home to the little convenience store. Because I could see him where he was laying. And, I mean, it wasn't, it was a shot at close up.

It was a close up shot, not from far away. And, yeah, and when they rolled him over, they saw where the bullet had exited his face. And that was it. They didn't want me to see him. So they were trying to keep me by this fence that was right there. And I never saw him again Kathy these years later how has your grief changed over time or has it ever it's it's just so hard to explain it's just always it's always there it's like uh on the back you know it's on the back burner it's simmering it's always there. It's like, uh, on the bell, you know, it's on the back burner. It's simmering. It's always cooking.

I'm always thinking. And, you know, I promised Chucky, I promised him, I will find what happened to you. I'll never ever let this go. And, um, I just, it's still, you know, you have good days and bad days. And, like, this is really a good day because I'm here from all his friends that have not forgotten him. And it means so much to me. Speaking of his friends, I want to go straight to Chris Panachek. Chris was at a red light in the car with his sister when he saw Chucky speaking to someone in a white car. Chucky was talking to

the guy and there were handlebars on his bike. Me and Kim passed him and got stopped at a red light. Guys, since the last time that we spoke to you about Chucky Mock's case, then I appeared on Fox one afternoon and put out information. Friends, fellow classmates, his girlfriend at the time, his little girlfriend, saw that. And we have all gotten together to help try and solve the case of Chucky Mock, this little boy's murder, to Chris Panachek. Thank you so much for being with us. I want to hear from you, an eyewitness. Did you ever speak to police?

Yes, ma'am. I come up here after I got home and learned that Chucky was shot behind the rolling roses here on Burns Drive by a friend of mine whose dad worked at the convenience store across the street from Bobby's Minute Mart. And me and my sister had just got home laying clothes out for school the next day. And a child friend of mine called me and said, hey, you know, buddy, we ride bikes with all the time, we go jump ramps and stuff with. He said he just got shot.

I'm like, what? I just seen Chuckie. I mean, I just seen him talking to this guy in the car behind the Warren Road. Tell me exactly what happened. Let's just start. You and your sister are in the car. Tell me what happened.

Don't leave anything out. All right, we come up Burns Drive, and we pass we get past the fence right here and chucky's talking to a white gentleman in a white buick regal type whoa whoa right there i'm getting information i've never heard before so the perp is a white male and what kind of car car? It's a Buick 79, 78, 81 Buick Regal type of vehicle. Pontiac Grand... All white?

It's all solid white car. Could have been a Regal or a Pontiac Grand Am? Grand Prix. Grand Prix, thank you. It would be a Grand Am. Right, right. Grand Prix. Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. That Prix, thank you. Grand Dam. Grand Prix. Right, right. Grand Prix. Old Mobile Cutlass Supreme, that type of body style.

Two or four door? Two door. Do you think there was another man in the car? No, ma'am. There was just one guy in that car. One guy? One guy and a white... We never knew that, Nancy.

Me either, and I have talked about this case. I've talked to cops about the case. I've talked to investigators about the case. This is the first time it's being defined as definitely a white male. I mean, we, Cheryl McCollum, you and I have gone around and around and said we think it was a white male, either one or two. But it could have been a Hispanic male. It could have been an Asian male. But we are now hearing definitively Cheryl McCollum it is a

white male we think alone 79 to 81 all white vehicle in a two-door. Nancy this is a game-changer period it is overwhelming to me that law enforcement has not put this out correctly. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. We are talking about the murder of a little boy who was grown dear to my heart. Tip line 478-542-2080. And we are learning information we've never known before. With me, many of Chucky's friends that he knew at the time, one of them an eyewitness. Also with me, Chucky's mom and his little girlfriend at the time, Chandra Birch. To Chris Panachuk, let me get back to where we were. You're in a car with sister. You look over.

You see Chucky speaking to the guys. What was their interaction? Chucky was just had his arms folded and, you know, talking to the guy. He would laugh. He was, like, laughing and talking to this guy. And the next thing, you know, the lights from this man's car, you know, kind of, I guess, blocked my vision or anything. But I kept on looking back, and my sister was driving. We stopped at the stop sign.

I don't think the convenience store was there then. But we're sitting there, and we hadn't had the radio up so loud. When I sat back down, Chuckie was talking, you know, had to pick this front tire up on his bike and turn like, turn away from this guy. And if I hadn't, we hadn't had the radio up so loud, we would have heard the shot because when he picked his front tire up, I turned around and sat down and stopped looking back. And then that's when it was shot in the back of the head. That's very, very interesting to me that you watched for that length of time that you actually turned around and you looked back. Something told you to turn around and look back.

You saw Chucky. He was, I guess, still on his bike with his feet on the ground, but his arms were folded. Did I hear that correctly? Yes, ma'am. He was talking to the guy with his arms folded, like next over to the head of the bar, but his arms were folded. Did I hear that correctly? Yes, ma'am. He was talking to the guy with his arms folded, like hunched over. Yeah, that's how he did. So he was hunched over, arms folded. I rode bikes with Chucky forever.

His arms were actually touching the handlebar. Yes, ma'am. And did you say he was laughing? Yeah, it was like they were having a conversation with each other. They were conversating with each other and, you know, Chuckie made a lot of hand gestures when he talked. Was he doing that?

Yes. The whole time I even went to walk right out the window into the car and, you know, Kim was like, we're going. So I was like, well, I blamed myself because I didn't get right out the window and say, hey, Chucky. And just maybe something would have been different.

Chris, the guy in the car, how close was he to Chucky? Probably two foot. A foot is the most, two foot probably. Two feet? The guy was sitting in his car. So was the car closer to the parking lot, or was Chucky closer to the road? I'm probably five foot from the curb at Burns Drive right now, and I'm sitting exactly where I remember, well, not exactly, but where I remember his car sitting, and I'm looking towards the fence down Burns Drive.

So how close was Chucky to the actual street? Was he on the sidewalk? and I'm looking towards the fence down Bird Drive. So how close was Chucky to the actual street? Was he on the sidewalk? No, it was probably about 10 foot, 15 foot from the edge of the curb. 15 feet from the curb. Was he in the parking lot of the gas station, the 7-Eleven? No, the gas station's up towards Russell Parkway a little bit more. He was actually right beside the bowling alley and behind

Roy and Rose's eatery. So had he already left the convenience store? Yes, ma'am. Okay, that's important to me because I always pictured that he was in the parking lot of the convenience store. But he had left the convenience store with the candy, correct?

Yes, ma'am. It looked like he was on the way home back to Miss Cassidy. I mean, that's what I look at now. I'm like, he was heading back home. It's like this guy had to be driving, but he had to be leaning, like talking to Chucky. Was the car stopped, Chris? Had he totally stopped his car? Was it in park?

Yes, ma'am. It was just sitting there talking to Chuck. Like, I'm sitting here now facing the exact same, trying to face the exact same direction. Was he at an intersection or pulled over on the side of the road? No, he's in the parking lot. In the parking lot. There's a big parking lot in front of the bowling alley

and beside the bowling alley. It's like one of those mini shopping centers. Gotcha. I understand now. So he's not on the street. He's in the bowling alley. It's like one of those mini shopping centers. Gotcha, I understand now. So he's not on the street, he's in the parking lot. Mm-hmm. Yes. I just wonder, I guess at that time, there was no surveillance video or anything like that. And you're sure there was only one white male

in the car, Chris? One person, that's all. That's, I mean, I remember this night like it was, I all. I remember this night like it was yesterday. It plays over and over and over in my mind. I just... It's never going away and it will never go away. And when you turned around and you

looked back at Chucky, you saw him turn his wheel like he was leaving. Yeah, he picked the front tire up like, you know, guys would... And when we got to go somewhere and pick your front tire up, you got your foot on one foot on the pedal and one foot on the ground. You pick that front of that bike up and

turn, you know, turn, put the front wheel back down and go where you're going. Jason, you know what I'm talking about. Yeah, I used to see Chuck do that all the time. And Chris Panachuk, one more question. Did you, what can you tell me about the guy? You looked back.

Could you see his face? What color was his hair? Did he have a mustache? Anything? They've got a sketch. Mr. Anchor got a sketch of me and my sister did. And the guy was just a white male, you know, pale skin, acne, like red or brown hair, you know, reddish hair, reddish hair, brown hair. I'm looking at a sketch

right now, and it looks like he's got a little bit of a mustache going, and he's wearing an open collar shirt. Yep. And his hair is parted on his left, and bangs. Yeah, ma'am. Can I say something here? How old did he

look to you? Yeah, one last question? How old did he look to you? Yeah, one last question. How old did he look to you, Chris? In his 20s. 20, I'd say 25, 26, 27-ish. Understand. I think I hear Jason Cranford. Is that you, Jason?

Yes. Jump in, Jason. I just wanted to say that that sketch that you're talking about, the guy with the mustache, I was told by Houston County Hom, that that sketch looks nothing like the sketch that Chris Pinochet did the night of the sister did the night of the murder. Chris. Yeah.

I heard that was that aged him. They did that. The FBI did that at Quantico where they aged him, but it was not the sketch that was shown to us that night. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Joining me also is Chris Pate Robillard. A little neighborhood girl saw Chucky the day he was killed riding his bike after school. Chris, thank you for being with us.

Yes, thank you, Nancy. Thank you, Chris. Thank you, Ms. Miller. Don't anybody move. Don't anybody go anywhere. Chris Pate Robillard, tell me what you saw that day. Well, it just breaks my heart even going through all of it right now. It's surreal.

The day of, around, we got out of school at 3.15 and around 4.15, 4.30, Chuck came over to my house. I lived a couple of blocks away from him and he just came over to it's funny he actually had candy and uh he just came over to talk and we sat in my driveway i vividly remember we sat in the driveway and we talked about shanda's girlfriend which he adored and i was a good friend to her and we ate all the candy he had i'm sorry miss miller i there was a lot of candy that day um and i remember we just sat and talked and hung out just like 13 year old kids do and um he was off to go jump. I think they were jumping ramps and stuff with Jason. Yeah, they had built that ramp.

Yeah. But he just came by, and we hung out like we always did and ate candy, of course, and just, you know, just doing what 13-year-olds do. And he didn't act like he was scared about anything, did he? Absolutely not. Not anything of the sort. I always wondered that. No, ma'am.

Not at all. You know, to Dr. Bethany Marshall, psychoanalyst, joining me out of Beverly Hills at drbethanymarshall.com, what I just heard Chris Pate Robillard saying, how innocent they were. These little kids, 12 and 13 years old, you know, the big thrill was to go to the 7-Eleven and get some candy. And, you know, he's 12-ish years old. He goes, hey, mom, she finds him going through her jewelry and goes, save that emerald ring for me because, you know, I'm going to ask Shonda to marry me one day. I'm just thinking about the dichotomy of their innocence. And then what happened?

And you didn't think anything about letting them go out. It was just like right around the corner. Because I've always blamed myself. I've always blamed myself for saying yes to him. Dr. Bethany Marshall is with us analyzing a cold case, which we are reading, heating up today, Chucky Mock. Dr. Bethany, I know you just heard Chucky's mom say she's always felt guilty about just letting him go out on his bike.

But Mrs. Mock, you can't say no to everything, because if you say no to everything, then you have an imprisoned child and a child who cannot develop and grow and be inquisitive and learn about the world these stories are so moving and profound to me and I want to say something that sticks out is Chucky's friend who looked back through the car from the rear window and saw that Chucky's arms were folded over the handlebar of his bike and that he seemed to be leading forward and deep in a conversation. And that speaks to the innocence you're talking about, Nancy, that some perp stopped him and engaged him in a conversation.

And how many times has that happened to every single person on this panel in childhood, to our own children, our relatives, that it always starts with something innocent. The adult says, hey, can I have a piece of your candy? Or, oh, I love that bike. Or, oh, you know what? I'm lost. Do you know where the nearest gas station is? It's always just something like that. And Chucky leaning over the handles, he thought nothing was wrong. But at some point, something must have crossed his mind, even at his young age, that he was in trouble. Just think and think and think what they were talking about.

Because the mom, Kathy Miller, has wrecked her mind. She doesn't know a family friend with that kind of car. The description doesn't know a family friend with that kind of car. The description doesn't match anyone they know. Take a listen now to our friends at WMGT. The call first came in as a hit and run. It was soon determined that he was actually died as a result of a single gunshot wound and I'll say single gunshot wound to the head. But who would shoot a 13-year-old boy? We don't expect our children to be shot and killed in Houston County in this manner. People during that time quit letting their kids ride their bikes.

They quit letting them go up the street on their bikes. Captain John Holland with the Houston County Sheriff's Office says he and investigators interviewed dozens of people trying to find that answer. They turned the neighborhood inside out. They canvassed the neighborhood. I think they set up road checks during that time just to find people that had seen things. And even to this day, we do get calls with people that either have some information or have an idea about who may have been involved.

There is still no suspect. It's a tough conversation. Her mother, she still has some hope that one day she'll get some resolution. But it's difficult. Don't you know it. That was our friend Scholar Henry at WMGT speaking to the captain, John Holland. Joining me now is, in addition to Kathy Miller, Chucky's mother, his friends, Cheryl McCollum, Levi Page, and Dr. Bethany Marshall, Shonda Birch. This is Chucky's then-girlfriend, who to this day is haunted by his death.

Shonda Birch, thank you for being with us. Thank you, Nancy. Shonda, tell me about the day that Chucky was murdered. It's hard to talk about. Actually, my brother's friend gave my brother a call and told my brother that something had happened to Chuck and that he was hurt or he was shot. And I totally didn't believe him. I thought, no, that can't be true. I don't believe this. And I was just in a state of shock.

And I stayed up that night so I could watch the 11 o'clock news to see if this was true, if this happened. And I stayed up and I watched it, and it happened. And I just remember not believing it. Shonda, you say that to this day, Chucky's murder still haunts you. Explain. Well, Nancy, when you're 12 years old, you don't really know how to handle, you know, something so huge like that. And it was something that you didn't know what to do. You didn't know how to help.

You didn't know who to talk to. And so it took a long, long time to process that information, you know, way into adulthood. And to this day, it's still difficult to talk about. It makes you not trust people, and it makes you feel this is still going on, and there's no answers. I love you, Shanda. I love you, Shanda. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Shanda, how do you believe this has affected your life?

It's affected my life tremendously. He was my best friend, and we loved each other. We really did, and I think if he would have lived, I really do think that we would have been together or at least have been best friends and been in our lives, you know. I think he would still be a part of my life. And I've always felt like there was something missing in my life. And you just can't replace that. Well, he really cared so much for you. And I'm so glad that he had a chance in his early years to fall in love,

to be able to experience that. And he did love you. Kathy, please tell the story about him finding your emerald ring. Yeah, we were going through my jewelry and it was just an emerald, an emerald cut emerald. Plain, you know, ring. It wasn't really fancy, but he fell in love with that. He says, Mama, keep that ring because I'm going to give that to Shando one day. And I said, OK, darling, I will.

And in fact, I buried him with that. I put it on his little finger because that was one of the things that was so important to him. And he would go in my jewelry box every once in a while and look at it, you know, and I knew how important it was and I knew how important she was to him. So I thought that's where it needs to be with him. Guys, Chucky Mock, a little boy who just goes to a convenience store to get candy. It's part of a strip mall. Warner Robins, Georgia.

We still don't have answers, but today we're learning a lot of clues. I want to circle back to Chris Panachuk at a red light in a car with his sister, sees Chucky talking to his killer sitting in a solid white car outside the convenience store, sees Chucky start to drive off white male, Buick-type car, 7981, Regal or Grand Prix, two-door. I want you to think, Chris, is there anything rack your brain? Did the guy have his arm hanging out? Did he have a tattoo?

Was he wearing a watch? Is there anything, the tires on the car, anything you can tell us? I was put under hypnosis by Mr. Inkler with the House County Sheriff's Department. I think two or three times. And my memory of this car is so, the emblem on the vehicle, it's hanging on a fender behind the front tire of that car. That's i say it's a view it's like a buick regal because it was a it's like a knight symbol it's the crest or you know like over in england the family family crest and it's a red white and blue crest and that just i mean that just always stuck red white and blue type crest on the back fender did you say the front fender to the car right behind the front fender

right behind the front tire on on which side driver's side it's the emblem on the on the vehicle it's like the it's on both sides right and left but i know i've seen it on the left side of the vehicle when i was coming to the vehicle oh you mean not on the fender but on the body of the car itself no on the fender of the car itself? No, on the fender of the car, right behind the fender well of the front tire. I understand. A lot of cars better have little crests, like a Buick Regal, I do believe. Cheryl, I've never heard that, Cheryl McCollum. I've never heard that. That should limit what kind of car it is.

And, Nancy, that's what I was trying to say earlier. This is such a money tree. We now know there was only one person in the car. He was white. The type of the car. Something as detailed as that crest being behind the wheel and all. To me, this is such a visual. There's going to be somebody from Macon to Warner Robins.

Tipton even. That car is significant. This is not the first crime that person committed, and it's not the first crime they committed in that vehicle. To Kathy's mom, wait, let me ask this to Levi Page joining me, CrimeOnline.com. Levi. I just did a Google search, and the Buick logo, Nancy,

there was a Buick logo, and it was in red, white, and blue back in the day, the former logo of Buick. So that could be what Chris saw when he was examining the car. And what's interesting, Nancy, what we know about the evidence in this case is that when Chucky was found, he was still gripping the receipt to the store and the bubble gum in his hand, which means he left the store. He was also shot in the back of the head, which means that his back was to the perpetrator when the perpetrator shot him, which means that something could have happened, Nancy, that scared Chucky. This guy could have creeped him out and he tried to get away. And that's when the guy shot him to keep him from talking about their conversation or what he tried to do to Chucky. Levi, if you don't mind, please send me the photo that you managed to get.

A red, white, and blue. I guarantee it's going to be in the shape of like an old English coat of arms, which is a shield of sorts. Wow. Okay. You know, with me is Chris Panachuk, who was at the red light and saw chucky just moments literally seconds before he was murdered shanda birch his little girlfriend who is still dealing with the fallout of his murder jason cranford his friend joining us in colorado who has put up a a $100,000 reward. Jason, question for anyone that can give you a call or a tip. How do we reach

you regarding that reward? Well, everybody on this call has my cell phone number, my email, my Facebook. If there's any other type of contact you want me to provide, I can provide it. And the tip line that we have, 478-542-2080, Chris Pate Robillard, neighborhood that saw Chucky the afternoon before he was killed. Cheryl McCollum, director of Cold Case Research Institute, Dr. Bethany Marshall and Kathy Miller, Chucky's mom. Question out to you. Let me go to Jason Cran for putting up $100,000 reward. How did you guys all get together to join me today? Oh, so every year there's a Chuck Mock Facebook support group.

It's a memorial page. And every year around the anniversary, people start posting in there. This year, Shanda Birch made a post that, you know, really got to me and started reminding me of what happened. And I have a 13-year-old son now. And so I really get home this year because of the age of my son and the age of Chucky when he died. And, you know, I've been very successful in my business adventures. And, you know, the reward is something I feel is the least that I could do to help Ms. Miller get some peace with us. You know, she's getting old, and I would like to see this happen in her lifetime.

I had the money. Chuck was a dear friend of mine. You know, I hung out in Ms. Miller's garage. Me and Chuck worked on bicycles in there. We jumped the ramp that everybody keeps talking about. I sent pictures of that ramp. And, you know, I think that after he left Chris Pate's house, he came over to the ramp that we all built. And we were all jumping that ramp. And that was the last time I saw him. But, you know, this was my first experience with death in my life. And it's haunted me my whole life, just like it's haunted the rest of the people on this guys i pulled up that emblem levi sent me and it is red white and blue and it looks like a

coat of arms it's amazing and right now i am sending it uh levi pass it on to brett really quickly so he can pass it on to chris panacek and see if that's even remotely what he saw. Guys, tip line regarding the reward is 303-842-0179. Repeat, 303-842-0179. Could this emblem on the side of that vehicle be the tip that cracks this case wide open. Guys, the search for Chucky Mock's killer goes on. Please help us heat the case up and put it to rest. The tip line 478-542-2080. Nancy Grace, Crime Stories, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.