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Sheryl McCollum

Sheryl McCollum

Analyst

Jul 18, 2026

5:04
You mean to tell me that not one person knows or has seen or, uh, at least has something to, to, to give in this story to help investigators? It s- It sounds crazy to me.
5:19
Don, that's the part that blows my mind.
5:22
When you look at the videos and the photographs that have been released, look, we all went somewhere for the Fourth of July.
5:29
There are people packed everywhere, and if somebody's just standing, taking video, I cannot fathom that somebody did not capture him on film, on a photograph.
5:42
I just find that hard to believe.
5:43
And if he's with a group that knows him, somehow gets separated, but he's with another group that supposedly knows him, how does he wind up all by hisself? Those are the questions that have got to be answered for his mama.
5:59
Don, listen, you and I have worked lots of cases together, and you know as well as I do when you have a child die- You have got to be able to sit with that mama with facts, not speculation, not I believe, not I think, not possibly.
7:06
Double autopsies.
13:00
So I think the first question is, how did you first come to know this story?
13:05
Well, again, I mean, you couldn't miss this story, whether you were in DC or not.
13:10
And I thought given her age and the fact that she studied criminal, you know, criminology, criminal justice, that my students would recognize themselves a little bit.
13:21
And I said, you know, let's see what we can do because it seems like they're kinda stalled at best.
13:27
They're certainly not sharing things.
13:29
So reached out to the family, reached out to law enforcement.
13:33
Uh, law enforcement wasn't all that excited at first, [laughs] uh, but the family was, and Ms.

38 MINS LATER

51:13
Mm-hmm
2:47
Why, uh, what did that first job teach you that nothing since has replaced?
2:53
Well, it was volunteer work, first of all, and the reason I was drawn to it is because I was wanting to get into investigations, and of course, you can't go to the police academy till you're 21.
3:06
So at 17, they let me volunteer at the Rape Crisis Center, and I was assigned Detective Black from the Atlanta Police Department.
3:15
He was in their sex crimes unit, and so he's the one that really taught me, "This is how you interview somebody.
3:22
This is how you try to get information.
3:25
This is how you write a report." He was just fantastic.
3:29
And, you know, being so young and having somebody take the time to make sure I did things correctly, and to make sure that I did the right thing by the victim, um, I just don't think I could ever repay him for what he did for me.

6 MINS LATER

10:05
Mm-hmm.
30:25
It's full of evidence
30:27
evidenceNancy, when you're looking at this map and you see all the places, the nail salon, I mean, you've got tons of businesses, you've got residential areas.
30:39
I would not, number one, I would not limit my investigation to this map, but I would certainly go through it based on what her daughter believes could be a route.
30:48
We are over 80 days into this thing, and we don't have a legitimate video of a vehicle.
30:55
You've gotta ask yourself why.
30:57
How is that possible with all of these intersections that we know have cameras, the gas stations, the churches, the businesses? How do we not have a vehicle? Well, Nancy, as you know, I was out there, and here's what I can tell you.
31:12
At any given point almost, you could take a hard right or a hard left and cut through little parts of the desert.

9 MINS LATER

40:29
Why is it law enforcement is so resistant to civilian or family input?
30:43
It's full of evidence
30:45
evidenceNancy, when you're looking at this map and you see all the places, the nail salon, I mean, you've got tons of businesses, you've got residential areas.
30:57
I would not, number one, I would not limit my investigation to this map, but I would certainly go through it based on what her daughter believes could be a route.
31:07
We are over 80 days into this thing, and we don't have a legitimate video of a vehicle.
31:13
You've gotta ask yourself why.
31:15
How is that possible with all of these intersections that we know have cameras, the gas stations, the churches, the businesses? How do we not have a vehicle? Well, Nancy, as you know, I was out there, and here's what I can tell you.
31:31
At any given point almost, you could take a hard right or a hard left and cut through little parts of the desert.

9 MINS LATER

40:48
Why is it law enforcement is so resistant to civilian or family input?
10:41
And then God drops a treasure, a miracle in our laps.
10:50
Absolutely.
10:52
And you know, Nancy, it's not just the face that we get.
10:56
That backpack, I want to talk about that a second because that backpack is full.
11:01
It is tight with items.
11:04
That's a kit.
11:05
That's not somebody that went there to commit a burglary.

30 MINS LATER

40:53
What about it, Cheryl McCollum?
9:26
And, and that poor officer is going to get pilloried by the fact that it, it appears that his testimony has been thoroughly coached in a specific way.
9:39
Y'all you have listened to Joshua Schiffer on zone seven.
9:45
Crown Roundup, Court TV, a plethora of other places.
9:51
Y'all don't always know the words he's using.
9:54
Let's be honest.
9:56
He uses some phrases, some words where you're like, I need to look that up.
10:01
What did he just say? Here's a hint.

8 MINS LATER

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17:52
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