LAKE CITY, Fla. — An hour outside Jacksonville, down the tree-lined stretch of I-10, sits Lake City.
It's a town where locals know each other well, and a town that showed up by the hundreds to mourn the killing of Linda Raulerson.
"We had to have it [the funeral] at this big church so everyone could fit inside it and there were still people standing up all around and out the door," tells Shaylen Raulerson, Linda's granddaughter.
Linda Raulerson’s grandchildren live with the pain of her loss every day.
"It hurt an entire family," tells Alora Raulerson."It just broke all of us."
Their grandmother was known for her kindness, cooking, sewing, fishing and cheerful spirit. Which is why her murder sent the community reeling.
"I’d like to think it was someone that did not know who she was that would commit such a violent crime," tells Lt. Don Meyer with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office.
It was July 22, 2008.
Linda Raulerson was working at the Joy American Food Store, just off the exit of I-10 and US-441 in Lake City. Surveillance video shows a white Buick LeSabre pull into the parking lot around 8:30 p.m. It can be seen through the window of the store on the surveillance video.
A man gets out and walks in, immediately shooting Linda in the arm and tells her to give him the money. Linda gives over the money, even showing him the empty cash drawer, he then shoots her in the head and leaves.
The audio from the surveillance video captures the terrifying moments as the man repeatedly yells at Linda saying "Open the drawer!" "Hurry up, give it up!" "Where's the money? Where's the money?"
To hear the audio of the man's voice, play the story above.
"She gave him no type of resistance whatsoever, when he walked through the door, he shot her right off the bat, that is odd, most people wait for noncompliance before they use some type of force, but again in this case his violence was extreme," explains Lt. Meyer.
The cold-blooded nature of her killing is what sticks with Lt. Meyer and is something the Raulerson grandchildren say they will never understand.
"She was giving him the money, she was giving him everything he asked for, and he still chose to take that one last shot and end it for her, and it’s like why?," tells Shaylen."Why do that to someone you don’t even know?"
Lt. Don Meyer with the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office says the pictures of the suspect were also released quickly after the shooting, but very few leads came back. They also looked into suspects of other violent robberies in Florida and Georgia, but nothing matched.
The case went cold.
Though 13 years have passed, they are not giving up.
"We would hope somebody would hear his voice and recognize some of the things he had on. He was wearing a hoodie and had sunglasses on – to include the vehicle," says Lt. Meyer," If they may have identified any of those things it would help us in this case."
For the Raulerson grandchildren, time has not dulled their grief. Every day, they are reminded of the future they were robbed of with their grandmother.
"I would give anything to have a wedding dress made by her," tells Shaylen through tears," It is just not fair...she was everything to us."
They and Lt. Meyer hope someone out there can provide answers or information about who the person on the surveillance video is or even if they know of a similar violent robbery and get Linda Raulerson the justice she deserves.
Until then, her grandchildren say they won’t have closure.
"It is like an open door, a never ending traumatic feeling," tells Shaylen," It just doesn’t end."
If you have any information that could help this case, please contact the Crime Stoppers of Columbia County at 386-754-7099 or you can submit a tip through its website www.columbiacrimestoppers.net