Pocono News Section

Benefit Held for Murdered Man's 2-Year-Old Son

Benefit Held for Murdered Man's 2-Year-Old Son - Sunday, August 24, 2008 at 5:11PM EST

Reported by: Dia Wallace
Sunday, Aug 24, 2008 @ 05:11pm EST
MONROE COUNTY- A local family is still holding out hope that police will find the person that murdered their son. Someone killed Lee Vanluvender last December. He was found shot to death in Tunkhannock Township. Sunday friends, family and strangers got together for a benefit to help the 2-year-old son he left behind.

That 2-year-old little boy, Sean, will never know his daddy. Someone murdered his father. Billboards serve as a stark reminder that 22-year-old Lee Vanluvender’s killer is still out there.

The community planned a huge event to boost the reward fund in this unsolved murder and to help the little boy left behind. Lee’s sister Lisa said, “Everybody has been great, really been pulling together to help us raise reward money, get this out to the public, so hopefully someone will see something and call.”

Lisa Vanluvender says she couldn't believe the hundreds of bikers that rode in memory of her brother-- most strangers just wanting to help and support the family left behind. “Everyday we are hoping someone will call with some information,” she said.

Tom Vanluvender planned this event for the reward fund and to establish a college fund for his grandson. “The ride went great, we had a lot of community support. Everybody we took rode in some of the area where Lee and I hunted and we fished near Delaware Water Gap. It was nice,” he said.

The bike run happened at Werrys on Route 209 in Marshalls Creek and wound through the Poconos. After the ride participants were offered a cookout buffet for a $5 donation, plus swimming and live entertainment.

Vanluvender says the memory and pain of his son's murder is still fresh in his mind and heart, especially since the killer is still out there. And he thinks someone knows something that could close this open case of murder.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at (570) 895-2400. The case has been listed on the Web site of the television series, "America's Most Wanted."