Scott and Cheryl Springfield married young, and although they were divorced by the time the 1980 Christmas season rolled around, he was having second thoughts about wanting his freedom. They’d always gotten along, even after the divorce, so things were patching up nicely. Cheryl decided it would be nice if her ex-husband and their boy, Scotty, spent Christmas Moring together, so both arranged the usual holiday plans to make that happen. Scott walked over on the morning of December 25th, 1980, arriving at about 6:15 AM to the cries of his little boy. After going inside, he discovered Cheryl laying by the Christmas tree. She’s been strangled to death with a cloth iron cord. For 43 years, her big sister Jan has made it her mission to find out what happened, and to get justice.

facebook.com/justiceforcheryllynn

We’d like to thank Jan for her help and contributions to this episode, and thank John Watson for speaking with us about his experience

If you have any information about the Christmas Dat murder of Cheryl Lynn Tunnell-Springfield, please contact the Fort Worth Police Cold Case Unit at 817-392-4308 or by emailing your tip to coldcase@fortworthpd.com

If you’d like to help fund testing that can solve cold cases in Fort Worth, go to fwpdcoldcasesupport.org and donate

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The Fort Worth Star-Telegram was used as a source for this episode

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