this is the big news story around here....so sad
Saturday, Jan. 19, 2008 at 6:33 p.m.
Police find body of unidentified white female
By JOHN DAVIS
STAFF WRITER
john.davis@heraldtribune.com
NORTH PORT -- The search for Denise Amber Lee was called off today after the body of an unidentified woman was found in a grave in an undeveloped area of North Port.
The body was found buried amid dense palmetto bushes near I-75 and Toledo Blade after a massive search, Chief Terry Lewis said during a news conference today.
Lewis emphasized that medical examiners had not identified the woman. But he later made it clear that officers believe the body is that of the 21-year-old mother of two young children.
"This isn't the way we as a team wanted to bring her home," he said.
Nearly 300 officers and volunteers had been searching for the mother of two young children since she disappeared from her home Thursday afternoon. Lee is the daughter of Charlotte County Sheriff''s Lt. Richard Goff.
"The family is gathered at the home of Lt. Richard Goff and anxiously awaiting the positive identification of the body," Lewis said.
Lewis said that searchers during the night noticed the disturbance in the ground cover and forensics experts and medical examiners waited until daylight to gather evidence. "Searchers saw something that didn't fit," he said.
Police have set up a forensics tent and cordoned off the area about a mile into the brush off Panacea Boulevard. The site is near the spot where police stopped Michael Lee King's car and arrested him on kidnapping charges Thursday evening.
Earlier today, Lee's family had a private briefing at North Port Police headquarters. Her husband, Nathaniel, wiped tears as he left in a car afterward.
"The family was notified after the scene was processed," Lewis said, adding that none of the family has been to the site.
Lewis said that the family asked for privacy Saturday and would hold a press conference tomorrow morning.
He said police were still tracking down leads in the case to fill in the details and especially were seeking to learn more about King's movements Thursday before his arrest.
Authorities said they have not found a connection between King and Lee and had no indication that King targeted her because of her father, who once headed Charlotte's narcotics bureau.
"At this point," Lewis said earlier, "I and the investigative team have nothing to believe this was anything but a random act of violence."
King, a self-employed plumber who was weeks from losing his Sardinia Avenue home to foreclosure, has been uncooperative so far, Lewis said.
"He has invoked his Constitutional right not to talk to law enforcement," Lewis said. "It is fair to say he is not cooperating." King was being held at the Sarasota County jail without bail.
Denise Lee was reported missing at 3:20 p.m. Thursday, when her husband finished work at one of his three jobs and went home. He found the couple's 1 1/2-year old and 6-month-old sons alone, though unharmed.
The case did not immediately cause alarm at the North Port Police Department. Police agencies take dozens of missing adult reports every year, and they do not begin a search unless they have reason to believe the missing person is in danger.
That came about 6:15 p.m., when Denise Lee called 911 on a cell phone, crying as she spoke to the dispatcher. The connection was lost, but Lee was on the phone long enough for officers to trace the call back to its owner -- King and they confirmed that he owned a green Camaro like the one seen by a neighbor earlier in the day pulling into the Lees' driveway.
The description of the car led to the arrest of King about six hours after Denise Lee disappeared.
During the three-day search for the young woman, police closed off roads in and out of North Port. Searchers beat through brush so thick they could barely see the ground. They climbed into kayaks and johnboats to search canals and ponds.
Friday afternoon, authorities found a sandal in Manatee County not far from the home of King's mother in Ellenton and a couple of dozen officers searched the area. But police later said the shoe found in Manatee and clothes found in North Port had no connection to the case.
Kings cousin, Harold Muxlow, was the witness who said he heard a woman cry for help when King stopped at his house Thursday afternoon to borrow a shovel, a gas can and a flashlight, saying his lawn mower was stuck in a ditch.
Muxlow, too, called 911. He made his call a few minutes after Lees.
Muxlow visited King in the Sarasota County Jail on Friday and tried to convince him to give police information about the young mother. He said King claimed he was really a victim, too.
Muxlow said King insisted that he was driving in North Port on Thursday and stopped to help a driver, who pulled a gun on him. Muxlow said his cousin told him the driver abducted both him and Lee.
But King was alone three hours later when a Florida Highway Patrol trooper pulled over his car on Toledo Blade Boulevard near Interstate 75.
He was soaking wet. They towed his car to a police garage, and found a long, blond hair, a woman's ring and a shovel in the vehicle.
King's mother, Patsy, who lives at the Tidevue Estates Mobile home park in Ellenton, refused comment Saturday. Earlier, she said the accusations against her son are "totally out of character."
King's sister-in-law Carrie King of Michigan said Saturday that her family is praying for the Lee family.
I wish we had answers but we dont. I have no idea why he did it, or if he even did it, she said.
For those unfamiliar with North Port, it might be hard to fathom the difficulties of searching the area.
The city itself, at 103 square miles, is about the geographic size of Tampa, but at the same time it is less than 25 percent built out, meaning wooded lots and heavy shrub areas abound.
In addition, North Port is crisscrossed with a vast network of canals and stormwater ponds.
The unidentified body was ultimately found in a large wooded swath or swampy land, so difficult to access that investigators were using choppers to get in and out.
During searches, ATVs were covering ground that was then re-covered more slowly by officers on horseback. Police brought in kayaks and boats to search ponds and canals. Divers were on hand if needed.
The massive search team included volunteers, perhaps reminded of the last time an abduction turned the city upside-down. Less than a year and a half ago, 6-year-old Coralrose Fullwood was abducted from her home in the middle of the night, raped and murdered. Police still have not charged anyone with the murder of Coralrose.
Fight ON!! He talked to the kids about what the chemicals do once in your body. He was a little 
at the honesty of some of the kids...."my Dad smokes MJ" etc....and they questions they asked. Good day for him and the Newberg Schools.
to the family my prayers go out to them
