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FDLE Confirms DNA Match In Slaying Of North Port Woman

Special To TBO.com from NANCY BATES

Nathan and Denise Lee with their son, Noah.

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By JOHN DAVIS

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Published: February 13, 2008

A state lab has matched Michael Lee King's DNA to DNA found on the body of Denise Lee, according to documents filed with the courts.

Michael King

King, 36, is charged with abducting and killing Lee, 21, who was reported missing the afternoon of Jan. 17. Her body was found two days later in a wooded area six miles from her home.

The DNA match was confirmed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement on Jan. 22.

The Sarasota County Medical Examiner's Office first found evidence of sexual battery during an autopsy Jan. 20.

Sexual battery is the third felony charge leveled against King since his arrest Jan. 17.

He now faces charges of sexual battery in addition to first-degree murder and kidnapping in the case.

The North Port Police Department, with other agencies, continues to investigate but has found no link between King, an unemployed plumber, and Lee, a mother of two young boys.

King is being held without bail in Sarasota County Jail.

Prosecutors have announced their intent to seek the death penalty against King on the murder charge.

On the afternoon of Jan. 17, Lee's husband, Nathan, discovered that she was missing from their North Port home.

In the hours after her disappearance, authorities engaged in a multicounty manhunt for King and his vehicle, a green Chevrolet Camaro.

They caught up with King and the car that night, but Lee was not with him.

This touched off a massive ground search. Lee's body was found two days later, with a single gunshot wound, in a shallow grave near Toledo Blade Boulevard and Interstate 75.

King's next court appearance is scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday.

Reporter Todd Ruger contributed to this story.

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