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Body In Shallow Grave May Be Missing Woman
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Published: January 19, 2008
Updated: 01/19/2008 09:43 pm
TAMPA - The massive search for Denise Amber Lee of North Port, the 21-year-old daughter of a veteran sheriff's lieutenant, apparently ended Saturday with authorities' discovery of a shallow grave in Sarasota County containing the body of a white female.
At a 4 p.m. news conference, North Port Police Chief Terry Lewis said positive identification of the body found just off Interstate 75 near the Toledo Blade Boulevard exit would await the findings of a medical examiner.
The search ended around 2:15 p.m. Saturday after forensics experts conducted an extensive examination of a disturbed area of ground discovered late Friday by a Sarasota County Sheriff's Office search and rescue team, Lewis said. The site was secured until daylight when authorities began their meticulous work.
"They worked with tweezers, they worked with small paintbrushes" processing what Lewis said is "a very active crime scene. They have been out there all day."
Lee's family was notified of the development and has scheduled a news conference for 10 a.m. today to thank the public for its assistance, Lewis said.
"We wanted closure for the family. That's what's important," Lewis said. "Richard [Goff], her dad, wanted her home. We brought her home, but this is not the way we, as a team, wanted to bring her home."
Goff is the former head of the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office narcotics bureau.
Information made public Friday about Michael Lee King's arrest Thursday on a charge of kidnapping produced dozens of leads in the case, Lewis said, but Saturday's discovery was not the result of a tip. He added that 242 officers and volunteers participated in the search.
The rural area where the body was uncovered is dotted with trees and palmetto thickets, but not densely wooded, authorities said. The grave was a short distance from the pavement of a new subdivision road, but was not visible from the road, authorities added.
Lee was the subject of a search that had involved up to 300 people, mostly law enforcement officers, in Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties. Lewis said during Saturday's news conference that teams of detectives from agencies from Punta Gorda to Sarasota assisted in the case.
Authorities have said there is no known relationship between Lee and the 36-year-old in custody in connection with her disappearance. An unemployed plumber, King lived nearby, but neighbors said they thought he left the area in October. He was last seen four days before Lee's disappearance.
"At this point the investigative team has nothing to believe it was anything more than an absolute random act of violence," Lewis said earlier Saturday.
The areas authorities searched were near King's North Port home or places where he may have driven.
A national search of criminal databases shows King has no prior arrests, just traffic offenses.
Lee, a stay-at-home mom whose father is a longtime officer with the Charlotte County Sheriff's office, was reported missing Thursday. Her husband, Nathaniel, a Florida Power & Light employee, came home and found the couple's children, Noah, 2, and Adam, 6 months, alone in a crib. A neighbor told police about a green Camaro that had been parked in the driveway of the home.
At 6:14 p.m. Thursday, Lee called 911 from King's cell phone, police said. Dispatchers recorded her pleading with someone.
The telephone was traced to King. Authorities also received a call from a relative of King's saying King borrowed a flashlight, shovel and gas can from a cousin, claming his lawn mower was stuck in a ditch.
As of 4 p.m. Saturday, the investigative team had received 131 leads, a number which jumped sharply after authorities released information about King and his 1994 green Chevrolet Camaro.
"We have a lot of work to do on a timeline" of King's activities, Lewis said. Anyone who might have seen King or his car between 2 and 9 p.m. Thursday is asked to call investigators at (941) 429-7382.
Reporter Carlos Moncada contributed to this report. Reporter George Wilkens can be reached at (813) 865-4847 or gwilkens@tampatrib.com.
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