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911 Caller Reports Seeing Child At Time Of Woman's Abduction

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John Davis, Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Published: January 31, 2008

CHARLOTTE COUNTY - Notes from the Charlotte County Emergency Communications Center show that a 911 caller reported seeing what might have been an abducted child in a dark colored Chevrolet Camaro on the day Denise Lee disappeared, two days before she was found in a shallow grave.

The caller described seeing a screaming child, about 5 to 10 years old, banging on the window of a Camaro heading south on U.S. 41 about 6:30 p.m., according to records released by the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday.

Summarizing the emergency call, the 911 operator detailed a caller who phoned in "thinking this child may have been involved" in a possible Amber Alert, a national response program for abducted children.

The caller's name was blacked out in the documents released by the sheriff's office. Other documents show the caller was motorist Janet Kowalski on her cell phone.

The records do not include a transcript of the key 911 call or give a clear indication of how the sheriff's office responded. But they shed light on a resident's report that came at a critical juncture in the investigation into Lee's disappearance and the desperate multiagency law enforcement effort to find her.

Authorities say Lee, 21, was abducted and slain on Jan. 17. Charged with kidnapping and first-degree murder in the case is Michael King, who was arrested that night. King owns a green Camaro.

Lee's husband reported her missing from her North Port home at 3:30 p.m. North Port police issued a "be on the lookout" alert, or BOLO, for Lee and a green Camaro to other area law enforcement agencies about 5 p.m.

According to the records released Wednesday, known as dispatch operations reports, a caller reported "a blue or green Camaro" with a screaming child shortly after 6:30 p.m.

Kowalski, the caller, later confirmed to investigators that King was the man she saw fighting with someone while driving a Camaro south on 41 near Toledo Blade Boulevard on the night of Jan. 17.

As Kowalski's call came in, law enforcement officers in Charlotte, Manatee and Sarasota counties were searching for Lee, who only minutes before had called Sarasota County's 911 center from King's cell phone.

Lee's call confirmed fears that she had been abducted and was in danger.

Recordings of Kowalski's call or other calls connected to the Lee case have not been made public.

Dispatch operator Mildred Stepp's notes, logged at 6:42 p.m., refer to a "blue or green Camaro."

The sheriff's office said Wednesday that the notation was erroneous and that the caller actually reported seeing a "blue or black" Camaro.

The Charlotte sheriff's office and Florida Department of Law Enforcement are investigating Charlotte's handling of Kowalski's call.

Officials repeatedly have refused to say whether a deputy was dispatched in response. At the time, 10 Charlotte deputies were joining in the search for Lee, the daughter of Charlotte sheriff's Sgt. Rick Goff.

Lee's body was found in a wooded area near Interstate 75 and Toledo Blade in North Port on Jan. 19.

King, 36, of North Port, is being held without bail at Sarasota County Jail.

"I don't want to talk about our conclusions only because we're still looking at how this call was handled," Charlotte Sheriff John Davenport said.

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