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Missing Holmes Beach Motel Owner Feared Dead

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By ROD CHALLENGER

rchallenger@wfla.com

Published: November 10, 2008

Friends and relatives of the co-owner of a small Holmes Beach motel fear the worst about her disappearance.

Sabine Musil-Buehler, 49, who owned Haley's Motel in the Manatee County island community with her husband, hasn't been seen since last week.

"When the police told me that they found her car without her in it and with her keys in the car, I knew Sabine was no longer with us," said her husband, Tom Buehler. "I knew something had happened to her immediately."

Deputies stopped Musil-Buehler's car for a traffic infraction early Thursday morning in Bradenton. The driver, Robert Corona, 38, of Bradenton, told deputies he stole the vehicle from the parking lot of a Bradenton bar. Detectives have charged him with auto theft and resisting arrest.

Her husband said his wife would never have been in that part of town and would never willingly let anyone else drive her car.

"We found a small amount of blood in the missing person's vehicle," said Manatee County sheriff's spokesman David Bristow. Bristow said, "At this point, we don't know where the blood came from, we don't even know if it's human blood at this time." Investigators have submitted blood samples to a lab to determine whether they match the missing woman's.

"She has a bleeding heart for anyone who needs help," said friend Suzi Fox. Fox and others think she may have gotten into trouble by going to aid a friend who asked her for help.

One friend deputies have talked to is Bill Cumber, 39, who was convicted of burning down his former girlfriend's house.

Cumber worked at the motel before going to prison and renewed his friendship with the missing woman when he was released five weeks ago.

Musil-Buehler's friends and relatives are trying to raise money for a reward for information about her disappearance.

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