TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Friends Of Missing Woman Fear Case Will Never Be Closed

ADVERTISEMENT

By HALLE STOCKTON

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Published: February 14, 2009

  Sabine Musil-Buehler

MANATEE COUNTY - Those close to Sabine Musil-Buehler yearn for justice in her disappearance and likely killing, but they worry they may never get it if the body of the missing Holmes Beach hotelier is not found.

Musil-Buehler's November disappearance is technically a missing-person case, though authorities have handled it as a homicide for months.

Her friends on Anna Maria Island and in her native Germany are growing frustrated with the lack of progress in the investigation.

"Is it this easy to kill somebody and get away with it?" questioned Debby Hall, a good friend of Musil-Buehler's. "It's going to be a dead case, and we're never going to find out what happened."

But authorities say that even if they never find the 49-year-old's body, they hope to eventually charge someone with murder in the case.

"It's been done before with no body, but it certainly helps if you have a body," said Manatee Sheriff's spokesman Dave Bristow.

Investigators are still examining evidence found in the woman's stolen car, including blood that was hers, and by conducting interviews and searches for her body.

Deputies last searched a beach on Anna Maria Island for the woman's body around Christmas.

The Sheriff's Office insists the investigation has not gone cold. Four detectives are working the case, a typical number in a high-profile crime, Bristow said. Manpower is reduced, though, when there are fewer leads and tips, he said.

"Most cold cases you don't have a whole lot to go on. We have quite a bit," Bristow said. "And it hasn't been pushed to the back burner."

Investigators had hoped a $5,000 reward, established in late December, would bring in more leads, but it has not, Bristow said.

Not much has changed in the case since mid-November.

All along authorities have had their eye on three people: Musil-Buehler's boyfriend, her estranged husband and the man found driving her blood-stained vehicle.

All three men have been repeatedly interviewed, and two are in jail on charges not related to the disappearance.

"These three are the ones that we have felt all along could lead us to her, whether she is dead or still alive," Bristow said.

Musil-Buehler's disappearance has hurt her large network of friends and family.

On Holmes Beach, Musil-Buehler belonged to the Anna Maria Island turtle watch, the Amber Alert watch, the garden club, a wedding group and the Chamber of Commerce, among other organizations.

As co-owner of Haley's Motel, at 8102 Gulf Drive, she came into contact with many locals and the transient population.

In Germany, Musil-Buehler worked as a travel agent and led a life full of friends, including two brothers who remain in Germany, friend Karina Steinberger said.

Musil-Buehler and Steinberger lived in Montabaur, Germany, and were friends for more than 28 years, she wrote in an e-mail.

They evolved from friends who would party at the discos to watching Steinberger's children play in the pool, she wrote.

They recently planned for Musil-Buehler to return to Germany and celebrate her 50th birthday on July 29.

Now, Steinberger has no doubt that her longtime friend is dead.

"She would not just disappear on her free will like this and do this to her brothers and friends," she wrote. "It is so very terrible not to know where she is or what happened. I have nightmares about it."

Investigators remain hopeful the case will be broken, Bristow said.

"It is frustrating because you feel she's not alive anymore but you aren't able to tie it all together," he said. "At least finding her would let the family have some closure. Until you do, there's always that shred of hope."

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT