Denise Amber Lee

Denise Amber Lee, 21, was taken from her North Port home on the afternoon of Jan. 17, 2008. The disappearance of the homemaker, whose young sons were found inside her North Port home, touched off a frantic manhunt, made more intense by the fact that she was the daughter of Sgt. Rick Goff, of the sheriff's office in nearby Charlotte County.

Three hours into the search, Lee called 911 from the cell phone of Michael King, a 38-year-old plumber who lived two miles from the Lee home. He was arrested at 9:16 p.m. that night while trying to enter Interstate 75 from Toledo Blade Boulevard in North Port, but Lee was not in his car. King refused to speak to investigators, and a search for Lee involving hundreds of volunteers from across the state unfolded.

Lee's body was discovered two days later in a shallow grave in woods near an unfinished road about half a mile from where King was arrested.

King was found guilty of murder in a trial in September and his jury recommended the death penalty.

Controversy erupted when it became clear that a witness, Jane Kowalski of Tampa, had called the Charlotte County 911 center on the night of the murder, reporting a child fighting in the back seat of a dark-colored Camaro. The dispatch center never relayed this information to deputies on the street, who were looking for King and his green Camaro at the time.

King's cousin, Harold Muxlow, came under fire for giving King a gas can and shovel on the night of the abduction. He saw King struggling with a woman who was begging someone to call police. But Muxlow did not immediately call the police. Instead he called his daughter, Sabrina, who called 911 with the information.

Muxlow called 911 himself, almost an hour after meeting with King, and by that time he was unable to help police find his cousin.

The dropped 911 call in Charlotte County led Lee's husband, Nathan, and Goff to pursue statewide standards and training for 911 dispatchers. In 2008, a law named for Denise Lee that set voluntary standards for emergency call centers was passed by the Florida Legislature, but the family continues to push for more changes and improvements to 911 systems in Florida and nationally. The family formed the Denise Amber Lee Foundation last year.

Recent Articles About Denise Amber Lee

• Judge refuses to toss wrongful death suit

  Published June 17, 2010
  A judge denied the Charlotte County sheriff's motion to dismiss Nathan Lee's wrongful death lawsuit against the agency Tuesday. Circuit Court Judge Lee Ann Schreiber, in a letter to both sides, said after reviewing similar cases, the court "must...
  

• Lawsuit over Denise Lee's death is delayed

  Published June 10, 2010
  Nathan Lee's wrongful death lawsuit against the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office over his wife's murder was delayed again Wednesday after the newly appointed judge requested more time to review the case. Circuit Court Judge Lee Ann Schreiber said...
  
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  Crist signs 911 bill

  Published June 4, 2010
  Florida Gov. Charlie Crist signed into law on Thursday a bill mandating that all 911 operators get state certification and at least 232 hours of standardized training. The law is a result of mishandled 911 calls that might have have prevented the...
  
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  Denise Lee 911 bill about to become law

  Published April 29, 2010
  The bill requires all 911 operators to undergo more training and be certified to handle calls like the one that could have saved the North Port mother in January 2008.
  

• Judge recuses himself from Nathan Lee lawsuit

  Published April 17, 2010
  Nathan Lee's wrongful death lawsuit against the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office over his wife's murder took an unexpected turn Friday when the presiding judge removed himself from the case because of his prior relationship with the family. Circuit...
  
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  Judge recuses himself from Nathan Lee lawsuit

  Published April 16, 2010
  Nathan Lee's wrongful death lawsuit against the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office over his wife's murder took an unexpected turn Friday when the presiding judge removed himself from the case because of his prior relationship with the family. Circuit...
  

• More training for North Port 911 center

  Published February 17, 2010
  City police dispatchers will receive more training and be more closely monitored and graded in this city, under changes to the emergency call center prompted by a mishandled call late last year. The call was about man lying beside a rural road; he...
  

• Stage is set for Manatee murder trial

  Published January 7, 2010
  Trial details and last-minute motions were debated at a lengthy hearing Wednesday for Clifford Davis, who is accused of killing his mother and grandfather in December 2005. Davis, 23, faces the death penalty if convicted. Jury selection will begin...
  

• Operator fired over 911 case

  Published December 30, 2009
  Emergency operator Nadia Kashitskaya lost her job Tuesday after failing to send help to a man who was lying beside the road in a rural section of North Port. An internal investigation into the Dec. 11 mishap reveals that Kashitskaya thought the...
  
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  Operator fired in North Port 911 case

  Published December 30, 2009
  North Port officials say operator Nadia Kashitskaya fielded a call but failed to send help to a man injured in a Dec. 11 vehicle crash in rural North Port.
  
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  Top 10 Stories of 2009: South Edition

  Published December 30, 2009
  
  
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  Top 10 Stories of 2009: Manatee Edition

  Published December 30, 2009
  
  
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  Top 10 Stories of 2009: Sarasota Edition

  Published December 30, 2009
  
  

• Charlotte sheriff's law arguments flawed, Nathan Lee says

  Published December 23, 2009
  The Charlotte County sheriff's arguments against a wrongful death lawsuit in the Denise Lee case are legally flawed and should be denied, Lee's widower, Nathan Lee, contends. Attorneys for Nathan Lee filed a 23-page memo in Charlotte County Circuit...
  

• Body lay by road overnight after 911 call

  Published December 15, 2009
  Caller didn't have road name, so dispatcher sent no officer
  

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