Missing Orlando Woman’s Remains Found Near Walt Disney World
The family of an Orlando woman who went missing twelve years ago may finally have answers and some sense of closure.
Sandra Lemire of Orlando went missing in May 2012 after going on a date with a man she met online. At the time of her disappearance, Lemire was living with her grandmother and drove a red minivan.
For almost 12 years, her disappearance remained a mystery.
Sunshine State Sonar Cracked the Case
Things changed, however, when Mike Sullivan of Sunshine State Sonar got information that eventually helped them pinpoint where Lemire could be.
“Of all the cases we were working, this was the case I was least optimistic about,” Sullivan said.
Then, detectives from the Orlando Police Department gave Sullivan’s team the location of Lemire’s last cell phone tower.
Volunteer searchers used the information to find a red minivan with human remains in a retention pond near Walt Disney World and World Drive. Sullivan dove into the water himself.
“When the silt cleared, I can start seeing the numbers: ‘J,’” he said. “And as soon as I saw the ‘J’ and the ‘3,’ I’m like: ‘We have her.’”
Closure For the Family
Over the course of their search, Sullivan and his team exhumed 63 bodies of water looking for Lemire’s vehicle. After finally finding her van, Sullivan called Lemire’s son to tell him the news.
“What he did was amazing. And without him and his team, none of this would have been possible,” Timothy Lemire Jr. told WESH. “They didn’t ask for a dollar. That’s just the kindness of their heart.”
At this time, Orlando police have confirmed that the vehicle is tied to the Lemire case, but the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has not yet identified the remains.