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Chapter 1: What happened to Denise Amber Lee on January 17, 2008?
If you sold somebody a loaded gun who you knew was in a vulnerable state and they shot themselves, I think it is murder. Just because you're using the internet doesn't mean you get away with murder. I'm Damon Fairless, host of Hunting Warhead.
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I just love this ring. This was the beginning of Denise and I. This ring was the first gift I ever gave Denise. It was less than a month after we started dating. It's got a heart on it with a really tiny stone in the middle. It's kind of hard to imagine that this $40 ring ultimately was one of the biggest pieces of evidence in the whole case.
It takes me back to the happy times, but at the same time, it does take me back to the worst day of my life.
Noah, I know. I don't know where mommy is.
emergency i just got home from work and my wife i can't find her she's never done this before no no no no no
A Northport man came home and found his two young children, both under the age of three, home alone, and his wife missing. Denise Lee's husband reported her missing, and the massive search was underway.
A 21-year-old mother of two has been missing since mid-afternoon.
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Chapter 2: How did the 911 call impact the investigation into Denise's disappearance?
So you started dating and pretty soon it's February, Valentine's Day. How did you mark the occasion? Valentine's Day was not even a month after our first date. And so we went to the mall and we came up with this plan to not go over $40. That was our cap. She found a ring. It had a heart on it with a little stone in the middle. That turned out to be the most special thing, her prized possession.
Soon you're talking marriage. We weren't talking marriage until we found out that somebody was going to be coming into this world. I remember finding out like she was pregnant and I was kind of shocked because she was like really young. She was really happy that day. I don't think she stopped smiling the whole day.
We had Noah about five months later, and then Adam was born another 18 months later. That's a quick family. Yeah, we didn't waste any time. We had no money, but we didn't care, and we were madly in love. Then January 17th, 2008, everything changes. Have you checked the residence? Yes, every closet, every room, bathrooms, everywhere. It was like she evaporated.
She wouldn't have left them kids for nothing. We knew she didn't leave on her own free will. Northport is a great little town. It's a beautiful city. The neighborhood that Denise and her husband lived in was just a typical small family Florida neighborhood. It is a very family friendly place. It's a place where families go to raise children and it's a place where people go to feel safe.
How did they wind up moving to Northport? They were looking for a house to rent and they saw that one and liked it.
And it was a brand new house. Never been lived in cheap. It was pretty cheap.
Back then, the recession was hitting and there was a ton of empty houses for rent. And we found a three bedroom, two bath for like $500 a month. And it was in a beautiful area, all pine trees, wooded area, very secluded, which we thought was a good thing. Being in our own house was really special. It was like, okay, we're a real family. But we loved it. We loved the house.
But on January 17, 2008, that house is at the center of a missing persons investigation.
Have you checked the residence? The entire residence? Yes, the entire house, yes.
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Chapter 3: What evidence linked Michael King to Denise's kidnapping?
Me, I was, hey, you know, you always hear postpartum depression, maybe after a pregnancy, but it's been six months. So you kind of, well, maybe she's just lost in the woods out here, because the whole house is surrounded by woods and stuff. So I went to Chief Cameron, I called him at the time, and he was the undersheriff, and I said, hey, can we get a helicopter up here?
Northport doesn't have a helicopter. Can we get extra people?
Instantly, I felt the panic in his voice. And all he kept saying to me, I'll never forget this. Chief, something's wrong. Chief, something's terribly wrong. He goes, my daughter is gone. Her car's at her house. Her phone's at her house. Her purse is at her house. Her kids are at her house. And she's not. He said, Chief, she would never do that. She would never leave her kids, Chief.
I said, I'm on the way. I'm bringing the cavalry. We'll help you. We're going to find her. So you had law enforcement just coming in everywhere? Law enforcement was hearing it about a sergeant's daughter's missing. They were just, they were coming, going, what can we do? What can we do? What can we help? Where can we go?
I called the dispatchers, and I said, anybody who's free, any detective, any officer, any motorcycler, doesn't matter what, just send them to Northport. We've got to go find Rick's daughter. We were trying to figure out, where is Denise? So we started going door to door, talking to neighbors. Around 2.30, the neighbor, a young female, had saw a green Camaro.
She said she saw a man in a green Camaro. She made eye contact with him. I could see through my blinds a green Camaro going up and down the road. And I walked outside just as he was turning around.
I called into her driveway real quick and sat in the car.
Jennifer Eckhart, who lived next door, saw him parking Denise Lee's driveway after he had kind of been prowling up and down the street several times.
And he sat there for, let's say, a good 15 minutes. And so I went back inside, and then about 10 minutes later, he left.
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Chapter 4: What were the key moments during the search for Denise Lee?
It's too loud. I know when she picked up that phone, she's thinking, OK, I'm going to be saved because 911 is going to know where I am. And my dad and I know is looking for me, and they're going to find me.
I don't know where your phone is. I'm sorry. Ultimately, Michael King realizes he doesn't have his phone. and you can hear him asking where it is.
He's slowly starting to get more and more suspicious that, you know, she might have the phone. I don't have it. I'm sorry. She might have the phone laid down and not hear a thing I'm saying, too. The fact that she was able to get all the information she needed, I mean, it was unbelievable. She was doing everything in her power to be found. Yes, absolutely.
Are you going to hurt me? Are you going to let me out now? Help me. Don't, don't.
I lost him. Chris, I lost her. The guy grabbed the phone from her. Unfortunately, you can hear them pull off to the side of the road, and then you hear the phone disconnect. The clock is ticking. Are you hopeful? When the 911 call came in, absolutely hopeful. I was thankful that she was alive. I thought it was only a matter of time before they found her.
I was thinking, OK, this is going to be her chance. 21-year-old Denise Lee has just called 911, pleading for her life after being kidnapped from her home. I think for the family, it was almost a sense of hope that, you know, we heard her voice and we know that she's alive. And now authorities were essentially trying to pinpoint her location. I assume she called 911, they know where she is.
That's what everybody thinks. Turns out that's not how it works. Can police pinpoint where she is at that point with the 911 call?
They were trying to triangulate the call, meaning from one cell tower to this cell tower to this one and trying to dial in an approximate area where it was at.
By the time we started to go up on the phone itself with our federal partners who assist us, the phone was dead. She was still able to keep the line open and for them to get critical information about this person who had taken her.
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Chapter 5: How did the community respond to Denise's abduction?
He's turning left right now. And I'm in the other lane.
He's turning left on Toledo Blade. Do you want me to turn? Try to follow him? Does he want her to follow him? Okay, can you turn? He just turned on Toledo Blade. I don't know if I can catch up. There's a bunch of traffic and I can't get over. He was doing everything he can to avoid her. It is clear that he changed course of direction because of Jane Kowalski.
A child in the car, and it was banging on the window. And screaming. And crying. And screaming. Like, screaming, screaming, screaming. And not a happy scream, like, get me out of here, scream. The vehicle had a white male, white male driver, blue or black Camaro. Male had light hair. And there was a child screaming in the car and banging on the window. Okay. And banging on the window. Okay.
I've got everybody hollering at me and just one second.
And I could hear stuff in the background and she kept talking to other people asking questions too.
That whole comm center is buzzing with two shifts of people trying to help Rick and trying to find Denise.
I'm going to just pull over now. Let me get over. Yeah, that would be great. I don't know if there's an Amber Alert out or something like that, but bear with me.
And you asked her if there was an Amber Alert issued. I did. At one point, I was like, is there an Amber Alert out?
Yeah. Again, I thought it was a child who had been abducted, and I didn't know what was going on.
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Chapter 6: What were the legal proceedings following Denise's murder?
Muxlow presses King on a crucial detail. Earlier that day, his cousin had come to his house to borrow a shovel, a gas can, and a flashlight. The same items found in King's car.
What do you need a flashlight for? Told me to get that, and I sold her.
Why'd they let you go and not her? I don't know.
You know?
I don't know what's going on, man. I don't know. They should have let her go, too. Well, you're laughing with her. I know, I do, but. I mean, it was pretty bad on your side there. Kidnapping my daughter, man.
Investigators collected fingernail clippings, DNA swabs off of Michael King's body before ultimately arresting him.
With King clamming up, investigators turned to his cousin.
And I see him in there wrestling with somebody, and I heard some girls say, call the cops.
Did you see the person that was in the back? Not very well.
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Chapter 7: What changes were made to 911 dispatch procedures after Denise's case?
When I say major, I mean it could have saved her life.
Was that hard for you? That's your department. Oh, absolutely. That you say screwed up.
Absolutely. He just said, Chief, that was our last chance to get her. In his gut, in his heart, his family let him down.
Officials are defending themselves after some claim that a murdered mother could have been saved if 911 workers had been communicating better.
The assumption is that Charlotte County screwed up and could have saved this girl's life. And I'm telling you that until the facts come out here, that's the wrong assumption to make. The sheriff also said that you gave inaccurate information. You have the color of the car wrong. You said it was a child screaming. My answer to that is this. So what?
You're not going to go after someone if I think there's a child that's been adopted, right? They should have still sent a car. They would have pulled him over. She would have still been in the car. It would have been a, you know, a completely different turnout. I don't think it would have changed the outcome one bit simply because we had people in the area looking for the exact vehicle.
The sheriff at the time, Sheriff Davenport, said it would not have made a difference.
Oh, he's 100% wrong. I have faith in the people I work with. I've been by that sheriff's office 41 years now.
There's no doubt in my mind she would have been rescued. She could have been saved, and the system failed her. An internal investigation found the dispatchers did receive information about Jane's call, but violated procedure by not immediately dispatching it and were disciplined. One of them suspended for 60 hours, another 36 hours.
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Chapter 8: How did Denise's legacy influence her family's actions after her death?
And so they're destined to be good kids. What is that like? I can see you get emotional just seeing that. What do you feel?
Proud. I feel proud of them. All the time, I have people tell me that I was raised right. And I mean, it's all credit to him.
Some people have called your mom a hero, that she protected you too. I always say she sacrificed herself to make sure we were safe.
We came first. She was selfless. She didn't deserve it.
The man who killed your mom is in prison, going to be put to death. Did you ever feel there was anything you wanted to say to him? If I were to talk to him, it would be to make sure that he feels 200% worse about what he did.
and make sure he truly knows the extent and the damage that he's done.
Are you prepared for execution? Can't wait. I'll be the first one on the bus going there and first in line. Denise isn't here, so why should he be? The pain and the suffering, the horror he put her through, he should not, he should not be here. But that's not how the system works. It's not a quick process.
Nearly 20 years since the murder of Denise Amber Lee, her convicted killer will be put to death tomorrow evening. Michael King, next on the list to die by lethal injection. I would just like to know why.
You know, why her?
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