The body of a woman trapped in a submerged vehicle was discovered in a pond near Disney World over the weekend, reportedly solving a 12-year disappearance.
Volunteer diver with Sunshine State Sonar (SSS) Posted Saturday on social media about the discovery of the body of a woman identified as Sandra Lemire, according to the release. According to SSS, the group found her grandmother's car, a red 2004 Ford Freestar minivan, submerged in a small reservoir near the exit to Disney World in Kissimmee, Florida. (Related: Video allegedly showing Samuel Haskell Jr. dumping large object into trash can, likely connected to recovered torso)
The group said Lemire left her grandmother's house in a minivan on May 8, 2012, and headed to Kissimmee to meet a man she had been talking to “through an online dating service.” But after she called her grandmother to tell her she had arrived in the city, she said she never heard from her and that she was last seen leaving a Denny's restaurant in the area. It is stated in the announcement.
The mission of the SSS team is according to Their mission to the site is to “locate missing persons, vehicles, and vessels,” and they will specialize in sonar operations and assist law enforcement with “evidence recovery and preservation.” The dive team, working with the Orlando Police Department (OPD), hit a total of 63 bodies of water over the past 17 months before finally finding Lemire's car, according to a released statement.
The first search took place on July 2, 2022, but the SSS team said deceptive “additional information” from OPD “prompted” the latest search. (Related: Police say neighbors heard cries for help weeks before missing man's body was found stuck in chimney)
“With new information, one of our amazing team members in Virginia has begun mapping new locations, including various locations on the highway. December 30, 2023, 1:30 p.m. “At approximately 1:00 pm, sonar was detected in a small reservoir at the Disney World exit of I4. We discovered what appeared to be a minivan submerged in 14 feet of water,” the statement said.
OPD officials confirmed that the vehicle was connected to Lemire's case, and SSS confirmed that the license plate found belonged to Lemire's minivan. according to Go to NBC News. With the information given, the team discovered that Lemire's car ended up in the pond after a car accident, the newspaper reported.
Mike Sullivan, a member of the SSS team, Said WESH in Orlando said the incident “turned out” to be a “terrible car accident” and praised the team's efforts.
“In the back of my mind, I always thought this was foul play. And it turned out it was just a bad, bad car accident,” Sullivan told Orlando's WESH. “I’m so proud of our team.”
Following news of Lemire's discovery, her son, Timothy Lemire Jr., and her father, Lemire's ex-husband, said the family had “mixed emotions.”
“I have very mixed emotions,” Lemire Jr. told WESH. “She's glad she wasn't killed or kidnapped because we've thought that way for years.”
“There's a video of the van on the tow truck and the truck leaving. And he says, 'Timothy, we're finally bringing your mom home,'” Lemire Jr. continued speaking to WESH. “And when he said that, I was devastated. After all these years.”
WESH said authorities were still awaiting “positive identification of the human remains found inside the vehicle.”
