Transcript of Life On The Line

I'm John Quinones. Vanessa Guillen, a 20-year-old soldier, vanishes while on duty at an army base in Texas. Her family demands answers. How can she go missing on a military base? That's too ridiculous. The search goes on for months.

Where is Vanessa?

Where is Vanessa?

And a dark story starts to unfold.

She told her family that she was being sexually harassed and wasn't reporting it out of fear of retribution and retaliation.

What investigators finally uncover is horrifying. Find out how one soldier, a beloved sister and daughter, ignited a movement and sparked a reckoning in the US military. Listen to Vanished: What Happened to Vanessa? A new series from ABC Audio in 2020. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.

Please, my favorite, Vanessa, may your beautiful husband. I just want to see my kids again.

Was there any sign of forced entry or a struggle. No, none.

Nothing.

So it looked like a woman just banished.

Yes, with leaving her two precious babies behind.

All he kept saying to me, I'll never forget this. Chief, something's terribly wrong. 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. You ready, Daddy?

I'm ready. Oh, my goodness.

What can we do? What can we do? What can we help? Where can we go?

There's no way she would go off and leave them kids at home like this. I know 100 % there's something wrong.

I could see through my blinds a green Camaro going up and down the road.

She's with her adopter and managing to make a 911 call.

Hands coming up and just hitting that window.

Wow.

Child in the car, and it was banging on the window and crying and screaming like, Get me out of here, scream.

Do you have any idea that a 21-year-old mom is missing? No.

And you're witnessing a kidnapping. I just wanted to see my family, and let me go.

I've been I've told this story all over the country. I've probably told it hundreds, if not thousands of times over the years. It started just like every other day. That turned out to be literally the worst day of my life.

I don't know where mommy is. North Port 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 North Port man came home 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.

21-year-old mother of two has been missing since late afternoon.

Denise Amber Lee disappeared from her Home around 3: 30 in the afternoon on January 17. Authorities are still calling it an act of investigation.

It's incredibly painful to dive into the story over and over again, but it's something I have to continue to do. Make a positive difference, have an impact on somebody's life. Good morning, everyone. My name is Nathan Lee.

Take me back to that day. What do you remember about getting up and getting going that morning?

Typically in the morning, I would try to be as quiet and Ninja-like as possible, getting ready for work and leaving, because Denise, as soon as she would wake up, she'd be awake. I was working a bunch of different jobs, and just trying to make sure that she could stay home with the boys. Started my shift 7: 00 AM to 11: 00 AM, and The brief conversation, I remember it like it was yesterday, a nice cold front came through Florida in January, so it got down to the low 70s. And so I'm like, Open up the house, turn off the AC so we can save money. And she's like, Okay, I'll do that.

I was going to invite them over to eat. Maybe once a week we would try to do that. And I remember trying to call there, just say, Hey, you guys want to come over? And never got an answer.

My shift ended at three o'clock. I had a 25-minute drive home, and I called her a total of seven times, and she didn't answer. Was that unusual?

That was weird.

I started getting a little nervous that something wasn't right. I pulled her to the driveway, but the windows were shut. I opened the door, and the first thing I noticed was how hot it was in the house. I walked in the front door, put my phone and keys down on the chair, and noticed her cell phone sitting on the top of the couch. The AC was off, and so I turned that on, and I noticed her purse and keys sitting on the counter.

But no sign of Denise.

No sign of Denise. Everything looked normal. And that's when I heard Noah starting to wake up from a nap, but it was coming out of Adam's bedroom. And so I walked in there, and they were both in the same crib.

Was that typical?

That was not normal. I pick up Noah, and he's immediately asking me, Where's mommy? Where's mommy? Where's mommy? I literally walked in every room in the house, and she wasn't anywhere. I didn't know what else to do, and I called 911. North Port Police Emergency.

We all know those critical three digits to dial in an emergency, 911. And when Denise Lee, a young mom of two suddenly banishes from her West Florida home, there are a series of those calls captured in real-time, and each can be the difference between life and death.

North Port emergency? Yes. I'm at Latour Avenue. I just got home from work, and my wife, I can't find her. My kids were in the house, and I don't know where she is. I've looked every single place, and I don't know. How old are your kids, sir? My oldest is two, and my youngest is six months.

You know what? I know.

I don't know where mommy is. Her vehicle is in a driveway? Yes. Does she have any medical conditions? No. Her purse is here. I don't... Her cell phone is here. I don't... I don't know. I don't know. Okay, what is her name? Denise.

There's little video clips of her at the park with the pushing Noah in the swing, her giggling lap. That was her. That was Denise all the time with the kids. I got you. That was Denise all the time with the kids. I got you.

You ready, Daddy? I'm ready. You ready?

She was a stay-at-home mom. She was all about her boys and her family.

Noah, you ready?

What was she like as a mom juggling two little boys?

Selfless is the number one word. She put them first for everything. Patience. I don't think I ever heard her raise her voice at them. What a smile. I remember sitting back and just going, wow, she's an amazing human.

Denise was pretty young, 21-year-old young mom. Tell me about her life at that point.

She loved being a mom. Her family meant everything to her. She was so proud of her kids and Nathan. They were her life.

She looked so happy.

Yeah, it's her with Noah and Adam. They looked like they're about the same size.

They do look about the same size.

They're 18 months apart.

They look like the happy family right here.

Mm-hmm.

Take me back to the time when you met those teen years.

She was a senior in high school. I was a sophomore, technically, in college. She was super crazy smart and was taking college courses already.

She He was a brainiac, and it was very smart.

Denise's dad, Rick Goff, had been a longtime detective with the Charlotte County Sheriff's office at the time.

Rick Goff is a legend at the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office. He's been here a long time I felt like I just had an instant friendship with Rick. Guys cut from the same cloth. Cops, cops. Is that Rick?

Yes. Oh, my goodness. Yeah. What was it about her that attracted you?

She was beautiful, funny, photography. As we started dating and got to know each other better, the thing that I loved about her the most was how she looked at me.

Nathan remembers that Denise was just 17 when she first spoke to him, and the two went out on a date.

I wanted to take her somewhere special because if she was the one, I wanted it to be memorable. I already knew. It was weird. I already knew.

You already knew that age?

I think so.

You started dating in pretty soon. It's February, Valentine's Day. How did you mark the occasion?

Yeah, it was pretty awkward. 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. Not even sure what if it was silver or what it was. 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 shocked because she was 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, bathroom, 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.

North Port 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. You would feel safe living in that community.

How did they wind up moving to North Port?

They were looking for a house to rent, and they saw that one and liked it.

It was a brand new house. Never been lived in a cheap. They were pretty cheap.

Back then, the recession was hitting, and there were a ton of empty houses for rent. And we found a three bedroom, two bath for $500 a month. 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 So on January 17th, 2008, that house is at the center of a missing person's investigation.

Have you checked the residence? The entire residence? Yes, the entire house, yes. Every closet, every room, bathroom, everywhere. Are the children okay? Yes. Well, my youngest one's crying, but they're okay. All right, Nathan, I have an officer en route for you. If she does return home by the time we get their calls back, let us know, okay? Okay. All right. Thank you. Thank you.

Bye-bye. My name is Chris Morales, and I am the Deputy Chief of Police for the Northport Police Department.

But at that time, you were...

At the time, I was a detective with the agency in the Major Crimes Unit.

You get this call that Denise Lee is missing.

I got a notification from my sergeant and said, Hey, I need you two to go out to Latour Avenue, in reference to a missing female.

10: 04.

Thin build, approximately 5'2. Dirty blonde hair, blue eyes, 110 pounds.

Photos were disseminated out throughout the department to members on their computers and who to be out on the lookout for at that time.

Do you just wait for the police? Do you call anybody else? Yeah.

So as soon as I got off the phone with 911, I called Denise his dad.

Who happens to be a detective.

Rick always, when he answers the phone, he just starts talking. The first thing Rick asked me, I'll never forget it. I can't imagine what this must have felt like from his standpoint. He asked me, Do you guys want to come over for dinner tonight? And I'm like, Rick, we can't. I don't know where Denise is. He's like, What do you mean by that?

Did you immediately become concerned?

Yes.

Why?

Because he said she wasn't around, and the two boys were there home alone when he got home. Absolutely.

And then he went into cop mode. Is there any signs of force entry? Is there blood anywhere? And I'm like, Rick, no. It's like she evaporated. And I felt better after talking to him because I knew if anybody was going to find where Denise was, it was him.

And then I take off straight to North Port to their house and I had to get a hold of my wife.

I didn't know what to think. I had no idea what could have happened.

So very quickly, Denise's mom arrives to take Noah and Adam home. They had taken off the house. The crime scene was there.

I brought them home with me. Adam was only six months old. She was still nursing him. I had a friend go to the store, get formula, because I knew It was going to be time for him to eat. He was hungry. They were my focus.

Now, when you first go out there, I would imagine you've got to rule out the husband.

Any investigator knows that when you have something of suspicion, when it comes to a domestic, a husband and wife, that you're going to be on hypervigilant of wanting to focus on that person, right?

Cars from the North Port police station are soon on the scene, and Nathan says one of the officers starts to hone in on him.

And I understand it. You watch a lot of these types of shows, and it's always the husband. But luckily, Denise's dad arrived, and that changed everything. They respected his authority. This was his daughter, and this investigation ramps up very quickly.

First thing, I go, Well, maybe she went with somebody else. Her and Nathan haven't tried. Absolutely not. Nathan was her life. There's no way she would go off and leaving kids at home like this. I know 100% me I think there's something wrong. Everything we have worked for an informer.

There are multiple law enforcement agencies involved. Who's taking the lead?

Northport's taking the lead on it. It goes to send their jurisdiction. But Detective Morales was the case agent.

Was there any sign of forced entry or a struggle. No. No. We arrived. None. Nothing.

Nothing.

So it looked like a woman just banished.

Yes, with leaving her two precious babies behind.

Her phone was there, her keys were there, her purse was there. So all indications There was something wrong.

I remember Rick Goff was sitting across the street, leaned up against his car with his arms crossed in his head, in a way downward of dismay.

He was distraught.

Yeah.

You're her father, but you're also in law enforcement. So what goes on for you at this moment?

Me, I was, Hey, you always hear postpartum depression, maybe after a pregnancy, but it's been six months. So 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 Cam and I called him at the time, and he was the Under Sheriff, and I'd say, Hey, can we get our 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 is 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 it.

So you had law enforcement just coming in everywhere.

Law enforcement was hearing it about a sergeant's daughter's missing. They were coming, going, What can we do? What can we do? What can we help? Where can we go?

I called the dispatcher and I said, Anybody who's free, any detective, any officer, any motorcycle, it doesn't matter what, just send them to Northport. You 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 pulled into her driveway real quick and sat in the car.

Jennifer Eckart, who lived next door, saw him park in Denise Lee's driveway after he had been crawling 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.

Who's in outside this green Camaro that seemed to be lurking outside?

It's going to be a darker green Camaro.

Hours go by, and with the search on for this mysterious green car, a heart-stopping 911 call comes in.

911. Hold on, please let me go. I just want to see my family again.

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Denise A. Lee, Northport 118. That's 107, 80 units, I want to canvas an area.

Within minutes of Nathan Lee making that 911 call to report that his wife, Denise, is missing, Northport police are at his doorstep. And after canvassing the neighborhood, Wood, they soon come up with their first lead.

We got the information from the neighbor of a green Camaro that was seen in her driveway around 2: 30. That was about an hour prior to Nathan getting home. So we were on the questions with Nathan about, do you have friends that have a Camaro, family members, someone at your work?

I do, actually. I know a guy, I work with a guy, drove a green Camaro, but it turned out it wasn't him.

Lieutenant, it's going to be a darker Camaro, and it's going to be probably an early 2000, late '90s model.

All we had to go on at that point was look for any green Camaro you see and stop it, because that's all we have.

We knew that someone had to have taken her.

I put my guys at every intersection I could possibly think of because my fear was whoever was, if they got onto the interstate, they could be in Miami in a couple, and we'd lose them.

Nearly four hours after Denise's neighbor have spotted that green Camaro, a new 911 call comes in to Sarasota County dispatch, and it immediately grabs their attention.

911, what's your name? I'm sorry, I just want to go. Hello? What's up? Why did you do that? I'm sorry. I just wanted to see my family. Hello? Please let me go. Please let me go. I just wanted to see my family again.

Incredibly Finally, the woman on the line is Denise Lee herself.

When that call came in, we absolutely knew that she was abducted.

What's your name, ma'am? Please, my name is Denise. I'm here, your beautiful husband, and I just want to see my kids again. Please, I just want to see my family again. Where we go.

She's with her abductor.

She's with her abductor.

And managing to make a 911 call.

Denise had found the phone and was able to hide the phone and call 911.

That's pretty incredible.

It is absolutely incredible and very heroic. She was very good at giving indicators to 911. She didn't want to let him know that she was talking to somebody.

Do you know this guy that's with you? No. You don't know him from anywhere? No, please. Oh, God, help me. What is the address Where are we going? I got to go off and around now. This is what you in. I'm going to put you in where? Because of Rob. Can you see that's exactly where it says? Four streets long, five streets from your house. I cleared you. I'm going to go. North Port L9. Sarasota just had Denise A. Lee on the phone advice, and she was taken by an unknown subject.

Chief camera came to me, said there was a 911 call, and they said, Listen, there's a girl on the phone. They think it's Denise.

I said, Rick, I have to have you listen to this recording. And I played it for him. I'm sorry, please let me go.

I'm sorry, please let me go. Hello? Please let me go, God, please.

He cried, and he said, That's her. That was horrible. Horrible for me and horrible for Rick.

She's trying to save her life, get back to her kids. It's just tough. It's tough to deal with.

When you eventually heard that call, that couldn't have been easy for you.

Yeah, that was tough.

What's your home address? Do you know? I don't know. Can you just take me to my house? Can you just take me home?

Can you take me back to my house on the tour, which is the address where she lived? She's just laying on top of the phone in the back seat, best we can figure, and answering dispatches questions and then trying to relay it, secretly talking to him.

Can they turn off the radio or turn it down? I can't hear you. It's too loud. Is there a Where are we?

I know when she picked up that phone, she's thinking, Okay, I'm going to be saved because 911 is going to know where I am, and my dad, I know, is looking for me, and they're going to find me.

I don't know where your phone is. I'm sorry.

At some point on that call, you can hear the kidnapper realizing his phone is missing and demanding it back.

I don't have your phone. Please, God. I don't have it. I'm sorry. You 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, 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? Don't. I lost him. Chris, I lost her. The guy grabbed the phone from her.

Unfortunately, you can hear pull off to the side of the road, and then you hear the phone disconnect.

The clock is ticking. Are you hopeful?

When a 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, Okay, this is going to be her chance.

21 One-year-old Denise Lee has just called 911, pleading for her life after being kidnapped from her home. And authorities are 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 to 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.

We have a phone number that ties back to whatever called into 911.

We were able to take that number, and through phone providers, we were able to identify who the subscriber was of that number, which came back to Michael King.

Had you ever heard of this man before?

No, I've never heard of Michael King before.

Did his name ring a bell to you at all?

No, it did not.

Just completely a random guy? Yes.

Usually, there's a connection or a relationship or a motive, some tie-in between the parties involved in cases like this. For the life of us, we couldn't figure this one out.

We ran Michael King through databases and came back with Michael King, which had owned an actual green Camaro.

And so you knew right away that this is-This is ourThis is your guy. This is your guy.

This is our guy.

With police now desperately trying to locate Michael King, another alarming 911 call comes into Sarasota County.

Police emergency operator, Bonnell.

Right after Denise had made this 911 call, approximately nine minutes later, we received a phone call from a Sabrina Muxlow.

What's the problem? I just got a call from my dad, and his cousin came over his house with a girl in the car.

On the line is a teenage girl who tells a frightening story that she's just heard from her own father.

She was tied up, and the girl got out of the car, and my dad's cousin went and put her back in the car when she got out. Okay, where's your dad's house? It's in the north floor. Do you know the address of it? He wants to be anonymous. His cousin left. Okay, what's the cousin driving? A green Camaro. And what does he look like? He's white, medium size. He's chubby. What's the cousin's name? Oh, it's Mikey King. Michael King? Yeah. Okay.

Sabrina's dad is Harold Muxlow, a cousin of Michael King.

Harold, instead of calling 911, he calls his daughter.

Are you sure you can't give me your dad's address? He doesn't want nothing to do with it. He's afraid to call because it's his cousin. I guess my mom says this guy's crazy. Okay, so all you can tell me his name is Michael King. He was just at your dad's house, and he had a woman tied up, and she tried to get out of the car, and he put her back in the car, correct? Yes, she was yelling.

She was yelling out to Muxla, call police, call the cops. Just the idea that she was so actively... Some people would have been subdued in the back.

Doing everything she could.

He heard a woman's voice.

He asked King what's going on. King brushed him off, and he let King drive away unimpeded.

Okay, we've been looking for this female. He'd ask? Yes. We've got the helicopter up. You are just so wonderful to call us and give us this information. Okay? Yeah.

You learned that his cousin, Harold Muxlow, he didn't call the police, even though she was screaming for him to call police.

I was very angry at him. And he called his 17-year-old daughter to stick up for him. Thank God, she called 911, too, and gave us the description of the car and stuff like that herself because he was too much of a coward to join himself. He had a 17-year-old daughter, too, and he didn't want to help my daughter.

911. What's the location of your emergency? I'm not sure exactly what the emergency is exactly.

Harold probably feeling guilty, goes to a local pay phone up the street and then later calls us to tell us something we already know.

I think there's somebody that's taken without their...

That don't want to be where they need to be. And they're in a '95 green Camaro, the Northport, I'm on. Okay. How do you know this? I know. Do you know who the guy is? No. Okay. Other than the green 1995 Camaro, do you know anything else? No, I sure don't. Okay. Do you know the last time you saw him? About 15 minutes ago.

But it's Sabrina's original 911 call that reveals a chilling detail.

Now, where would he be going with this female? He came over to my dad's house, borrowed a shovel, a gas tank, and found him out.

King came to him with some cockamame story about King's lawnmower being broken down. And so he asked His cousin Harold Muxlow for a shovel, a gas can, a flash light.

Once we learned he had stopped at his cousin's house to obtain those items, we knew time was of the essence that we needed to find her quickly because that window of opportunity was dwindling fast. Breaking news. Right now, North Port police are searching for a woman they say was kidnapped.

With the desperate search for Denise Lee in high gear, 911 is about to get another call.

911, where's your emergency? Well, am I 41 going south?

This one from a woman who's driving and sees something and knows she needs to say something.

I want to say, like a Camaro type of car, and there's a kid in the back seat, and screaming, and not a happy scream like, Get me out of here, scream. Do you want me to turn? Try to follow them?

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It's a pretty busy road. Us 41. Yeah, it's a very busy road, actually.

Jane Kowalski finds herself driving down this road in North Port, Florida, unaware that young mom of two, Denise Lee, has been missing for three hours now.

I'm on the phone with my sister, hands-free, talking, and I get up to Cranberry Boulevard, stop for a stop light until I had turned red, and there's screaming going on, and I turned to the left to look to the car next to me that had pulled up next to me, and the screaming was coming from that car. What screams?

Horrific.

Loud, curdling, just horrific screams. I looked over and I see the guy, as Claire as day, from here to right there, but he kept turning and trying to push something down in his back seat. And then a hand comes up And it was a Camaro, right? And so it was like two doors. So there's a little window in the back and the hand's coming up and just hitting that window.

Give me a sense of how the hand was hitting the window. Okay. Wow. What's your instinct telling you about what's happening?

Something wrong. Something's completely wrong. Something's wrong. Someone needs help. So the light turns green, and I hesitate because I want to get that license plate. In Florida, you only have license plates on the back. But the light turns green, and he hesitates. We don't go. Well, there's tons of cars behind us, and they start honking. He knows that you see him. Yeah, he knows because I looked at him and I gave him a look like, What the hell? What's going on in your car? And I finally go forward thinking that he's going to go forward, but he pulls right behind me.

So you can't see his license plate now because he's behind you.

He's behind me. And that's also scary because I know that he saw me looking at him. So I hang up with my sister. I call 911.

911, where's your emergency? Well, I'm on 41 going south, and I was at a stop light, and a man pulled up next to me, and there was a child screaming in the car. What type of vehicle is he in? It's a blue Camaro, like a Camaro in the '90s or early 2000s or something. Okay.

Jane's 911 call goes to a different dispatch, Charlotte County, the same agency Denise's dad works for.

The way 911 phone systems work is when you dial your phone, it will hit the closest tower to where you are at that moment in time. But by the time this woman, when she makes the phone call, she's close to the Charlotte line, the closest tower rings into our dispatch.

About how old is this child? I did see the child, I'd say less than 10, definitely not an infant, old enough to bang on the window.

But of course, it's not a child at all. It's Denise Lee, restrained, fighting to get anybody's attention for help.

This particular car, the back seat was so small that Denise was probably having to lay down in the back seat of the car.

At the wheel is Michael King, the man authorities have been desperately searching for.

I turned to look at him, and he's a white male, light-colored hair, plump. He's behind me now, and I tried to slow down so he could pass me and I could read his license plate, and he's going slower than I am, which is not right because we're holding up traffic. Sick and stuff. But I think that he saw me look at him, and I'm not trying to be over dramatic here, but he's going even slow her now.

She's making it very well known that Michael is aware that she sees him, and she knows that something's not right So obviously, his speeds are reduced significantly.

Okay, he's pulling over to the other lane up.

I'm in this lane over here in the right-hand lane, and he was behind me, and he cuts all the way over to the turn lane.

Over there.

And that's when I'm like, Should I follow him? But I'm over here, all this traffic comes in, and I can't make the turn.

He's going to turn left on Toledo Blade. He's turning left right now. It 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. Screaming, screaming, screaming. And not a happy scream like, Get me out of here, scream. The vehicle had a white male driver, blue or black Camaro, Male had white 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 in 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.

Okay. 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? Yeah. Again, I I thought it was a child who had been abducted, and I didn't know what was going on.

Do you have any idea that a 21-year-old mom is missing? No. And you're witnessing a kidnapping.

I had no idea I was witnessing a kidnap. I didn't know what was going on in the car. That green Camaro turned out to be a traveling crime scene in and of itself.

When the Camaro turns left here on Toledo Blade, Jane loses sight of it. But with such a precise location and deputies nearby, could this be the moment Denise is finally found?

At that moment, at that time, when Jane Kowalski had called 911 to Charlotte County's dispatch center, there were officers, deputies, special agents, all in that area converging into the city. I activated my lights and my sirens.

Central R units. Northport units. Fhp has a vehicle stop.

I yelled, Driver, don't give me a reason to fire into your vehicle. Number one, Kelen O'Sore. I have a control.

I don't know where I'm on here.

You get this call that Denise Lee is missing.

In my 40-year career, the Denise Amberly case was the worst weekend of my life.

The authorities say a woman's been kidnapped, and they're caught on the trail.

Fhp has the vehicle stopped at 178 southbound.

I yelled, Driver, exit the vehicle. Don't give me a reason to fire into your vehicle. And I immediately said, Where is the girl?

What is he say?

He says that he was kidnapped.

He tells you he was kidnapped? Yes.

He's still detested about the weekend. Did you see that girl tied up? No. Let's have the real story. There's something you're not telling.

She was dropping clues.

Yeah.

For you to find her.

Is this her ring? Yes.

First ring I gave her for Valentine's Day.

Everything stopped at that point.

All three of us looked at each other like, What did he just say? She sees this abduction in progress, and you're witnessing a kidnapping.

North Port emergency.

I just got home to work, and my wife, I can't find her. Her phone was there. Her purse, keys. The boys are home by themselves. Calls. It was like she just poof, disappeared.

This is the case that people have nightmares about. A young woman abducted in broad daylight, taken away from her two little babies.

She wouldn't have left them kids for nothing. I know 100 % there's something wrong.

North Port police are searching for a woman they say was kidnapped. Her name is Denise Lee.

Three hours into the search, a chilling 911 call.

Please let me know. I can't see my family again, please.

There was a 911 phone call from Denise, from the suspect's phone, and she was talking to the dispatcher.

As police trace the phone, another call comes in.

They kept banging on the window and screaming, and not a happy scream like, Get me out of here, scream. He just turned on Toledo Boy. I don't know if I can catch up. There's a bunch of traffic, and I get over. Oh, boy.

And there's another 911 call.

I just got a call from my dad, and his cousin came over his house with a girl in the car, and she was tied up. He borrowed a shovel, a gas tank, and something else. What's your cousin driving? A green Camaro. What's your cousin's name? Mikey King. Put out a follow to FHP, too, please, for a dark green Camaro. Who's he saying is driving that Camaro? Michael King.

So you know now who you're looking for. 100 %. And the key is now to track him down.

Find him and save her.

As the manhunt for Michael King is ramping up, Denise's younger sister, Amanda, is at the movies 150 miles away, unaware of her sister's disappearance when she gets a voicemail.

It was very hysterical. I heard about what happened to Denise. I immediately called my parents and I was like, What is happening? What's going on?

What's going through your mind?

Just a lot of emotions, a lot of worry you would I would never think ever that something like that would happen to you, especially with our dad being in law enforcement.

You're a detective with Charlotte County? Yes. You had worked undercover. Were you processing whether this could have been related to a case that you had handled?

Well, absolutely. That was the first thing came up on everybody's radar thing. And I work some pretty big people in the day.

When you learned that police have zeroed in on a guy named Michael King, did his name ring a bell to you at all?

No, it did not.

With Michael King identified as their prime suspect, police raced to his Northport home. So you're making your way to his home with the hope that you'll find her there.

This was the biggest lead that we had.

We have the house around with the three units on scene. Two of us are employing close.

Nobody's coming to the door. They don't see any car.

There's a TV on, and it sounds like voice is in this home.

They got to go in. If she's in there, go in. Now, kick the door in.

I want entry made on that house. 10, four. There's two marked officers at the front. Make entry. This is a uniform. Officers make entry.

When you got here, what did you see right away inside?

Very dark and gloomy inside. They found out that it was pretty much TV music, and it was probably used to keep volume up high for what was probably occurring in the house.

There's indication that someone had been there. Yes. But no sign of Denise or Michael King. Correct. This house was basically empty except for a TV, and that is where we believe he took her.

There was obviously signs of someone being held against her will. They saw A makeshift bed in the master bedroom, the Winnie Dupou blanket.

Her hair tie was left on the floor.

They saw a elongated mirror that was propped up against the wall.

Would you have duct tape watered up in a bedroom with long stains? It looked like a Brown hair.

Then they found some duct tape and some blonde hair that stuck to the duct tape and stuff like that.

You had to know that that does not sound good.

Right.

Once we figured out they were no longer there, then we treated it as a crime scene. But at this point, we're still just worried about finding Denise. All of that's secondary. The main thing is, is she still alive? Where are they?

So you missed this moment. And then what next? Where are you hoping to find her?

Pretty much what we were doing was shutting down the city.

We need something to shut down so no one can get to the interstate.

We shut down North Port and was holding a roadblock to vehicles going in and out and looking for a green Camaro.

We also need the on-ramp shut down to the interstate. I need one of you guys making sure nobody gets on the interstate unless they're checked.

What is it like for you as those hours are going by? And no real firm word.

The more worried I got, the less hopeful I was.

The entire search now revolves around finding that one green Camaro. Florida Highway Trooper Edward Pope is scouring I-75.

I ended up making a U-turn right on the median. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a pair of headlights appeared, and I realized that it was a green Camaro.

Got a green Camaro heading southbound. I swung around on it. I'm trying to catch up here.

Immediately, I saw the first three digits of the tag. I knew at this point I had the right vehicle.

Fhp has a vehicle stopped at 178 southbound, 178 southbound.

I yelled, Driver, don't give me a reason to fire into your vehicle.

Unit units responding to the interstate. North 4, 232. Gf traffic. 007, 24. L81, any units that are on a perimeter need to stay there. 2: 49 Central. What's that tag on our Camaro? While a green Camaro with a black. Hold on one second.

It's around 9: 00 PM, 5 hours since Denise vanished. Trooper Edward Pope has spotted Michael King's green Camaro and is in hot pursuit.

I activated my lights and my sirens. He was a little hesitant, but he finally pulled over.

Northport units, FHP has a vehicle stopped at 178 southbound, 178 southbound.

It came over the radio. Fhp had the car stopped, and immediately I jumped in my car and headed out to the scene.

You heard about a green Camaro that had been spotted?

Yes. I was real hopeful on the radio because I heard him stopping the car. We were hopeful that she was going to be found.

I made Several commands for the driver of the vehicle to exit. So after about the fourth command, I noticed that he was trying to move the rear view mirror in order to try to find my location. I yelled, Driver, exit the vehicle. Don't give me a reason to fire into your vehicle. And immediately, there was a second pause. The driver's side door swung open. I identified who I was, and I pulled him out of the vehicle at gun point, and I immediately said, Where is the girl?

And so I'm waiting, waiting, waiting, and then come across the radio again that she's not in the car.

Michael King is 10: 12. The female is not 10: 12 with the vehicle.

Rick called me and Hey, they found the guy, but she's not in the car.

What happened for you at that moment?

I was like, Okay, what does that mean? He's like, I don't know where they're still looking. I was able to go to the vehicle, and what I could see was a gas can, a shovel that appeared to have been used somewhere.

He's standing there. What's concerning is he's soaking wet from his waist all the way down with water and mud and muck. That's not good. That's not good.

And you take him into custody. Yeah.

What does he say? He says that he was kidnapped. He was kidnapped with Denise.

He tells you he was kidnapped? Yes. And what do you make of this story?

So obviously, it's not believable. Obviously, you know he's lying.

Today is January 17, 2008, approximately 11: 24 PM. Present, Detective Morales, present Michael King. You came to us and you told me that you were a hostage and you were a victim. At that point, my focus was, Okay, we need to find where she is, and we seem like you wanted to assist us. We need to just find out what happened. Do you understand?

But before Detective Morales can really begin questioning King, he needs to read him his rights.

Having these rights in mind, do you wish to talk to us here now? No, I just want an attorney. You want an attorney? Yeah.

He didn't want to speak about anything that can incriminate him, so he lawyers up. So we went ahead and said, Okay, tell us how you're a victim. Tell us how you and Denise were kidnapped.

Police send in a detective who knows King, offering pizza and water, hoping to keep him talking.

I just asked him if I come in and talk to you. He's sitting here by yourself. I'm not a problem. I'm not a problem. But yeah, they got a bad luck. What do you think? I'm picking up nobody anymore. What did you do? I just picked up somebody. They were on the side of the road, and they didn't think nothing of it. And boom, just grabbed him right here and threw him right at him for it. That was it. He was like, Don't move. And then put something on my legs, and I couldn't even freaking move, man. You've not heard her anywhere? No.

No one can believe those stories, and how they just turned him loose, and got in the middle of nowhere, and it just made no sense whatsoever.

Running out of options and time, police now bring in King's cousin, Harold Muxlow, who says he saw a woman with King hours after Denise Lee was abducted. He agrees to talk to King.

We were hoping that Harold would open up the mic and saying, Hey, it's done. It's over. Just tell him where she is.

What happened to the girl? How's she? Where did she get where the girl? He took off with her or whatever he did. I don't know. It's crazy. Can't they ask her or anything? After Did they let her go? What do you know? I don't even think they found her.

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.

Where did you need a flash light for him? He told me to get that, my shovel. Why did he let you go?

Not her.

I don't know what they did. You know what's going on? I don't know. They should have let her go, too. Oh, you're laughing with her. I know, really. It was pretty I'm going to be bad on your side there. I'm getting that for my daughter, man. I wouldn't be too happy about it. I don't know. I agree with you. It'll be all over, too, man.

Investigators collect evidence, fibers, finger nail clippings, DNA swaps, then arrest King.

You're under arrest, Michael. A kidnap. All right now.

With King clamming up, investigators turned to his cousin.

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. But when they give him a polygraph.

Extreme deception indicated. So let's have the real story. There's something you're not telling.

John, a lot is changing by the moment here in Sarasota County. We have heard that a suspect is in custody. Just a short time ago, the Florida Highway Patrol arrested this man, 36-year-old Michael King. They've also located that car, the Green Camaro, but they did not find Denise Lee in it.

I'm He's off the front.

They're going on the back. You're under arrest, Michael. Get it this way, Mike. This is all in the beginning now.

With Michael King now in custody, police continue talking to him, treating him as a potential victim.

At that time, if he wants to say he's kidnapped, we were going to talk to him, and hopefully, him lead us to where she may be.

Does he take you to a location He takes us to a couple of locations, yes.

I need Air One over in this area here. He's led us to this. L9, I need you to call me.

We're hopeful, and we tell all the rescuers we're still looking for a person, not a body. I was getting information from all agencies and given the updates.

I was 100 % confident we'd find her. I thought she was somewhere. He must have just dropped her off in the woods somewhere, or she's wandering on the side of a road. And they would find her.

Get them back up. Start looking for hotspots around that area where the subject went 10: 15. 10: 14.

Meanwhile, we're learning more about the man in custody in connection with Lee's kidnapping. With the search Going on, questions are swirling around Michael King. To his parents, the accusations are unbelievable.

We've never had a problem with Michael. It just don't seem like he would do something like that. It's not in Michael.

This is the first time King's posed for a mug shot in Florida. The unemployed plumber doesn't have a criminal record here. Police visit King's ex-girlfriend, who tells them she's equally stunned.

Do you, in your opinion, think that when Michael would ever do something like this? No. I don't want to. Do you think he had a case of villain? No.

King has an 11-year-old son whom he'd been raising on his own. At the time, that boy was living with relatives in another state.

We learned that Michael King was going through foreclosure at the time and had broken up with his girlfriend. It seemed like a person that was down on his luck.

His attitude changed toward the end of his relationship. Yeah, he got a little depressed. I would tell him because he got a good paying job. He was worried about his health, the payments on it and stuff.

Police turned to King's cousin to try to get some answers.

This is a vehicle parked across the road, and I see him in there wrestling with somebody, and I heard some girls say, Call the cops. And he goes, Oh, don't worry about it. And took him. Did you see the person that was in the back? Not very well.

But the story he's telling now doesn't match what his daughter, Sabrina, says he told her.

I just got a call from my dad, and His cousin came over his house with a girl in the car, and she was tied up.

Faced with this contradictory account, investigators bring Muxla in for a polygraph exam.

Why do you think you're in this room, Harold? It was a statement that my daughter made, brother. Please remain still. The test is about to begin. Did you see that girl tied up? No. Did you see that girl get out of that car? No. Did you see that girl before you gave Mike that shovel? No. We're going to hit the score button. What's that say? Extreme deception indicated. Extreme deception indicated. So let's have the real story, because I don't think I got it. I don't mind you blaming for this thing. We're not blaming you. But we got to move forward. There's people here that need answers. They got daughter that's gone.

Finally, Muxlow admits to what he saw.

I see them wrestling by the front door with somebody on the other side of the car. And I put her in the car, and I didn't see her tied up. I had seen them get out of the car. It upset me. Clambed. I didn't do nothing. Is that it? That was it.

Are you sure?

That is what was bothering you on that polygraph. Yeah. But I didn't see her tied out.

I think most people put themselves in Harold Muxlow's shoes and say, Would I do that or would I do something different?

Very disappointed in what he could have prevented and what he could have stopped. I wish there was a law that could charge him and put him away. But unfortunately, in the law, he has no duty to call or stop someone for help.

During a search of Michael King's Camaro, police discover a heart-shaped ring in the rear passenger seat. The only question is, does it belong to Denise? Investigators bring her husband, Nathan, here to this interview room to see if he can identify it.

We have a piece of jewelry here that I want you to look at, okay? You will be able to tell us if this is it or not.

We're not sure, okay?

Tell me when you're ready. Ready. Is this her ring?

Yes.

The first ring I gave her, % on time's day. How confident are you that's her ring? 100 %.

What happens for you at that moment?

Well, I still was trying to keep hope, but really struggle with the reality that was starting to set in, that we weren't going to find her alive.

Now, authorities are still calling it an active investigation.

So if you have any information about the suspect in custody, the North Port police wants to hear from you.

Police press on, and then a new witness is brought into the interrogation room, a man who was with Michael King just hours before the abduction.

Why are you nervous? Tell me. Why would you be nervous? It scares me that I actually met with him that day.

We started doing grid searches with hundreds of deputies and hundreds of special agents throughout the statement, from exactly where Michael King was stopped all the way down to the road where he had pulled out onto Tulio Blade.

When the search was underway for Denise Lee, this housing development didn't exist. This was all woods. And it was here that a searcher, along with her canine, noticed something unusual.

I was a canine handler for Sarasota Canine Search and Rescue. I was assigned this area with canine CQ.

I was at the command post, and Tammy Treadway, who was the handler of secu, was getting late in the day. She said she was walking the sidewalk and her dog just took off into the woods.

I'm watching his body language, and he's moving in and out of the brush. So I'm just looking around, trying to see if I see anything that's out of place. I happened to notice that there was an area that was cleared. There was grass pulled up and laid in a nice layer across the top of it.

And miraculously, that was it. That was the site.

Very sad news at a North Port. The search for a kidnapped woman has been suspended.

Michael King put a gun to Denise's forehead and pulled the trigger. The hole that Denise was buried in was not shallow. It was probably about 4 feet down.

King's DNA was found on Denise Lee's body.

It can't be easy hearing that she was sexually assaulted, that she was shot in the head. How did you manage to handle that?

I had to come home and tell her and Nate. They found her and what happened.

He wanted me to hear from him, not anyone else. So that was tough.

I remember him telling us that they found her, and she wasn't alive, and everyone just broke down.

You have always portrayed yourself as a tough cop, but how did you manage this?

I am, by the way. But anyway.

You are?

I was a big baby when that happened. I can tell you, being kicked in the groin or something because it's like, I'm not so tough after that. She was my first born baby girl. I was a... It fell apart.

I just thought about the boys, Noah and Adam. That they're going to have to grow up without their mother.

On behalf of my sons Noah and Adam, I would like to thank everybody so much. Denise is my soulmate. I'm going to miss her so much. I don't know how I'm going to go through the rest of my life without her.

Denise is thankful that all your efforts brought her home.

I'm sure the boys, that's the reason she left with Michael King. She wanted to save the boys and just make sure they were safe, so she left with him.

Right now, we believe it's an absolute random act of incredible evil. Investigators can't locate the murder weapon, but they learned that just hours before Denise's kidnapping, Michael King had been at a local gun range with this man, Robert Salvador, someone King had met while working on plumbing jobs.

He said he had a gun. It was a nine millimeter. He said he didn't have any ammunition. And I said, you don't have to worry about that because I had a nine millimeter.

And I said, I have ammunition.

The shell casings found at the gun range were a match to the case in the found at the scene. Why are you nervous, Tommy?

Scares me that I'm even associated with somebody that could have done something of that nature. I actually met with him That day, I shot guns with the guy. Every time I think about that woman's family, my God.

At the time, Robert Salvador was a person of interest, but he was able to dispel us with receipts and proof that during a time that Denise was abducted and was with Michael King, Robert Salvador was nowhere near him. Her murder left family, friends, even law enforcement in shock and disbelief. Tonight, Denise Lee got her final farewell.

I remember the line of cars. It was amazing.

Gosh, the community carried us through it. I think there was over 2,000 people at the funeral. I promise her those kids will know exactly who their mother was.

In the midst of the grief Denise's family and the community are feeling, news breaks about a possible missed opportunity to rescue her.

Could a 911 call have saved a kidnapped woman's life? A woman called 911 to say she heard screaming inside a car at a stoplight.

That woman is Jane Kowalski. Remember, her 911 call went to neighboring Charlotte County, not Sarasoda County, where all the previous 911 calls had come in. Incredibly, it turns out her call was never dispatched to the deputies searching for Denise.

That never got dispatched over the air, which was a Just a terrible mistake. The call staker should have typed into the system what she's being told by the caller. She wrote it on a piece of paper and handed it to the dispatcher, which would not be the way it should have been done.

Jane Kowalski gives them details. She sees this abduction in progress.

She was giving cross streets, telling police, I see this happening. There's a person, child, whoever, screaming in the car. That should have been the moment she should have been saved.

There's a major screw up. When I say major, 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 and his heart, his family let him down.

Officials are defending themselves after some claimed 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 had 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 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.

He I'm 100% wrong. I have faith in the people I work with. I've been in 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. Both assigned a day of remedial training and given six months probation. Was that sufficient, Sue?

No.

And now you have to get through a trial.

King is accused of killing 21-year-old Denise Amberly.

This case was one of the worst of the worst, and that warranted the death penalty. We had an abundance of evidence, and a lot of that was from Denise herself. But at trial, Michael King's attorneys make a jaw-dropping claim, insisting he's not the man responsible for Denise's murder. Didn't you fire the shot that killed Denise Lee?

All three of us looked at each other like, What did he just say?

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The murder trial for the man accused of kidnapping and killing Denise Amber Lee began in Sarasota County today. King faces either life in prison or the death penalty.

Nearly two years after Denise Lee's death, her family and friends pour into a Sarasoda courtroom. They've come to see the man accused of killing her, Michael King, face a jury. What was that like for you seeing Michael King in court?

It was sickening. I tried to keep telling myself that you're sitting here and you're going to get what you deserve.

Prosecutor Lon Aaron begins by reading Denise's harrowing 911 call.

I'm sorry. I just want to go. I just want to see my family. Those are the last words that Denise Lee said that anybody other than Michael King heard on January 17th, 2008.

The prosecution builds its case by calling eyewitnesses to place Michael King with Denise in her final hours.

The state called Jane Kowalski.

We wanted to transport the jury to being with Denise and the defendant, so much so that they could actually live and breathe what Denise was going through.

A hand came up from the back seat and was banging on the window very loudly.

Are you able to show the jury?

Even louder than that. I mean, it was very loud.

Defense lawyers push back.

You can't identify who the person was in the vehicle, can you?

No, you cannot.

The jury is taken to one of the crime scenes, the Camaro itself. We wanted them to understand that that car was almost as important as the role that Michael King played.

It took her from her home to Michael King's home, to Harold Muxlow's home, to the place where her life eventually ended.

Prosecutors present what they believe to be indisputable evidence that Denise was in King's car.

What is that a picture of?

That is her ring.

It's clever. She hit her in the back seat because she knew she wasn't going to be found, probably. She pulled her out by the roots and stuck them under the back seats. She knew about DNA had to have the roots and stuff.

When there's overwhelming evidence, the defense tries to poke holes in the state's case.

No nine-millimeter handgun was found out on Plantation Boulevard. That is correct, sir.

Because we didn't have a gun, that was a hole. That was a big hole.

State called Robert Southmore.

Without a murder weapon, Then, prosecutors turned to ballistics, and the man who went shooting with Michael King just hours before the murder. At some point, did you meet the police at the gun range?

Yes.

What did you assist them with at the gun range?

They wanted whatever nine-millimetre shells we could find.

We didn't have the actual gun. We had the shell casing at the scene of Denise's murder that matched the shell casings where he was shooting earlier with Rob Salvador. But on cross-examination, the defense's line of questioning catches just about everybody in the courtroom off guard.

At the gun range, before you parted ways with Michael King, you arranged to meet him later that day, didn't you? No, sir.

And didn't you meet him out during the evening hours of January 17th, 2008?

No, sir.

And Mr..

Salvador, didn't you fire the shot that killed and took the life of Denise Lee? Absolutely not.

All three of us looked at each other like, What did he just say?

Judge, I have great concerns at this point over the behavior that just took place in this courtroom.

We objected, and we went up to the bench to talk to the judge, and the judge agreed with us because you can't just say things like that. If you have no evidence.

And I'm asking you to disregard such, ladies and gentlemen, because there is no basis, in fact, from the evidence.

The defense rests without calling a single witness. Their argument, the prosecution has failed to prove that Michael King was the one who pulled the trigger.

What you have received is an invitation to guess. Your reply to his invitation must be no. Thank you.

All right. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. You may retire to consider your verdict. Thank you.

It is such a serious decision that you're making, and I'm sure everyone wanted to make sure that they could live with it. You have to live with this.

Just over 2 hours after they began deliberations, the jury is back with a verdict.

We, the jury, find as follows as to count one of the indictment. The defendant is guilty of murder in the first degree as charged.

What was that like when you heard guilty? Amazing.

I knew, Okay, Denise won. Denise won.

She's an absolute hero. She took this murder off the street and made sure we had plenty of evidence. There's no doubt in anybody's mind that he's a killer.

The jury that took just two hours to convict Michael King of first-degree murder took nearly three to recommend he be sentenced to death. He was just straight-face, no emotion, nothing. I don't think he's capable of feeling emotion.

But even with King headed to death row, Denise's family feels they still had some unfinished business. You didn't take this all quietly.

I wanted people that made mistakes to be held accountable.

In 2009, Nathan files a wrongful death lawsuit against the Charlotte County Sheriff's office, alleging negligence in the handling of Jane Kowalski's 911 call caused Denise her life.

It is the Sheriff's responsibility to provide the best public safety that they possibly can to their citizens. And Denise wasn't given the best public safety of their citizens.

The two sides reach a settlement. The Sheriff's office admits no fault, but agrees to pay $1. 2 million to the family.

I just thought the boys needed something. They had to grow up without a mother.

Today, those Those two little boys Denise fought so hard to get home to are all grown up and speaking out publicly for the very first time. It's been 16 years since a jury recommended Michael King be put to death. Today, he remains on death row, his appeals exhausted.

Denise isn't here, so why should he be? The pain and suffering, the horror he put her through. He should not be here. But that's not how the system works. It's not a quick process.

Are you prepared for execution? Can't wait.

I'll be the first one on the bus, going there and first in line.

Is there anything you want to say to him?

I would just like to know why. Why her?

In the years following Denise's death, her younger sister, Amanda, decides join the very system many say failed Denise. And then you became a 911 dispatcher yourself. Why?

You're on the phone with people on the worst days of their lives, going through tragedies. And I think it helped give me the passion to be there for those people and help them.

Is it a tribute in some way to your sister?

Yeah.

I wanted to help make a difference in people's lives.

All right. Good morning, everyone.

Denise's husband Nathan is carrying his late wife's legacy in his own way, telling her story to 911 employees all over the country as a powerful reminder of their life-saving work.

I started the foundation back in June of 2008, after this happened to my beautiful wife, Denise. And since then, I've made it my life's mission to travel all over the country to help you. I want to see Denise continue to matter. Don't forget why you do this, okay?

And joining Nathan in this mission is Jane Kowalski, that woman who did everything she could to try to help a stranger. You eventually met Nathan.

Yes.

What did you say to him? What did you want him to know?

Well, I mean, just how sorry I am that my call did not get help to Denise. I mean, it's just a total let down.

While Nathan has moved forward, having a daughter and finding love again, he recently got back a piece of his past, that heart-shaped ring. Now that all of King's appeals are done and everything is over, we don't need this evidence anymore. And I was very happy to be able to release that to him.

There it is.

This is the ring that she had.

Yeah, it's special. I'm really glad I got this back. I was really excited to show it to the boys. And that was the first thing they said. I was like, Wow, she had really small fingers.

Those boys, Noah and Adam, now 19 and 18.

Every milestone, there is something missing, and it was our mom. Our first day of school, our last day of school, first football game, baseball game, our mom was always missing. That always felt like a rock in my chest. I always write her name in the clay before every event, just to know that she's there with me.

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.

Your dad spoke with us, 2008, after everything had happened. Here's what he said.

I want to make sure that my kids know that their mom was the most amazing person in the world and have her in them. 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 him. All the time, I have people tell me that I was I'm raised right, and it's all a credit to him.

Why do you want to speak out, finally?

I'm doing it for her and for my dad because we're a part of her, and I feel like people hearing from us can see how important she was, how amazing she was. Kind of big of a hole that is left because she's not here.

Denise's family channeling their grief into purpose, helping to pass the Denise Amber Lee Act, which sets new standards in Florida to improve 911 response systems. As for Michael King, he remains on Florida's death row, and as of now, no execution date has been set.

That is our program for tonight. Thanks for watching.

I'm David Muir. And I'm Deborah Roberts from all of us here at 20/20 and ABC News. Good night.