“My name is Denise. I’m married to a beautiful husband, and I want to see my kids again,” said kidnapped Denise Amber Lee while calling 911. Soon after, she was murdered
It was a warm, sunny January day in North Port, Florida, and Denise Amber Lee was trimming her two-year-old son Noah’s hair on the back porch. Denise, 21, was home with Noah and her youngest son, Adam, who was just six months old. Denise’s husband Nathan was at work. They met at high school and even though Denise was the studious type and Nathan was in the “cool” group, she had boldly asked him out and opposites attracted.
After just three weeks of dating, Nathan bought Denise a heart-shaped ring for $40 on Valentine’s Day. She never took it off. The couple married, had their sons and started renting a property in a quiet rural community that was near both sets of parents. Denise’s dad, Rick Goff, was a sheriff sergeant in the next jurisdiction. Nathan had three jobs to help support his family. Denise had dreams of being a lawyer but put that aside when she became a mum and found her true calling. She hoped to eventually have a daughter.
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On 17 January, 2008, Denise was at home with the boys. Nathan called her at 11.09am and they talked about the warm weather. Nathan suggested to Denise that she open the windows to cool the house rather than use the costly air conditioning and she said she’d already done that. Nathan called again at 3pm but there was no answer. He called several times on his way home but again there was no answer. When he got home, he noticed the windows were shut and the house was stuffy. Both children were asleep in the same crib and Denise was missing. Her phone and keys were on a chair, but there were no signs of a forced entry.
Nathan called 911 at 3.29pm and reported his wife missing. He also called Denise’s dad, who immediately contacted his police colleagues to begin a search. Nathan’s 911 call would be the first of five significant emergency calls that day. It triggered a race against time to save Denise, who was in terrible danger. She had been abducted from her home in broad daylight by Michael Lee King, 36, a plumber. He used a gun to force Denise into his green 1994 chevrolet camaro.
King tied Denise up and took her to his North Port home, where he bound the terrified mum with duct tape and raped her. He then drove her, still tied up, to the house of his cousin, Harold Muxlow, to borrow a shovel, a petrol can and a torch. After Nathan made his first 911 call, the police arrived at the scene. A neighbour told them they’d seen a green camaro at the house – it was the first major clue.
A huge search began. Police, highway patrol and volunteers set up roadblocks and stopped any passing vehicles. The second 911 call that day was the most tragic as it came from Denise herself. At 6.14pm, King was driving when Denise secretly grabbed his phone and dialled 911. Despite being terrified, she talked loudly to her abductor for six minutes, pretending to have a conversation with him while secretly giving the listening emergency operator vital details about her abduction.
But while Denise screamed and pleaded for her life, the operator seemed indifferent and just said “hello” 13 times. They repeatedly asked the same questions, despite it being clear that Denise couldn’t speak freely. They even asked Denise if she could ask the driver to turn the radio down. Over the phone, Denise desperately gave details of her kidnapping, such as her abductor being a stranger, and the colour of his car. She said her children were home alone and pleaded for her life. “Please let me go. Please let me go. I just want to see my family again,” she cried. “My name is Denise. I’m married to a beautiful husband, and I want to see my kids again.”
The phone call ended when King could be heard asking where his phone was and Denise replied, “I don’t know.” The third 911 call came at 6.23pm from Sabrina Muxlow, the daughter of King’s cousin. She said her dad had told her King had been to his house with a woman tied up in his car and had borrowed some items.
Things were moving fast. The police now had King’s name and were trying to track the phone Denise had used, but it was a prepaid wireless mobile with no GPS or location data and couldn’t be traced. They were always one step behind. The police went to King’s home but he’d already left.
The fourth 911 call came at 6.30pm. Jane Kowalski was driving and reported a suspected child abduction. “I was at a stoplight and a man pulled up next to me and there was a child screaming in the car,” she said. Unfortunately, due to the location Jane’s phone call was made in, it was routed to a different police unit than the one that Denise had called.
Jane thought the terrified screaming she could hear was a child but it was Denise. Jane described seeing a hand striking the passenger’s window and she briefly made eye contact with King himself. She had bravely tried to follow the vehicle, but it had got away. Jane’s information was initially written down on a piece of paper by the operator, instead of being logged on the computer system. This meant the details weren’t immediately forwarded to the team looking for Denise. It was another terrible mistake.
The final 911 call was made at 6.50pm by King’s cousin Muxlow, although he called from a payphone in an attempt to stay anonymous. He said King had visited him with a woman tied up in his car and had borrowed a shovel, petrol can and torch. King told him there was nothing to worry about and Muxlow had presumed Denise was one of King’s “psychotic” girlfriends.
At 9.15pm, six hours after the first 911 call, King was arrested at traffic lights six miles from where Jane had reported the “child” abduction. He was wet from the waist down and had a muddy shovel in his car. Denise wasn’t with him. King claimed that he and Denise had both been victims of a kidnapping, but he’d been blindfolded so he didn’t know her fate. It was a ludicrous lie.
In his car, Denise’s heart-shaped ring was found hidden in the back seat. Denise had likely left it there to prove King’s guilt. She had also pulled out strands of her hair to leave as evidence. She had done everything to try to save her life, but a series of catastrophic mistakes meant it was too late. Two days later, on January 19, Denise’s body was found in a shallow grave near King’s house. She had been raped and shot in the face. King was charged with kidnapping, sexual battery and first-degree murder.
Denise’s family were devastated. Her funeral was the biggest the town had ever seen. There was a 30-mile procession, with hundreds of police officers out to support the daughter of “one of their own”. Denise’s final hours, and the failures of the many 911 calls made, haunted the community. Nathan set up the Denise Amber Lee Foundation “to ensure that no other person, family, or community would ever have to endure such a preventable loss”.
Nathan and Denise’s family campaigned for every 911 caller to be put in touch with a trained and compassionate operator. In April 2008, Florida passed the Denise Amber Lee Act, which requires operators to undertake 232 hours of training. Denise’s kidnapping is included in that training.
In 2009, King went to trial. The evidence was overwhelming. Denise’s DNA was in his car, on duct tape in his home, on the shovel and the ring. There were also witnesses. Investigators believe King had stalked the area for a victim and chosen Denise. The jury found King guilty and he was sentenced to death. In March this year, King, now 54, died by lethal injection. Nathan, Denise’s dad and her now grown-up son Noah were present. King did not apologise.
Denise’s dad told the press how proud he was of her. “She took a killer off the street,” he said. “She saved a lot of people’s lives by what she did.” Nathan said, “The word ‘closure’ is thrown around so loosely. You don’t get closure in these situations.” The hours of terror Denise endured remain unthinkable. The police should have found her in time, but her legacy and incredible bravery has saved countless lives since.
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