A Florida-based search team claims to have found the body of a mother of three who went missing more than a decade ago after meeting a man she met online.
Sunshine State Sonar announced the discovery of Sandra Lemire's remains in a van that sank into a pond near Disney World.
In a Facebook post, the group claimed to have found the 47-year-old's body and her personal belongings.
Lemire was last seen in May 2012. She was from Michigan but moved to Florida to care for her grandmother, Pauline Varner.
“If she said she was going shopping and would be back in an hour, she would be back in an hour,” Varner told the Orlando Sentinel after Lemire's disappearance.
A Florida-based search team claims to have found the body of 47-year-old Sandra Lemire, who disappeared in 2012
The mother-of-three was last seen driving her grandmother's red Ford Freestyle van. She was on her way to a date with a man she met on the now defunct website SpeedDate.com
The group says the van's license plates match and claims to have found Lemire's personal belongings as well as her body.
Police said the mother of three was heading to Kissimmee to hook up with a man she met on a now-defunct dating website, SpeedDate.com.
Lemire's son, Tim Lemire, Jr. told WXYZ that he had discouraged her from meeting strangers.
“I told her from day one to just cut it out and meet the guy the old fashioned way, not online,” he said.
Lemire's loved ones feared the worst when she did not return home, even to pick up insulin for her diabetes.
Video surveillance showed Lemire met with the man, a manager at a local McDonald's, for about two hours. The police eventually ruled out the man as a suspect.
The 47-year-old was last seen driving her grandmother's red 2004 Ford Freestyle van.
Sunshine State Sonar claimed the car matched the one they found in the lake, including the license plate number.
They revealed that the search had lasted seventeen months, as they searched 63 bodies of water along with Orlando Police detectives.
The 47-year-old was seen on surveillance footage meeting a man at a local McDonald's, but she was unable to return home
The police have ruled out the man as a suspect. Lemire's son said he had discouraged his mother from meeting people she met online in the past
Assisted by local police, the search and rescue team recovered the van from a pond near the Disney World exit on Interstate 4
“On December 30, 2023 at approximately 1:30 PM we received a hit on sonar in a small retention pond near the Disney World exit on I4,” the group wrote on Facebook.
There they found the minivan buried under 4 meters of water. Osceola Sheriff's deputies and the Orange County Sheriff's Dive Team assisted in the recovery efforts.
According to a preliminary report from the Florida Highway Patrol, a Ford Freestar van was traveling southbound on the State Road 417 exit onto World Drive when it left the road and entered a retention pond.
“Our thoughts go out to her family who have supported us along the way,” Sunshine State Sonar wrote in the announcement.
'Rest in peace Sandra, you are finally home.'
The nonprofit search group is made up entirely of volunteers. The name is derived from the sonar technology that rescuers use to find vehicles, boats and people.
The group works with police and has helped locate the remains of several missing persons.
In April, the team found the body of Florida's mother, Sarah Dreyer. She was found just days after the disappearance while dropping her children off at school.
The medical examiner's office has yet to positively identify the remains as Lemire
Details surrounding the crash, including the specific date and time, are still under investigation
The search lasted 17 months and focused on 63 water bodies
Tim Lemire, Jr. posted on Facebook after announcing the possible discovery of his mother's remains.
“It appears she took the exit a little too quickly and went straight into the water,” he wrote.
'What hurts most is thinking about whether she suffered… or whether she knew she was trapped and couldn't get out!
“It hurts me to even think that she knew she was going to die…I just don't know how to take it…I wish I would have had the chance to say goodbye to her.”
Details surrounding the crash, including the specific date and time, are still under investigation. The medical examiner's office will provide an update once they positively identify the remains.