Body of mom who vanished 12 years ago found in pond near Disney World | US News

The body of a mother who disappeared nearly a dozen years ago was found in a retention pond near Disney World on New Year’s Eve.

Orlando resident Sandra Lemire’s vehicle was found in the pond near the Interstate 4 exit in Kissimmee, Florida, and her remains and belongings were recovered on Sunday, wrote Sunshine State Sonar on Facebook.

‘Our hearts go out to her family who supported us along the way we are saddened at the circumstances, but glad we could assist in bringing her home,’ stated the sonar search and recovery team.

‘Rest in peace Sandra, you are finally home.’

Her son, Timothy Lemire, said on Facebook that the team ‘brought this long mysterious case to an end’.

Sandra left her grandmother’s home by Interstate 4 in Orlando on May 8, 2012. She was driving to meet a man she met on an online dating site and called her grandmother upon arrival in Kissimmee and promised to call on her way back home.

She was last seen in her grandma’s 2004 Ford Freestar minivan departing a Denny’s restaurant in Kissimmee.

‘Sandra, along with the vehicle were never seen again,’ wrote Sunshine State Sonar.

The sonar search and recovery team in collaboration with Orlando police detectives searched 63 bodies of water since early July 2022. Last week, detectives received new leads and a sonar search member in Virginia mapped new locations to investigate. The team hit a sonar in a small retention pond at the Disney World exit of the highway on Saturday around 1.30pm.

‘We located what appeared to be a minivan submerged in 14 feet of water. Our team quickly suited up and dove on the vehicle to make the license plate confirmation,’ wrote Sunshine State Sonar.

‘This extremely challenging recovery was an incredible collaboration of different law-enforcement agencies.’

Timothy said it appeared that his mom drove off an an exit ramp to fast and into the pond.

‘What hurts the most is me thinking about if she suffered… or if she knew that she was trapped and couldn’t get out!’ he wrote.

‘It kills me to even think that she knew she was gonna pass. I just don’t know how to take it….I just wish I could [have] had the chance to say goodbye to her.’

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