A group of volunteer divers from Sunshine State Sonar said they believe they found the remains of Sandra Lemire on Saturday, Dec 30, 2023, while diving in a small retention pond near Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., apparently solving a 12-year-old mystery about what happened to her. ( Sunshine State Sonar via AP)

Body of missing Florida woman found in retention pond after nearly 12 years, volunteer divers say

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) — A group of volunteer divers believe they have found the remains of a woman in a vehicle submerged in a retention pond near Walt Disney World, apparently solving a 12-year-old mystery about what happened to her.

Divers from Sunshine State Sonar said they believe they found the remains of Sandra Lemire on Saturday while diving in a small retention pond at the Disney World exit on Interstate 4 in Kissimmee, Florida. Lemire disappeared in May 2012. She was last seen leaving a restaurant in Kissimmee, driving the minivan that was found.

The group of divers had been searching for Lemire in 63 bodies of water over the last year and a half. Last week, a tip from an Orlando Police Department detective about the location of a cellphone tower that last received a call from Lemire’s phone helped them narrow the search to the retention pond, the group said in a statement on social media.

“We located what appeared to be a minivan submerged in 14 feet of water,” the statement said. “Our team quickly suited up and dove on the vehicle to make the license plate confirmation.”

[livemarket market_name="KONK Life LiveMarket" limit=3 category=“” show_signup=0 show_more=0]