The Horrific Kidnapping And Murder Of Denise Amber Lee

Denise and her husband Nathan Lee on their wedding day.

Denise and Nathan began dating in the senior year of High School. The rule of “opposites attract” was very prominent for the couple. She, a math whiz and self proclaimed “bookworm.” And He, a football jock who loved to socialize and crack jokes

This whirlwind romance moved fast and soon the two were married and along with that came two little boys.. The family of four settled in North Port, Florida where Nathan worked three jobs to support his family. Finances were tight but it didn’t matter to the Lees’, they were happy. All they wanted was to raise their children and grow old together.

For their first Valentines Day together, Nathan got Denise a heart shaped ring and she wore it every single day, until January 17, 2008.

On Thursday, January 17, 2008, 21-year-old Denise Amber Lee was at home taking care of their two children, 2-year-old Noah and 6-month-old Adam, while Nathan was at work. It was a seemingly normal day for the couple…

Denise with her two children.

At 11:09am that day, Nathan called Denise while on his lunch break and they chatted briefly about the weather. Denise told Nathan that the house was very stuff and he suggested to open the windows to let some fresh air into the home. Denise responded she had already done so.

At 3pm Nathan called Denise once more to let her know he was heading home. There was no response. He called her eight more times during the 25-minute drive home. As he pulled into the driveway, he noticed that the windows which Denise said she had opened were now closed.

As he entered their home, he found Denise’s phone and keys on a chair and both of the children in the same crib. The windows had been shut but not latched. It was then Nathan realized that the person who had shut the windows, was not Denise.

He immediately called 911 and told the operator his wife had been kidnapped. The next call Nathan made was to Denise’s father Rick Goff, a police detective. Within a half-hour, he had police dogs and a helicopter canvassing the area. Authorities began knocking on the neighbou’s doors to see if anyone had seen or heard anything, and to their surprise, someone had.

A neighbor reported seeing a white male pull into the Lees’ driveway in a green Chevy Camaro at approximately 2:30 pm. When the neighbor looked outside her window again ten minutes later, he was gone.

At 6:14 pm, a second call was placed to 911. It was Denise herself. While pretending to have a conversation with her kidnapper, Denise relayed as much information as she could to the 911 operator including her name, the street she lived on, the colour and make of her kidnapper’s vehicle and the fact that he was a stranger to her.

Denise pleaded with her kidnapper to let her go, she talked about her babies and how badly she wanted to see her family. Denise used the word ‘please’ 17 times when begging her captor to release her. Seven minutes into the call, Denise’s kidnapper realized his phone was missing and suddenly, the line went dead.

Since the kidnapper’s phone was a burner, the authorities were not able to trace it. They were, however, able to find out who it belonged to: Michael Lee King.

Michael Lee King was a 36-year-old unemployed man who also lived in North Port, not too far away from Denise and Nathan. He was recently divorced, had a 12-year-old child and his home was on the brink of foreclosure.

After brazenly kidnapping Denise in broad daylight, Michael took her to his home where he bound her with duct tape and repeatedly raped her. Afterwards, he drove to his cousin Harold Muxlow’s home and asked to borrow a shovel, a can of gas and a flashlight.

Denise, who was bound in the backseat lying on the ground, was able to free herself and jumped out of the vehicle. She frantically screamed at Harold to call the police. Harold asked Michael what was going on but he told him not to worry about it. He forced Denise back into his vehicle and sped off.

During the struggle, Denise was able to take Michael’s phone without his knowledge and called 911.

After Michael sped off, Harold went back inside his home and told his 17-year-old daughter, Sabrina, what he had just witnessed. At 6:23 pm, she placed the third call to the police. She told them her father’s cousin had kidnapped a woman and gave them his address.

Seven minutes later, the fourth call was made to 911. It was a woman named Jane Kowalski. Jane told the operator that a man in a Camaro had pulled up next to her at a spotlight. He was using one hand to push something down in the backseat while using the other to drive. Jane said she could hear what sounded like a child screaming from inside the vehicle, and a hand was banging on the back passenger side window. She believed she was witnessing a child abduction in progress.

As she tried to get his license plate, Michael made an abrupt left turn and sped off towards North Port. The next time his vehicle was seen, it was too late.

At 9:15 pm, a patrol officer spotted Michael’s green Camaro and pulled him over. As the officer peered into the vehicle, he saw a muddy shovel lying in the backseat where Denise herself had been bound several hours earlier.

Michael was soaking wet from his waist down to his feet and his shoes were covered in mud. The phone that Denise had used to call 911 was found in his pocket with the SIM card and battery removed. Michael was immediately arrested and taken into custody.

On January 19, Denise’s naked body was found buried in a shallow grave in a muddy field only 5 miles from where Jane Kowalski had phoned 911. She had been shot in the head.

Jane Kowalski saw Michael’s photo on the news the next day and recognized him as the man in the green Camaro. She phoned the authorities identifying herself as one of the 911 caller’s regarding Denise’s kidnapping and asked if they needed any more information, or if she could help in any way. To her surprise, the authorities had no idea who she was.

It turned out that Jane’s 911 call was never reported to deputies. The operator who took the call claimed she yelled out to the dispatchers to send a patrol unit to the location of the call. The two dispatchers who failed to dispatch officers to the area blamed shift change and a chaotic environment for the mishandling of the call. Both were later suspended without pay.

Charlotte County Sheriff John Davenport defended not firing the two dispatchers, calling the incident a, ‘missed opportunity.’ It was especially difficult for Denise’s father Jeff to stomach that the same police department he worked for was to blame for such a grossly mishandled call.

It was later discovered that a deputy was stationed at the exact road Michael turned onto when Jane was on the phone with 911 and had the call been reported, Denise’s life most likely would have been saved.

Michael King

Michael King was charged with first-degree murder, sexual battery and kidnapping. He pled not guilty. Michael’s defence attorneys argued that he had suffered a traumatic sledding accident as a child which had resulted in brain damage and that his IQ was only 71.

Michael told authorities that both he and Denise had been kidnapped and blindfolded together. He denied any wrongdoing. Several witnesses, including Jane Kowalski and Michael’s cousin Harold, testified against him.

The evidence against Michael was overwhelming. Denise’s DNA was found inside his home and vehicle. Michael’s semen and Denise’s blood were found on the duct tape he had used to bind her wrists together. Denise’s shorts, which were found in the woods near where she was buried, also contained Michael’s semen.

The medical examiner on the case testified that Denise had been violently and brutally raped. Her body had several defensive wounds and there was bruising on her wrists from being bound. She had been shot at point-blank range above her left eyebrow, which had caused her eye to explode. Blood was found in Denise’s lungs, signifying that she was still breathing after she was shot in the head.

Denise’s harrowing 911 call was played for the jury, but it was really the evidence she planted herself that ultimately sealed Michael’s fate; several strands of her hair were found underneath the back passenger seat, pulled out at the root. Lodged in between the backseat cushions was her heart-shaped ring, the one Nathan had given her for their very first Valentine’s Day together, the one she never took off.

Denise fought for her life. She did everything she could to save herself and when she knew the end was near, she made sure her killer would be brought to justice.

On December 4, 2009, Michael King was found guilty on all counts and was sentenced to death. He filed an appeal in 2016 but his sentence was upheld. He is currently incarcerated at Union Correctional Institution in Florida. His execution date has not yet been scheduled.

Shortly after his wife’s murder, Nathan formed The Denise Amber Lee Foundation. The goal of the foundation is to minimize human error in 911 call centers by promoting improved training and procedures for all emergency call takers. Shortly after, The Denise Amber Lee Act was signed into law. The Act requires emergency call takers to undergo 232 hours of improved 911 operator training. It was passed unanimously by the Florida legislature.

Nathan has devoted his entire life to pushing for 911 reform and improving public safety since the preventable murder of his beloved wife Denise. He has travelled to twenty different states to speak at several 911 conferences to promote the establishment of uniform training and certification standards in emergency call centers.

Nathan sued the Charlotte County 911 department and received a $1.25 million settlement in 2012. He purchased a home in Englewood, Florida, where he now lives with his wife and their seven combined children.

Although nothing can truly heal the pain he felt losing Denise, Nathan finds solace in the faces of their two sons, “They’ve got part of Denise in them, and that’s the most comforting thing I can think about.”

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