Latest / Least of These / 234. "Call for Help” - The Case of Denise Lee - North Port, Florida - [Part 1]

Transcript

234. "Call for Help” - The Case of Denise Lee - North Port, Florida - [Part 1] · Least of These

0:02
[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to least of these where I cover the cases that need it most because every life matters and everyone deserves justice.
0:10
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm your host Leah D and today I'll be bringing you part one of the case of Denise Lee in Northport, Florida.
0:16
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's get right to it.
0:56
[SPEAKER_00]: Back in 2008, Denise Amberley was a 21-year-old mother of two sons.
1:02
[SPEAKER_00]: She had been raised in England, Florida.
1:04
[SPEAKER_00]: She graduated from Limit Bay High School in 2004.
1:08
[SPEAKER_00]: She was brilliant, taking advanced college math classes all throughout high school.
1:13
[SPEAKER_00]: As a senior, she attended some classes at Manatee Community College, which is not only where she got her education, but also reunited with an acquaintance from high school.
1:25
[SPEAKER_00]: He was 18-year-old Nathan Lee.
1:27
[SPEAKER_00]: The man Denise would go on to Mary.
1:29
[SPEAKER_00]: Denise was normally quiet and reserved, but when she spotted Nathan at Manatee College, according to what Nathan told the Sarasota Herald Tribune,
1:39
[SPEAKER_00]: She approached him first and reminded him of a class they had shared it limb and bay.
1:44
[SPEAKER_00]: Denise was shocked when Nathan told her that not only did he remember her, he remembered the exact seat she had sat in.
1:52
[SPEAKER_00]: To Denise that meant the world, and it didn't take long before the couple fell hard and fast for each other.
1:59
[SPEAKER_00]: Denise was 17 when they went on their first date.
2:03
[SPEAKER_00]: According to Nathan as he spoke to 2020, a month after their first date it was Valentine's Day.
2:09
[SPEAKER_00]: He and Denise went to the mall and she picked out a ring.
2:13
[SPEAKER_00]: Not an engagement ring or anything.
2:15
[SPEAKER_00]: just a little $40 heart-shaped ring with a small stone in the middle.
2:19
[SPEAKER_00]: It wasn't particularly fancy, but Denise loved it.
2:24
[SPEAKER_00]: She never took it off her finger.
2:25
[SPEAKER_00]: After Denise graduated in 2004, according to the Sarasota Herald Tribune, she and Nathan continued their education together at the University of South Florida, sharing an apartment with Nathan's friend from childhood
2:40
[SPEAKER_00]: It didn't take long before Marin and Denise were close friends as well, and that came as no surprise.
2:46
[SPEAKER_00]: Denise was just one of those people, it was hard not to love.
2:50
[SPEAKER_00]: She was kind to everyone and just had that thing about her that made you want to be her friend.
2:55
[SPEAKER_00]: Denise was smart and her education was important to her, but she'd soon find her true calling in life.
3:02
[SPEAKER_00]: Not long after starting at the University of South Florida, she found out she was pregnant.
3:09
[SPEAKER_00]: Nathan proposed and the couple got married in a gorgeous ceremony at First United Methodist Church in Ponegordo, Florida.
3:17
[SPEAKER_00]: Five months after they were married, Denise and Nathan welcomed their first son Noah, and then 18 months later, their second, Adam.
3:25
[SPEAKER_00]: Denise loved being a mom more than anything.
3:28
[SPEAKER_00]: She decided to stay home with her two sons, and Nathan worked hard to provide for their family, working three jobs to make ends meet.
3:35
[SPEAKER_00]: It was hard at times sure.
3:37
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean kids in life are expensive, but Denise and Nathan made it work.
3:42
[SPEAKER_00]: They rented a three bedroom two bath house on Latour Avenue in Northport, Florida.
3:47
[SPEAKER_00]: The house was brand new and an a pretty secluded neighborhood with a nice wooded area in the backyard.
3:53
[SPEAKER_00]: The leaves were happy there in their little home on Latour.
3:57
[SPEAKER_00]: Though for some getting married young can be difficult, two kids and three years later, Nathan was still madly in love with Denise.
4:05
[SPEAKER_00]: He spoke to the Sarasota Harald Tribune and stated, I freaked her out one time, I was just sitting at dinner just watching her and I was like, you're just so perfect.
4:14
[SPEAKER_00]: And she said, you're freaking me out.
4:18
[SPEAKER_00]: The morning of January 17, 2008, started out like any other morning.
4:23
[SPEAKER_00]: Nathan tipped out of the house to go to work at around 7am, careful not to wake Denise in the boys.
4:30
[SPEAKER_00]: He called to talk to Denise at around 11, as he normally did.
4:34
[SPEAKER_00]: They chatted about the day and Nathan mentioned that she should turn off the AC and open the windows.
4:40
[SPEAKER_00]: A cold front had just blown through Southwest Florida, and any Floridian knows that you take advantage of a day like that because they're just aren't that many.
4:49
[SPEAKER_00]: Nathan suggested they could save a little money cut off the AC and let the breeze blow through, but Denise had beat him to it, like I said, you never miss an opportunity.
5:00
[SPEAKER_00]: They hung up the phone and went about their days, Nathan at work and Denise home taking care of the boys.
5:06
[SPEAKER_00]: She had planned to give the boys a haircut on the back patio.
5:10
[SPEAKER_00]: at about 3pm Nathan headed home from work.
5:13
[SPEAKER_00]: He called Denise on the way as he always did, but the phone would just keep ringing.
5:18
[SPEAKER_00]: Before Nathan made it home, he had called Denise seven times, and seven times his call went unanswered.
5:24
[SPEAKER_00]: Nathan pulled into the driveway at about 320.
5:28
[SPEAKER_00]: As he walked towards the door, he noticed that the windows Denise told him she had already opened,
5:35
[SPEAKER_00]: When he made it inside through the locked front door, it was hot inside the house.
5:40
[SPEAKER_00]: The AC was off, and Denise was nowhere to be found.
5:44
[SPEAKER_00]: When he looked closer, he realized that the windows were half-hazardly pulled clothes, as if they'd been shut in a hurry, not closed and locked down as Denise would have normally done.
5:55
[SPEAKER_00]: Panic started to rise, Nathan heard his oldest son waking up from his nap, but the sound was coming out of his younger son's bedroom, and that was odd.
6:05
[SPEAKER_00]: When he went into Adam's bedroom, both two-year-old Noah and six-month-old Adam were in the crib together.
6:11
[SPEAKER_00]: Noah began asking, where's mommy?
6:15
[SPEAKER_00]: Nathan went through the entire house, but he couldn't find Denise.
6:20
[SPEAKER_00]: Her car was still in the garage.
6:22
[SPEAKER_00]: Her purse, cell phone keys, wallet, it was all inside of the house.
6:27
[SPEAKER_00]: Nothing was missing, except Denise.
6:30
[SPEAKER_00]: Instantly, he knew something was very wrong.
6:33
[SPEAKER_00]: Denise wouldn't have put the boys in the same crib, and she certainly wouldn't have left her two babies at home all alone.
6:41
[SPEAKER_00]: At 3.29 pm, Nathan called 911 to report Denise Lee missing.
6:46
[SPEAKER_04]: Nice party, Martian C. Yes, I'm at, I just got home to work in my wife.
6:54
[SPEAKER_01]: I can't find her.
6:55
[SPEAKER_01]: My kids were,
6:56
[SPEAKER_01]: in the house and I don't know where he is.
6:59
[SPEAKER_01]: I've looked every single place and I don't know where your kids are at home by themselves?
7:03
[SPEAKER_04]: Yes.
7:04
[SPEAKER_04]: No, I don't know where mommy is.
7:04
[SPEAKER_04]: She never done this before?
7:05
[SPEAKER_01]: No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no
7:12
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know, I mean, she's, I've been home on 10 minutes now, I haven't seen her.
7:19
[SPEAKER_04]: All right, Nathan, I have an office room route for you.
7:21
[SPEAKER_04]: If she does return home by the time we get their call back, let us know, okay?
7:26
[SPEAKER_04]: All right, thank you.
7:28
[SPEAKER_04]: Thank you.
7:29
[SPEAKER_00]: that would be the first in a series of 911 calls placed that day in search of Denise Lee.
7:34
[SPEAKER_00]: After calling 911 to report his wife missing, Nathan Lee placed a second phone call to his father-in-law, Rick Gough.
7:43
[SPEAKER_00]: According to Nathan as he spoke to 2020, Rick answered already talking, oblivious as to the chaos that was unfolding.
7:51
[SPEAKER_00]: Rick said, hey, do you guys want to come
7:59
[SPEAKER_00]: Rick Goff immediately dropped everything and raised to his daughter's home.
8:04
[SPEAKER_00]: You see, Rick was a detective and veteran officer with the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office.
8:09
[SPEAKER_00]: Described by those he worked with as a legend and a cops cop.
8:13
[SPEAKER_00]: He knew his job well and he also knew his daughter, and he knew he needed to get there to help Nathan find a niece.
8:21
[SPEAKER_00]: Northport police officers were in route and so was Rick.
8:25
[SPEAKER_00]: Because of his position to share a office, it took no time for word to spread among Charlotte County deputies that Rick's daughter was missing.
8:33
[SPEAKER_00]: This was one of their own.
8:35
[SPEAKER_00]: So resources from Charlotte County were also allocated in the search for Denise.
8:40
[SPEAKER_00]: It's important to note here that Charlotte County, the county in which Rick worked borders Sarasota County,
8:51
[SPEAKER_00]: Northport is actually short for Northport Charlotte because they're so close together, but Northport is technically in Sarasota County.
9:00
[SPEAKER_00]: Charlotte shares its Northwest border with Sarasota.
9:04
[SPEAKER_00]: I know this can get confusing, but this is going to become very important as we go through Denise's story.
9:10
[SPEAKER_00]: Just so we keep it all straight, Denise and Nathan lived in Sarasota County in Northport, and that is where Denise vanished from, and Rick golf worked for
9:20
[SPEAKER_00]: back to the story.
9:22
[SPEAKER_00]: As Rick raised to his daughter's home at 34pm, two Northport officers arrived at Denise's house and began speaking with Nathan.
9:31
[SPEAKER_00]: As you can imagine, the responding officer's took a hard look at Nathan, because as we all know, it usually is the husband, statistically speaking anyway.
9:41
[SPEAKER_00]: But when Rick golf showed up, he let them know they were wasting precious time.
9:45
[SPEAKER_00]: He knew that his son-in-law had nothing to do with Denise's disappearance.
9:50
[SPEAKER_00]: That was completely out of the question.
9:52
[SPEAKER_00]: And it seemed the officers took Rick at his word.
9:55
[SPEAKER_00]: By 350 pm, they were out canvassing the neighborhood.
9:59
[SPEAKER_00]: It wasn't long before they had a really big lead.
10:02
[SPEAKER_00]: One of Denise's neighbors, Jennifer, told police that she had seen a dark green Camaro drive up and down the street several times.
10:10
[SPEAKER_00]: The car was kind of creeping around the neighborhood.
10:12
[SPEAKER_00]: It was odd enough that she walked outside to get a closer look.
10:16
[SPEAKER_00]: And ultimately, the Camaro pulled into Denise' Nathan's driveway.
10:20
[SPEAKER_00]: The driver was a white male with a stocky bill.
10:23
[SPEAKER_00]: She guessed somewhere between 30 to 40 years old.
10:26
[SPEAKER_00]: That stalky man in the green Camaro made her feel uneasy.
10:30
[SPEAKER_00]: He just sat in the car for what she thought was a good 15 minutes in Denise's driveway.
10:35
[SPEAKER_00]: There was something about him that didn't sit right, so she went back inside.
10:41
[SPEAKER_00]: She told police that the man had been there at about 230 p.m.
10:45
[SPEAKER_00]: a missing persons report was officially filed and a below or beyond the lookout was sent out to law enforcement.
10:52
[SPEAKER_00]: However, the Sarasota Herald Tribune reported that while officers on the ground knew the added detail about the Green Chevy Camaro, the initial below didn't include all of the details, and only described an easily as missing under quote unquote suspicious circumstances.
11:09
[SPEAKER_00]: As the minutes ticked by more and more officers from Sarasota County arrived on scene,
11:13
[SPEAKER_00]: By 5pm Northport Police made contact with the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office and requested bloodhounds.
11:20
[SPEAKER_00]: Northport's crime scene investigators were called in and a helicopter from Sarasota County was deployed.
11:26
[SPEAKER_00]: The helicopter was looking for a green Camaro.
11:30
[SPEAKER_00]: Since Charlotte County was deploying resources to Northport,
11:33
[SPEAKER_00]: The Charlotte County Communications Center requested a patch with Northport Police.
11:38
[SPEAKER_00]: Simply put, a radio patch is the linking of communication systems so that users from different agencies or different frequencies have a direct line of communication.
11:47
[SPEAKER_00]: In this case, so that Northport and Charlotte could communicate freely and directly.
11:52
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, there was some difficulty establishing the connection.
11:56
[SPEAKER_00]: The Sarasota Herald Tribune reported that it took at least 43 minutes for the patch to be established, so during the initial search for Denise communication between the neighboring counties was spotty at times.
12:08
[SPEAKER_00]: As Northport Police worked to establish that connection, another 911 call came in.
12:38
[SPEAKER_00]: Roughly three hours after Denise Lee was reported missing from her Northport home, at 614 PM, another 911 call came into the Sarasota County Communications Center.
12:48
[SPEAKER_00]: The 911 dispatcher heard a woman crying, speaking to a male begging for her life.
12:55
[SPEAKER_00]: The desperation in her voice could be felt through the call, and part the woman said, I'm sorry.
13:01
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sorry.
13:02
[SPEAKER_00]: I just want to go.
13:02
[SPEAKER_00]: I just want to see my family.
13:04
[SPEAKER_00]: I just want to see my family again.
13:06
[SPEAKER_00]: Please.
13:07
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, please.
13:08
[SPEAKER_00]: I just want to see my family again.
13:09
[SPEAKER_00]: Let me go.
13:10
[SPEAKER_00]: Please let me go.
13:12
[SPEAKER_00]: Please.
13:13
[SPEAKER_00]: Please.
13:14
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, God.
13:15
[SPEAKER_00]: Please.
13:15
[SPEAKER_00]: Help me.
13:16
[SPEAKER_00]: Please help me.
13:17
[SPEAKER_00]: Please let me go.
13:21
[SPEAKER_00]: A male's voice could also be heard on the call.
13:24
[SPEAKER_00]: It was hard to hear, muffled from the sounds of the road as the car they were entraveled and the radio played loudly.
13:31
[SPEAKER_00]: The male kept asking for his phone.
13:34
[SPEAKER_00]: The 911 operator began asking questions, trying to figure out who this woman was, where she was and what was going on.
13:41
[SPEAKER_00]: The young woman couldn't outright answer her.
13:44
[SPEAKER_00]: It was clear she didn't want the man with her to know she was on the phone with 911, but that young woman
13:51
[SPEAKER_00]: As a 911 operator asked the questions, she responded by talking to the male.
13:57
[SPEAKER_00]: Answering the questions is if she was talking to him, disguising the fact that she had 911 on the line.
14:03
[SPEAKER_00]: The young woman said, Where are we going?
14:06
[SPEAKER_00]: Please, my name is Denise.
14:08
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm married to a beautiful husband and just want to see my kids again.
14:12
[SPEAKER_00]: Please, God, please protect me.
14:14
[SPEAKER_00]: Where are we?
14:15
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know where your phone is.
14:16
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sorry.
14:17
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sorry.
14:18
[SPEAKER_00]: Can you just tell me where we are?
14:19
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't have your phone.
14:21
[SPEAKER_00]: Please God.
14:22
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't have it.
14:23
[SPEAKER_00]: Sorry.
14:23
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't have it.
14:24
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sorry.
14:25
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know where your phone is.
14:26
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sorry.
14:27
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know where it is.
14:28
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe if I could see, I could help find it.
14:31
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know where your phone is.
14:32
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh God.
14:33
[SPEAKER_00]: Help me.
14:34
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know.
14:35
[SPEAKER_00]: Please take me to my house.
14:37
[SPEAKER_00]: Can you take me home?
14:44
[SPEAKER_00]: A man's voice answered, give me the phone.
14:48
[SPEAKER_00]: She asked, are you going to let me out now?
14:50
[SPEAKER_00]: The mail said, as soon as I get the phone, Denise said, help me, and then the call dropped.
14:57
[SPEAKER_00]: The dispatcher stated, we lost her.
14:59
[SPEAKER_00]: Denise Lee had secretly gotten ahold of the phone of her captor and despite not being able to directly speak to the 911 operator, she was able to give so much information by the end of the call of the dispatcher knew her name was Denise Lee, and she had been taken against her will from her home on the tour Avenue, and that she was now in a car blindfolded.
15:22
[SPEAKER_00]: Police definitely believed the caller was Denise Lee herself, but before they went all in, they wanted to be sure.
15:29
[SPEAKER_00]: That 911 call was played for her father Rick.
15:33
[SPEAKER_00]: He broke down as he listened to his daughter begged for her life.
15:37
[SPEAKER_00]: He told the chief he was certain that young woman on the phone was his first-born daughter, Denise.
15:43
[SPEAKER_00]: I can't even imagine the heartbreak for a father to have to hear that.
15:48
[SPEAKER_00]: I chose not to play the call here for two reasons.
15:51
[SPEAKER_00]: One, it's difficult to understand, but most importantly, it's so unsettling.
15:57
[SPEAKER_00]: Not only can you hear the desperation and Denise's voice, you can feel it.
16:02
[SPEAKER_00]: It's one of the most heartbreaking calls I've ever heard, and I've heard thousands of 911 calls, but this one will stay with me forever.
16:11
[SPEAKER_00]: You hear a mother begging for a chance just to see her two babies again.
16:15
[SPEAKER_00]: You hear the voice of the monster who took her away.
16:18
[SPEAKER_00]: And you realize just how hard Denise was fighting to get back to her family.
16:23
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know how her father was able to keep himself together after hearing that call, but he did.
16:29
[SPEAKER_00]: Heroically, he did.
16:31
[SPEAKER_00]: And he continued assisting in the search for his daughter.
16:35
[SPEAKER_00]: During that call Denise had kept the line open for approximately six minutes, long enough that the call could have potentially been traced.
16:44
[SPEAKER_00]: Unfortunately, as police tried to trace that call, they would learn that the phone was a cheap throw away your burner phone, and it didn't have GPS capabilities.
16:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Sure, they'd be able to ping the phone and get a general location of the area using the tower the phone last connected to, but as far as being able to pinpoint the exact location, that just wasn't possible.
17:06
[SPEAKER_00]: But of course, investigators didn't know that at the time.
17:09
[SPEAKER_00]: They worked to track and trace the phone, and just about the time they did, the phone either went dead or was shut off.
17:16
[SPEAKER_00]: It felt like a punch in the gut on this opportunity.
17:21
[SPEAKER_00]: Police might not have been able to triangulate the phone, but they were able to run the phone number and get a name.
17:26
[SPEAKER_00]: The phone Denise had called from was registered to 36-year-old Michael King.
17:32
[SPEAKER_00]: Investigators were also able to determine that Michael King owned a green 1994-2-door Chevy Camaro.
17:38
[SPEAKER_00]: They now had the name and full vehicle description of the man they believed had abducted Denise Lee, and they'd soon have confirmation that he was there guy.
17:48
[SPEAKER_00]: 9 minutes after Denise Lee called 911, a line at the Sarasota County Communications Center lit up again.
17:55
[SPEAKER_00]: At 6.23 pm, a young woman named Sabrina called with a disturbing report.
18:01
[SPEAKER_00]: She told the dispatcher that her father had just called and told her that his cousin stopped by to borrow a few things to help get his lawnmower and stuff, and while he was there, her father saw a restrained woman get out of the car, and that woman yelled for someone to call police.
18:16
[SPEAKER_06]: I just got to call for my dad and his cousin came over his house with a girl in the car and she was tied up in the girl's panma, like that has a car, and my dad's cousin went and put her back in the car and she got out.
18:33
[SPEAKER_06]: Okay, where's your dad's house?
18:35
[SPEAKER_06]: Um, it's in North Florida, do you know the address of it?
18:38
[SPEAKER_06]: You know, you want to be anonymous because my cousin left, okay, what's your cousin driving?
18:43
[SPEAKER_06]: A green Camaro?
18:44
[SPEAKER_06]: Where would he be going with this female?
18:47
[SPEAKER_06]: He came over to my dad's house, borrowed a shovel, a gas tank, since I'm out.
18:52
[SPEAKER_06]: All right.
18:52
[SPEAKER_06]: What's the cousin's name?
18:53
[SPEAKER_06]: He's in a gerrykking.
18:56
[SPEAKER_06]: Gerrykking?
18:58
[SPEAKER_06]: Gerrykking?
18:58
[SPEAKER_06]: Yeah.
18:59
[SPEAKER_06]: Oh, it's not gerrykking.
19:00
[SPEAKER_06]: It's a light geeking.
19:01
[SPEAKER_06]: Michael King?
19:02
[SPEAKER_06]: Yeah.
19:03
[UNKNOWN]: OK.
19:04
[SPEAKER_00]: Michael King had abducted Denise Lee, but she was still alive, they still had a chance to save her.
19:10
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, you might be wondering quietly to yourself why Sabrina's father, who would later be identified as Harold Moxlow, had neither attempted to help the woman restrained and the back of his cousin's Camaro, or why he hadn't called 911 himself, and instead it was his daughter, who mind you was just 17 years old at the time.
19:31
[SPEAKER_00]: You might be wondering all of those things, and you'd be right to wonder.
19:34
[SPEAKER_00]: And the only explanation I can come up with is that Harold Muxlow was a coward.
19:41
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, is there really any other explanation?
19:44
[SPEAKER_00]: He saw a woman clearly in distress, and while we're on the subject I should mention that Denise Lee was tiny, roughly five foot two, and 110 pounds.
19:55
[SPEAKER_00]: He saw this woman restrained with his creepy ass cousin, who he would later tell police he was afraid of, heard her tell him to call the police, and didn't do a damn thing about it.
20:07
[SPEAKER_00]: But thankfully Sabrina did, and with that information police turned to the media,
20:13
[SPEAKER_00]: At 6.30pm, police began media briefings from Denise's home, local TV stations broadcast information live and in real time about the search for Denise.
20:24
[SPEAKER_00]: It felt like they were finally getting somewhere.
20:27
[SPEAKER_00]: And then a 4th 911 call came in.
20:29
[SPEAKER_00]: 7 minutes after Sabrina called 911 at 6.30pm, 911 operators received a frantic call from a woman named Jane Koalski.
20:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Jane was at a redlight at the intersection of U.S. 41 in Cranberry when she saw what she thought was a child screaming and banging on the back passenger window of a two-door Chevy Camaro and the driver of the car pushing the person down in the back seat.
20:55
[SPEAKER_00]: The person screaming in the back seat had screamed so loudly and desperately, Jane had heard the screams from inside her car.
21:03
[SPEAKER_00]: That's what had caught her attention.
21:06
[SPEAKER_05]: And I was at a stop light, and a band pulled up next to me, and there was a child screaming in the car, but I haven't been able to see it.
21:13
[SPEAKER_05]: It's a blue Camaro.
21:16
[SPEAKER_05]: Like Camaro, like in the 90s, or early 2000s, or something.
21:21
[SPEAKER_05]: It was a baby, or... No, it was a child.
21:25
[SPEAKER_05]: I know what it's dark and I tried to work at him and he's a white male, sort of a white colored here, sort of plump.
21:34
[SPEAKER_05]: He's behind me now and I tried to slow down so he could capture me and I could read his license plate, man.
21:39
[SPEAKER_05]: Don't hang up.
21:40
[SPEAKER_05]: Okay.
21:40
[SPEAKER_05]: And then I'm not.
21:41
[SPEAKER_05]: And there's a kid in the back seat and they kept banging on the window.
21:46
[SPEAKER_05]: And it was banging on the window and screaming and crying.
21:52
[SPEAKER_05]: and screaming, like screaming, screaming, screaming, not a happy scream, like getting out of care screens.
21:59
[SPEAKER_05]: Okay, now it's green and they're in the arrow green arrows and he's going now.
22:03
[SPEAKER_05]: Now, you're doing lift on Toledo Blid.
22:06
[SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, do you want me to do a turn?
22:09
[SPEAKER_05]: Try to follow him or okay, you can see one where the follow him.
22:14
[SPEAKER_05]: Okay, can you turn?
22:16
[SPEAKER_05]: Oh, just oh.
22:17
[SPEAKER_05]: He just turned on the little blade.
22:19
[SPEAKER_05]: I don't know if I can touch it.
22:20
[SPEAKER_05]: There's a bunch of traffic and I can't get over.
22:23
[SPEAKER_00]: That was just a clip of the call placed by Jane, which she had witnessed at that brief moment at the red light had disturbed her so much so that she stayed on the line for approximately nine minutes, relaying to dispatchers the exact location of the Chevy Camaro.
22:37
[SPEAKER_00]: She tried to stay with the vehicle, but the man driving knew she had heard the screams and saw a hand come up from the backseat to beat on the window.
22:45
[SPEAKER_00]: After the light turned green, both she and the male driver of the Camaro later identified as Michael King hesitated at the
22:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Jane wanted to get behind the car to get the license plate, but the Camaro wouldn't budge.
22:58
[SPEAKER_00]: According to Jane as she spoke to 2020, the standoff between the two of them went on long enough that the cars behind them started honking, eventually Jane pulled off slowly, and she continued to drive slow, hoping the Camaro would pull around her and she could follow.
23:14
[SPEAKER_00]: but it never did.
23:15
[SPEAKER_00]: The car hung back behind Jane and eventually cut across several lanes of traffic and turned left onto Toledo blade.
23:22
[SPEAKER_00]: At that point there was so much traffic in between them, Jane couldn't make it across to make the turn, and she lost sight of the Camaro.
23:30
[SPEAKER_00]: Now Jane did believe that this person's screaming in the vehicle was a child and she had described the Camaro as blue.
23:36
[SPEAKER_00]: But as we talked about before Denise was tiny and Jane did only caught a glimpse of her.
23:41
[SPEAKER_00]: If you've seen a 90s model Camaro, those back windows are small, it would have been hard to see much of anything.
23:48
[SPEAKER_00]: It's actually impressive she saw as much as she did.
23:52
[SPEAKER_00]: and as far as the color of the car it was starting to get dark, and it wasn't like she had the timer opportunity to study the vehicle.
23:59
[SPEAKER_00]: She was likely more concerned with the screams and bangs.
24:02
[SPEAKER_00]: The description Jane gave should have been enough for the dispatcher to link this 911 call to Denise Lee.
24:09
[SPEAKER_00]: And it was, the call was linked to Denise, but there was a problem.
24:14
[SPEAKER_00]: Jane Kowalski's 911 call was routed to the Charlotte County Communications Center.
24:19
[SPEAKER_00]: That intersection of U.S. 41 and Cranberry Boulevard is just over on the Charlotte County side of the Sarasota, Charlotte border.
24:27
[SPEAKER_00]: So the call was routed to Charlotte County, not Sarasota, and not the Northport Police who were heading the investigation into Denise's disappearance.
24:36
[SPEAKER_00]: and even worse than that?
24:38
[SPEAKER_00]: It would later be discovered that the details of that call never even made it out of the Charlotte County Communications Center.
24:45
[SPEAKER_00]: The Sarasota Herod Tribune reported that the operator who took Jane's call, Miljard Step, had connected Jane's description with Denise's kidnapping.
24:54
[SPEAKER_00]: And as she took the call, she asked Charlotte radio dispatcher Susan Calstead to pass the information along to the deputies who were searching for Denise Lee.
25:03
[SPEAKER_00]: but Meldred allegedly hadn't followed protocol.
25:07
[SPEAKER_00]: Instead of entering the information into the computer system, for reasons that are unknown to anyone, she wrote the information down on a piece of paper, and handed it to the dispatcher Susan, telling her to pass it along.
25:21
[SPEAKER_00]: But Susan never did.
25:22
[SPEAKER_00]: She would later say that she was still waiting for that communications patch from Northport, and she assumed all be it incorrectly that she couldn't use her radio to air the information.
25:33
[SPEAKER_00]: So instead of doing her job, she passed the book to two other dispatchers, Elizabeth Martinez and Katie Beesley, and asked them to pass the info from James call to the
25:47
[SPEAKER_00]: But neither of them did, and all involved had an excuse.
25:52
[SPEAKER_00]: Elizabeth Martinez said it just wasn't her responsibility, because the information never appeared on her computer screen.
26:00
[SPEAKER_00]: And Katie Beesley?
26:01
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, she said she assumed somebody else was doing it, and besides, she was busy with other calls.
26:07
[SPEAKER_00]: In addition to that, according to those dispatchers, it was shift change, and it was chaotic.
26:13
[SPEAKER_00]: Denise Lee was fighting for her life.
26:15
[SPEAKER_00]: Jank Walsky had risked her as trying to get help for Denise.
26:20
[SPEAKER_00]: And these 911 operators who were aware of a woman, a detective's daughter from the agency they supported had been abducted.
26:27
[SPEAKER_00]: But they couldn't even pass the information along.
26:31
[SPEAKER_00]: And let's say even if they hadn't made the connection to Denise Lee, they failed to tell even their own deputies about a possible abduction of a child.
26:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Not a single deputy was dispatched, not a single one.
26:44
[SPEAKER_00]: And there were deputies available right in that area.
26:48
[SPEAKER_00]: It would later be discovered through cell phone pains and satellite tracking data that not one, not two, not three,
26:59
[SPEAKER_00]: and two of them could have passed King's car driving the other way on U.S. 41.
27:05
[SPEAKER_00]: As a matter of fact, Charlotte County Deputy Jeffrey Jubinville would later state an assworn statement that he was parked in the grass at an intersection on Toledo Blade around 635 p.m. and he believed Michael King drove right by him, but he had never gotten an alert for the Green Camaro, nor was he or any other deputy for that matter,
27:28
[SPEAKER_00]: Northport police would not be made aware of Jane's call until days later, but we'll have to cross that bridge when we get there.
27:35
[SPEAKER_00]: Denise had done everything right.
27:38
[SPEAKER_00]: Jane had done everything right.
27:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Yet still, no one came to save her.
28:09
[SPEAKER_00]: Jane Cololsky's call had come into the Charlotte County Communications Center at 6.30 p.m. Of course, as we know, deputies were not aware of this call, or the fact that Michael King was driving down Toledo Blay Boulevard.
28:21
[SPEAKER_00]: Northport officers had tracked down King's address and arrived at his home.
28:26
[SPEAKER_00]: They knocked and no one answered, but they could hear voices inside.
28:30
[SPEAKER_00]: At 6.42 p.m. officers kicked in the door and they found the house almost completely empty.
28:36
[SPEAKER_00]: The voices were coming from a TV in a bare living room.
28:40
[SPEAKER_00]: No couch, no furniture, just a TV with the volume cranked loud.
28:45
[SPEAKER_00]: The house was cleared, aside from a few random boxes it was completely empty, but there were signs that someone had been held there against their will.
28:54
[SPEAKER_00]: Investigators found a woman's hair tie on the floor, duct tape with long strands of blonde or light brown hair, and a blanket thrown on the ground in a bedroom.
29:04
[SPEAKER_00]: As investigators were processing the scene at Michael King's home, at 650 pm, another 911 call came into Sarasota County dispatchers.
29:13
[SPEAKER_00]: Michael's cousin, Harold Muxlow, finally called, but like the coward he is, he tried to remain anonymous.
29:20
[SPEAKER_00]: He had left his home, went to Michael King's house to see if there was a stuck lawnmower, and when he didn't find one, he went to a payphone to place the call, and basically gave no real information.
29:31
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll let you listen for yourself.
29:35
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm not sure if you actually want to see this exact name, but I think somebody has taken without the, if I want to be with a new name, or in the 95 greens, tomorrow, so not so it's someone else.
29:48
[SPEAKER_03]: Okay, how do you know this?
29:49
[SPEAKER_02]: I know.
29:52
[SPEAKER_03]: Do you know what they are?
29:53
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't know either.
29:55
[SPEAKER_02]: And what do they take?
29:56
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't know.
29:59
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't know.
30:01
[SPEAKER_02]: Do you know who the guy is?
30:03
[SPEAKER_02]: No.
30:04
[SPEAKER_03]: Anything else you can tell me?
30:06
[SPEAKER_03]: No.
30:09
[SPEAKER_03]: Can you give me anything else?
30:11
[SPEAKER_03]: Okay.
30:12
[SPEAKER_03]: Can I get your name and number?
30:15
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.
30:17
[SPEAKER_00]: He claimed he didn't know the guy, and someone was not where they wanted to be.
30:21
[SPEAKER_00]: That is really what this fool called to tell this batchers.
30:26
[SPEAKER_00]: At some point it appears Harold did mention that the Green Camaro had been in the area of Price and Biscayne Avenue's approximately 15 minutes before he placed that call, and that location was near Harold's home.
30:38
[SPEAKER_00]: But that was it.
30:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Y'all ready for the really infuriating part?
30:43
[SPEAKER_00]: Harold's half-ass tip was broadcast a law enforcement regionally, while the solid, real-time information from Jane was never aired, and I'd just like to point out that it was nearly shift change at the Northport call center, but somehow they managed to get the info in the right hands.
30:59
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I'm just saying.
31:01
[SPEAKER_00]: Around the same time Harold's information was broadcast, the radio patch between Charlotte and Sarasota County was working.
31:07
[SPEAKER_00]: There was finally a direct line
31:13
[SPEAKER_00]: With a direct line, the Bolo was updated with Michael King's tag number and vehicle information at 653pm, and a Charlotte County helicopter was deployed to aid in the search.
31:23
[SPEAKER_00]: Rhodes and Northport were shut down and police were stopping anyone with a green Camaro.
31:28
[SPEAKER_00]: The Sarasota Harald Tribune reported that at 9-16 PM, Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Ed Pope saw a green Camaro traveling north on Toledo Blade Boulevard.
31:38
[SPEAKER_00]: He confirmed the license plate matched the below and followed as the Camaro entered i75 heading south.
31:45
[SPEAKER_00]: He hit his lights and pulled Michael King out of the car at gunpoint, yelling, where is the girl?
31:51
[SPEAKER_00]: But Michael King was alone.
31:52
[SPEAKER_00]: He was sweaty and soaking wet with water and muck from the waist down.
31:57
[SPEAKER_00]: Trooper Pope placed King in protective custody.
32:00
[SPEAKER_00]: Inside the car the trooper located a muddy shovel, flashlight and gas can.
32:06
[SPEAKER_00]: All the items King had borrowed from his cousin Harold.
32:10
[SPEAKER_00]: Denise's father Rick heard over the radio that the trooper had located Michael King.
32:15
[SPEAKER_00]: He was hopeful when he heard the news, but his heart sank as he learned that his daughter had not been
32:21
[SPEAKER_00]: As the trooper took King into custody, Rick broke the news to his son-in-law, the Denise wasn't in the car.
32:29
[SPEAKER_00]: Police turned their attention to the only person who knew where Denise Lee was.
32:34
[SPEAKER_00]: And Michael King said he didn't know because he had been kidnapped with Denise.
32:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Of all the stories he could have come up with, that's the one he chose.
32:45
[SPEAKER_00]: The Green Camaro was total way to be processed, and Michael King was transported to the
32:52
[SPEAKER_00]: Detective Morales read him as writes and King declined to speak, and with that, investigators couldn't really ask him any questions directly related to Denise Lee.
33:03
[SPEAKER_00]: But Michael King was claiming to be the victim of a crime, a kidnapping, and they could ask him about his own supposed kidnapping.
33:12
[SPEAKER_00]: According to 2020, a detective that Michael King knew came into the interview room and King agreed to talk to him.
33:19
[SPEAKER_00]: King told us detective that he had stopped to pick someone up stranded on the side of the road, and that's when he was attacked.
33:26
[SPEAKER_00]: He was kidnapped and then turned loose in the middle of nowhere.
33:29
[SPEAKER_00]: And let's be real.
33:31
[SPEAKER_00]: That story made about as much sense as tits on a bull.
33:34
[SPEAKER_00]: Because if he had been kidnapped and let loose in the middle of nowhere, how in the hell was he in possession of his car?
33:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Why hadn't he called police?
33:42
[SPEAKER_00]: Why was he muddy and sweaty with a murder kitten toe?
33:45
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, we could do this all day.
33:48
[SPEAKER_00]: Anyhow, investigators obviously weren't getting anywhere with King, so they brought in his cousin Harold Muxlow, hoping he could pull something out of them.
33:57
[SPEAKER_00]: But King stuck to his same stupid ass story.
34:01
[SPEAKER_00]: Muxlow asked King what happened to the girl, and King said, he took off with her, he being this mysterious kidnapper who had taken them both.
34:09
[SPEAKER_00]: Michael King then went on to say, why can't they ask her her being Denise?
34:14
[SPEAKER_00]: He said, why can't they ask her, did he let her go?
34:19
[SPEAKER_00]: Harold changed his subject and asked, would you need a flashlight for?
34:22
[SPEAKER_00]: The initial story of the stuck lawnmower was thrown completely out of the window.
34:27
[SPEAKER_00]: King said the kidnapper told him to go get a flashlight and a shovel.
34:31
[SPEAKER_00]: He then stated, they should have let her go too.
34:35
[SPEAKER_00]: We went from a heat to a day, but what does it really matter anyway?
34:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Michael's story was so blatantly bullshit.
34:44
[SPEAKER_00]: investigators played along, though, and allowed Michael to take them to the location he claimed he was kidnapped from, and he couldn't decide on one, so he took them to several.
34:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Michael King was arrested and charged with kidnapping.
35:22
[SPEAKER_00]: King wasn't gonna lead them to Denise.
35:24
[SPEAKER_00]: Police would have to find her on their own.
35:27
[SPEAKER_00]: Investigators searched areas along Toledo Blade Boulevard, and there were plenty of areas to search.
35:34
[SPEAKER_00]: Back in 2008, there was a lot of undeveloped marsh along that stretch of road.
35:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Rick Gough joined in on the physical search for his daughter, a father and detective with his experience, knowing with every moment that passed, it was less and less likely he find his little girl alive,
35:52
[SPEAKER_00]: At the same time, the Green Camaro was processed for evidence, and what investigators recovered from that car removed nearly all hope that Denise Lee would be found alive.
36:03
[SPEAKER_00]: Hidden away in the backseat of the Camaro, police located a heart-shaped ring with a tiny stone in the center.
36:10
[SPEAKER_00]: Nathan Lee was brought to the police station to positively identify that little $40 heart-shaped ring.
36:17
[SPEAKER_00]: Nathan was shown the ring and he instantly broke down, barely able to speak, through sobs he said, yes, that's the first ring I gave her for Valentine's Day.
36:27
[SPEAKER_00]: He would later tell ABC News that at that moment he tried to hold on to hope, but at that point he didn't think it was likely they'd find Denise alive.
36:37
[SPEAKER_00]: that ring had meant so much to her.
36:40
[SPEAKER_00]: She wouldn't have left that ring behind as she thought there was a chance she was making it out alive.
36:46
[SPEAKER_00]: Investigators also located hair tucked away in the back seat, hair that had been ripped out with the roots still intact.
36:54
[SPEAKER_00]: Rick Gawff would later say that Denise knew in order for DNA to be recovered, the hair needed to have the root, and of course she did.
37:01
[SPEAKER_00]: She was the daughter of a seasoned
37:04
[SPEAKER_00]: Denise Lee had hidden evidence right there in the back seat of her captain's car.
37:09
[SPEAKER_00]: Evidence that would prove without a doubt she had been there.
37:12
[SPEAKER_00]: She had fought from the moment she encountered King.
37:16
[SPEAKER_00]: First at her home, placing her two babies in a crib to ensure they were safe as she locked the door behind her.
37:22
[SPEAKER_00]: Then while bound and blindfolded, she somehow managed to get King's phone, dial 911 and get that initial information to 911 dispatchers, all under the guise of talking to her captor.
37:33
[SPEAKER_00]: She had almost escaped at Harold Muxelo's home and asked him to call police.
37:40
[SPEAKER_00]: And incredibly, Denise managed to get Janko Walsky's attention at that red light.
37:45
[SPEAKER_00]: Denise had fought so hard to make it back to her family.
37:48
[SPEAKER_00]: We can only imagine that as she was bound in the backseat of that car, she was waiting, waiting to hear sirens, waiting for police to come and save her.
37:58
[SPEAKER_00]: She had given them multiple opportunities.
38:01
[SPEAKER_00]: She had done absolutely everything right.
38:04
[SPEAKER_00]: But though sirens, they never came.
38:07
[SPEAKER_00]: At some point, she decided that if she didn't make it out alive, she'd at least leave investigators everything they needed to prove Michael King was the man responsible.
38:16
[SPEAKER_00]: She wanted the world to know what had happened.
38:20
[SPEAKER_00]: And soon, the world would know.
38:22
[SPEAKER_00]: Searches were being conducted from where Michael King was taken into custody to where he turned off on Toledo Blade.
38:29
[SPEAKER_00]: Two days after Denise was abducted from her home, her body was found in a three-foot brave and a swampy area near plantation Boulevard.
38:38
[SPEAKER_00]: She had been shot once at Point Blanc Range in the head.
38:42
[SPEAKER_00]: Plantation Boulevard is right off to lead a blade where Jankalalski had reported the green to Merrow had turned.
38:49
[SPEAKER_00]: Michael King's charges were upgraded.
38:51
[SPEAKER_00]: He was now facing first-degree murder, kidnapping, and rape.
38:55
[SPEAKER_00]: He was held without bond.
38:58
[SPEAKER_00]: As news broke that Denise Lee had been murdered, the community was heartbroken.
39:02
[SPEAKER_00]: A young mom of two had been murdered on their streets.
39:06
[SPEAKER_00]: But that heartbreak quickly turned to outrage when details about Jane Kowalski's 911 call began to trickle out through the media.
39:14
[SPEAKER_00]: When the public learned that not a single deputy had been dispatched as a result of Jane's call when they were several, right there in that area that could have responded in minutes, they were disgusted and rightly so.
39:27
[SPEAKER_00]: It's impossible to know for sure whether or not Denise's life would have been saved had that call been really to officers.
39:33
[SPEAKER_00]: But there was a damn good chance one of those deputies could have reached Denise in time, and when someone's life is hanging in the balance, every opportunity should be taken.
39:44
[SPEAKER_00]: The failures in Denise's case would spark a firestorm for the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, and it would be the catalyst for major change in the 911 system.
39:54
[SPEAKER_00]: Countless lives have been saved through changes in training and laws and Denise leaves honor through her incredible family.
40:01
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll get into all of that next week, the evidence, the trial, and the Denise Lee Foundation.
40:06
[SPEAKER_00]: Join me next Thursday for the conclusion of this story.
40:10
[SPEAKER_00]: And the meantime you can buy me on Instagram at least underscore of these or my Facebook at least of these podcast.
40:17
[SPEAKER_00]: And if you're sick of that interruptions, I've got good news for you.
40:20
[SPEAKER_00]: You can get all your episodes, add free just the way you like them for just $2 a month, and as a member of Patreon, you'll be the first to be notified when new tiers will be launched with exclusive episodes and a few bonus surprises.
40:32
[SPEAKER_00]: Head on over to Patreon.com slash least of these to support the show today.
40:36
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for listening.
40:38
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for caring.
40:39
[SPEAKER_00]: If you know something,
41:23
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
41:24
[SPEAKER_00]: Y'all, this is a tough one.
41:26
[SPEAKER_00]: There's so much to say, but I don't even know if there's enough words to say it.
41:30
[SPEAKER_00]: Denise Lee is a hero.
41:32
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I think that's pretty obvious.
41:34
[SPEAKER_00]: The fact that she was able to think so clearly under those circumstances is just incredible.
41:40
[SPEAKER_00]: It's horrific to see it all laid out.
41:43
[SPEAKER_00]: So many times, police were just right there.
41:46
[SPEAKER_00]: Right there where they could have gotten her.
41:48
[SPEAKER_00]: It's so heartbreaking that they didn't.
41:51
[SPEAKER_00]: She literally did everything right.
41:54
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I can't think of anything else she could have done.
41:56
[SPEAKER_00]: And police, especially the Northport police, were doing everything to save her and her dad.
42:04
[SPEAKER_00]: Man, he was right there.
42:06
[SPEAKER_00]: It's tragic and terrifying all at the same time.
42:09
[SPEAKER_00]: I can't imagine what her family has been through, I can't imagine her father's pain that the agency he had dedicated decades of his life to, in the end, was the one that failed her.
42:21
[SPEAKER_00]: That's just grief on a whole other level.
42:24
[SPEAKER_00]: And I can't imagine what Denise was feeling, she was so smart, she knew how these things usually end, but she also trusted law enforcement.
42:33
[SPEAKER_00]: She was waiting to be rescued.
42:35
[SPEAKER_00]: As you go through her story, so many times there's hope, and it seemed like she'd be saved at any moment, but then another blow, another circumstance, another failure, and your heart drops every single time.
42:47
[SPEAKER_00]: Even though I knew the outcome of this case, I found myself thinking and wishing at every point that it just could have been different.
42:55
[SPEAKER_00]: Denise had to be feeling that too.
42:57
[SPEAKER_00]: The hope,
43:01
[SPEAKER_00]: The hope that Harold Moxlo would have done the right thing, and the hope that as she was in that car someone heard her screams, my heart just breaks, and it really breaks for those two boys, their mom obviously loved them so very much, and because of a monster, they were robbed of her their whole lives, so incredibly unfair.
43:25
[SPEAKER_00]: And I feel like we throw that word justice around, but how is there even justice for something like this?
43:31
[SPEAKER_00]: I try hard to believe that justice exists, but sometimes it's hard.
43:37
[SPEAKER_00]: What's most incredible to me, though, is that after all this family has been through, and of course, we'll begin into all that next week.
43:44
[SPEAKER_00]: But after everything Denise's family has gone through, they're still out there making real change.
43:50
[SPEAKER_00]: There's no way to even know how many lives have been
43:55
[SPEAKER_00]: And that just goes to show you what an amazing person Denise Lee was, it really does.
44:02
[SPEAKER_00]: And on a personal note, I can tell you that she's never been forgotten by her community, not even for a second.
44:08
[SPEAKER_00]: I think of her a lot, and I know I'm not alone in that.
44:11
[SPEAKER_00]: My hometown is actually not far from Northport.
44:14
[SPEAKER_00]: I have family members that live in that area.
44:17
[SPEAKER_00]: And my hometown is so small, y'all, we don't even have stores, so growing up and even now, I go to Port Charlotte to shop.
44:24
[SPEAKER_00]: Every time I drive down Toledo blade, I think about her.
44:28
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't know her, but were the same age we graduated from high school the same year, and though I wasn't actually living in my hometown when she was taken, I watched it all on boat on the news.
44:38
[SPEAKER_00]: My family was talking about it, and it deeply affected the community.
44:42
[SPEAKER_00]: I remember watching and wishing I could come home to help in some way.
44:46
[SPEAKER_00]: I know people always say things like that don't happen around here, but y'all really things like that were just unheard of.
44:53
[SPEAKER_00]: It was a shock to everyone and it's something I'll never forget.
44:56
[SPEAKER_00]: Y'all know I love you more in my luggage and I can't wait to talk it to you next week, but until then, bye-boo-fang!