2 suspended for mishandling 911 call in abduction case

2 suspended for mishandling 911 call in abduction case

Posted: Feb 15, 2008 02:49 PM EST

Updated: Feb 15, 2008 02:49 PM EST






PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (AP) - The Charlotte County sheriff is suspending two emergency communications center workers for mishandling a 911 call after the abduction of a 21-year-old woman last month.

An internal investigation showed that the 911 employees failed to alert authorities about a call regarding a woman seen struggling in the back seat of a Camaro. The call came in three hours after Denise Lee was reported missing by her husband Jan. 17.

Her body was found buried in a wooded area two days later. A 37-year-old man, believed to be the driver of the Camaro, was arrested and charged with the crimes.

Lee's family members believe the 911 employees should have been more harshly punished.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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In a five-minute press conference in Punta Gorda this afternoon, Charlotte County Sheriff John Davenport suspended two employees and outlined two policy violations the Florida Department of Law Enforcement found in its internal investigation into a 911 call it received on the Denise Amber Lee kidnapping and murder case.

Dispatcher Elizabeth Martinez will be suspended without pay for 36 hours, participate in 12 hours of remedial training, spend six months on disciplinary probation and take part in a critical incident stress management debriefing. She was found to be in violation of failing to send units to the North Port call at Toledo Blade and U.S. 41.

Dispatcher Susan Kallestad will be suspended without pay for 60 hours, participate in 12 hours of remedial training, spend six months on disciplinary probation and take part in the critical incident stress management debriefing. She was found to be in violation of failing to send units to the North Port call to Toledo Blade and U.S. 41 and found in violation of official procedures or directives by failing to contact North Port Police Department as instructed by Sgt. Floyd Davis.

The internal investigation the FDLE conducted was requested by the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office from its response to a 911 call from eyewitness Janet Kowalski who said she saw a person struggling in the backseat of a Camaro on U.S. 41 then turning onto Toledo Blade Boulevard on Jan. 17. Two days later Denise Amber Lee, 21, was found buried in the woods nearby and Michael King, 36, who is now in the Sarasota County Jail charged with her kidnapping, murder and sexual assault.

During the press conference, Davenport also took the time to criticize the media for continuing to write stories on the 911 call despite his request at a Jan. 28 press conference to not do that. He asked members of the media to wait until the internal investigation was done so inaccurate information would not be reported.

”They have continued to report inaccurate information and unfairly not only questioned my ingegrity but the integrity of the members of this sheriff’s office. For this I am deeply disappointed.”

The press conference was held at 3 p.m. the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office in Punta Gorda.

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