On New Year’s Eve, the Lemire Family got news they hadn’t expected. The volunteer dive group, Sunshine State Sonar, found Sandra Lemire’s red minivan in a retention pond near the Walt Disney World Resort entrance on World Drive. Sandra Lemire’s remains were inside the van, wrapping up an 11-plus-year mystery.
#FPVideo: 12 years after Sandra Lemire and her car vanished, divers believe they have found her body. A group of volunteer divers discovered a submerged minivan with remains from a retention pond near Walt Disney World in Florida. pic.twitter.com/03qX2yqmjj
— Firstpost (@firstpost) January 4, 2024
Related: Family Confirms Body Found In Pond Outside Disney World is Woman Missing Since 2012
In May 2012, Sandra Lemire lived with her grandmother, Pauline Varner. She left home to go on a date with a man she met online and was never heard from again. After an extensive search and interviews with the man Sandra met that night, the Orlando Police Department ran out of leads, and the case went cold. Her family assumed the worst, but it turned out that it was just a terrible traffic accident. Finally, after 11 years, the Lemire Family found some closure.
Sandra Lemire’s son, Timothy Lemire Jr, told WESH:
It’s a lot of mixed emotions. I’m happy she wasn’t murdered or kidnapped or anything like that because we’ve been thinking that for years. There’s this one video where you can see the van on the tow truck and the truck pulling off. And he said, ‘Timothy, we’re finally bringing your mother home. And that destroyed me when he said that. After all these years.
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.https://t.co/AEYpZtEZh1 pic.twitter.com/LsYRrL8IAZ
— KSEE24 News (@KSEE24) January 3, 2024
Related: Missing Disney World Cast Member Found Dead
The family credits Sunshine State Sonar for helping to find her remains. Mike Sullivan of Sunshine State Sonar told WESH that two weeks earlier, the non-profit group received a tip from the Orlando Police Department. The tip gave them the approximate location of her last cell phone call using the nearest tower. The volunteer divers search 63 ponds before finally finding Lemire in a retention pond near Disney World.
Timothy Lemire Jr said:
What he (Mike Sullivan) did was amazing. And without him and his team, none of this would have been possible. They didn’t ask for a dollar. That’s just the kindness of their heart.
For over a decade, Timothy Lemire Jr. searched for his missing mother, Sandra Lemire, until Sunshine State Sonar's volunteer dive team located her red minivan in a retention pond near Disney, bringing closure to a 12-year-old cold case. https://t.co/FqfkF4fTj0 pic.twitter.com/NZSM0098pi
— WSVN 7 News (@wsvn) January 2, 2024
Related: Missing Disney World Cast Member Could Be the Victim of Domestic Violence or Drug Abuse
According to their website, Sunshine State Sonar is a volunteer group of underwater rescuers who help find missing persons, vehicles, and boats. They use sonar technology to search local ponds and lakes and alert local police of their findings. Since the group launched two years ago, they have found the remains of seven missing persons.
Finally, Timothy Lemire Jr knows what happened to his mother. “He went through hell over this,” said his father, Timothy Lemire. And finally, that hell is over.
We will continue to update this story at Disney Fanatic.
