Human Remains Found Submerged In Pond Near Walt Disney World
By Kelly Coffey-Behrens on January 5, 2024 at 1:05 PM EST
Police discovered a body inside a submerged vehicle in a pond located near Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
According to the Orlando Police Department, the human remains were identified as Sandra Lemire, who went missing over a decade ago.
Lemire was last seen by her family on May 8, 2012, after she left her grandmother's home in Orlando. She was reportedly on her way to meet with a man she had met online through a dating service in Kissimmee, Florida.
Officials said she called her grandmother to confirm when she arrived in Kissimmee, however, she did not contact her grandmother on the way home.
Dive Group Discovers Human Remains Near Walt Disney World
The human remains were found by a volunteer civilian dive group called Sunshine State Sonar, who alerted authorities after finding a 2004 Ford Freestar van, which was submerged in the pond on World Drive, just south of the Most Magical Place on Earth.
A few days following the discovery, The Orlando Police Department determined that the red vehicle found in the water "is tied to the missing person case of Sandra Lemire," per Fox News 35.
The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating how the car crashed into the pond, but a preliminary report by the FHP says the Ford Freestar van was traveling on the State Road 417 southbound exit ramp to World Drive when the van's driver ran off the roadway and entered a retention pond. It is unclear why this occurred.
"In a collaborative effort with detectives from Orlando Police Department, a total of 63 bodies of water were searched over the last 17 months. The first search took place on July 2, 2022. Last week, detectives from Orlando Police provided additional information that prompted this weekend’s search," the Sunshine State Sonar stated.
Lemire was last seen leaving a Kissimmee restaurant in her red van, the same van that was just found in the pond.
Disney World Guest Dies After Riding Popular Attraction
On May 26, 2023, a 44-year-old man passed away after riding Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in Magic Kingdom.
According to Disney's 2023 second-quarter incident report, the man collapsed after he exited the ride, and later passed away from a personal illness. The incident report did not specifically state what the personal illness was, how the man died, or any contributing factors.
Plus, on April 2, 2023, a 61-year-old man had a seizure after riding Avatar Flight of Passage at Disney's Animal Kingdom Park and on April 1, 2023, a 21-year-old woman had a seizure after getting off the Frozen Ever After ride in EPCOT.
On May 1, 2023, Disney World's incident report states that a 9-year-old lost consciousness after riding Tron Lightcycle Power Run, the newest rollercoaster at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World.
In June 2023, a 41-year-old man fell while exiting the Tomorrowland Indy Speedway in Magic Kingdom and fractured his elbow -- and a 27-year-old man had chest pains and illness after going on Test Track in EPCOT.
More tragically, a book titled 'Inside the Mouse' which was published in the 1990s, claimed that a man reportedly committed suicide in the middle of EPCOT after he put a gun to his own head.
