Episode 20: Denise Amber Lee - Michael Lee King

The phone rang at approximately 6:14 p.m.

On the other end was a terrified woman, frantically begging to be set free,so she could see her family again. A call that was being made from the back seat of her abductor’s car.

Her name was Denise Amber Lee.

She had been kidnapped from her home in North Port, Florida— in broad daylight — just a couple hours earlier while her two young childrenwere still inside the house.

Now she was calling 911… from her captor’s cell phone.

You can hear the panic in her voice.

You can hear the car moving.

You can hear the man who took her.

But what Denise didn’t know was that several people were trying to help herat the exact same time — and the information they were giving police wasn’tbeing connected.

Dispatchers in different counties were handling separate calls.

A witness described the vehicle Denise was in.

And Denise herself was frantically speaking to her captor, while trying togive clues to the 911 operator about where she was.

But the clock was ticking.

Every minute mattered.

And in the chaos of multiple calls, crossed jurisdictions, and missedconnections… those minutes slipped away.

This is the story of a woman who fought to save her own life…

A community that tried desperately to find her…

And a tragedy that would forever change the way emergency calls are handled in Florida andsubsequently, nationwide.

This is the story of Denise Amber Lee.

***WARNING*** This episode contains disturbing audio!

For more information please visit

deniseamberlee.org