SARAH MICHELLE LUNDE - 13 yo (5-2005) - Convicted: David Onstott - Ruskin, FL

Sheriff: Body of missing Florida teen found



Green cast, like Sarah Lunde wore, found on remains


Sunday, April 17, 2005 Posted: 7:48 AM EDT (1148 GMT)

RUSKIN, Florida (CNN) -- The six-day search for 13-year-old Sarah Michelle Lunde ended Saturday when searchers found her body partially submerged in a pond near her Florida home.


Hillsborough Sheriff David Gee said the pond at an abandoned fish farm will be drained Sunday and the surrounding area searched for possible evidence.

Sarah's family discovered her missing early last Sunday.

Lunde was wearing a green cast when she disappeared, and Gee told reporters, "the green cast is apparent" on the body.

"The family is very distraught, obviously. It's a tough time for them, and we're trying to assist them in dealing with this," Gee said.

He refused to comment on the condition of the body, but said it appeared to have in the pond several days. It's likely Sarah was
killed soon after her disappearance, he said.

Area residents were asked to turn over any clothing that might belong to Sarah that they find near where the body was found.

"We will do anything in our power to bring the person or persons to justice," Gee said. "I believe we eventually will find enough evidence to charge the person."

A search-and-rescue dog found the body half-submerged at an abandoned fish farm a half-mile south of the girl's home, the sheriff said. It was in an area that had been searched before.

"It was clear from investigators that whoever put her there went to great effort to conceal her body," Gee said.

The sheriff said he told Sarah's mother, Kelly May, this morning about the discovery.

"She has family around her and some friends, and it's a very difficult time," Gee said earlier. "They're obviously very upset. They're very worried at this news."

Beer bottles
Since Sarah's disappearance, authorities have been questioning David Onstott, a 36-year-old convicted sex offender -- currently in custody on unrelated charges -- who recently ended a relationship with the missing girl's mother.

Police have not called Onstott a suspect, and his attorney denies that Onstott had anything to do with Sarah's disappearance.

On Friday, searchers were asked to keep an eye out for empty Bud or Bud Light beer bottles in the vicinity that may have a connection to Onstott.

According to Sarah's 17-year-old brother, Onstott was at the family home early Sunday morning -- hours after she was last seen.
The brother told police that it was the first time he had seen Onstott in months, and that Onstott picked up a half-full beer bottle from a table before leaving.

Sarah was last seen by her brother at her home when she returned from a church function April 9. Her brother went out, and when he returned early Sunday she was gone. Her mother was out of town and reported her missing Monday. A national missing-persons alert was issued Tuesday.

Troubled histories
Authorities arrested Onstott on Tuesday in Apollo Beach, Florida, north of Ruskin, on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, the sheriff's office said. Deputies said Onstott threatened a man with a screwdriver during an argument.

He was arraigned Thursday on a charge of failing to register as a sex offender, and remains in the Hillsborough County Jail. Although his bond was set at $250,000, Onstott also was being held on a drunken driving warrant from Michigan, sheriff's spokesman J.D. Callaway said. Because there is no bond on the Michigan charge, Onstott is being held without bond, Callaway said.

Onstott has a 1995 sexual battery conviction for assaulting a female acquaintance in her home, for which he served six years in prison and two years probation, Callaway said.

Gee told CNN on Friday that Onstott has been cooperative.

"Inside I'm broken because of what's happened. The hurt is beyond imagination," the Rev. Johnny Cook, pastor of Sarah's church, told CNN.

Earlier Saturday, a tearful Youth Team leader at the First Apostolic Church of Ruskin described the experience of Sarah's kidnapping "terrifying."

"We were still praying that she would walk through the doors, and just say 'Are you guys looking for me?' And this was a reality to us that she might not do that," Loren Arruda told CNN.

Ruskin is about 10 miles south of Tampa on the edge of Tampa Bay.

There are 24 sex offenders in the Ruskin area, police have said; 23 have been questioned, and they believe the 24th left the area before Sarah disappeared.

Sarah has spent time in the state's foster care system, and, when she was 9, authorities ordered her hospitalized to ensure she did not hurt herself, law enforcement authorities said.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/04/16/florida.girl/index.html?section=cnn_us

David Lee Onstott on trial today for 2005 murder of Sarah Lund


Monday, August 11, 2008 8:30am

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Sarah Michelle Lunde, 13, came home early from a church outing on April 9, 2005. Just before midnight, her older brother went to Taco Bell to get her some food. He says he came back four hours later. The front door was open. Sarah was gone.

On April 16, after days of searching, a grim discovery was made. Half a mile down the road from the Lunde home in Ruskin, a search dog found a decomposed body in water on an abandoned fish farm. Sarah.

The man accused of killing Sarah, a registered sex offender who had dated her mother, is set to go to trial today in Tampa, more than three years after her murder. David Lee Onstott, 40, won't face the death penalty. Prosecutors took it off the table after a series of hits to their case, most notably a judge's decision to throw out Onstott's confession.

What's left is a first-degree murder and attempted sexual battery case built largely on circumstantial evidence. If convicted, Onstott will go to prison for life. Here's a look at what to expect during the trial:

The prosecution
Jay Pruner, a no-frills, methodical prosecutor for the Hillsborough State Attorney's Office, is leading the case against Onstott. Pruner has won on circumstantial evidence before.

Prosecutors do have a series of potentially incriminating statements and behavior:

• Onstott showed up at the Lunde house between 4 and 5 a.m. April 10 and asked for Sarah's mother, according to Andrew Lunde, Sarah's then 17-year-old brother. After Andrew said she wasn't there, Onstott took one step inside, picked up a beer bottle and left. Andrew said the bottle wasn't there when he left to get food.

• In a recorded jail call to his ex-wife, Onstott said, "You know I've broken every commandment now. Every single one."

• A cell mate of Onstott's — who was jailed before Sarah's body was found — said Onstott blanched when the missing girl's name came up.

The prosecution's success could turn on self-incriminating statements Onstott made to a detention deputy.

The defense
This trial is likely to be defense attorney John Skye's last. The longtime public defender retired a year ago but vowed to complete Onstott's case. In addition to the lack of physical and forensic evidence, the defense will benefit from all the things prosecutors aren't allowed to say.

Skye scored a major victory last year when Hillsborough Circuit Judge Ronald Ficarrotta threw out Onstott's main confession on grounds that detectives who interrogated him ignored his requests for an attorney. An appeals court upheld that ruling. Ficarrotta also excluded other incriminating statements Onstott made to his mother and his cell mate. Prosecutors also can't tell jurors about Onstott's 1995 sexual battery conviction.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/criminal/david-lee-onstott-on-trial-today-for-2005-murder-of-sarah-lunde/766338

Appeals court upholds conviction of man who murdered Sarah Lunde

Published: March 5, 2010   |   Updated: March 22, 2013 at 09:54 AM

TAMPA -
An appeals court without comment today upheld the life sentence and murder conviction of David Lee Onstott.

The judges of the 2nd District Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence, not issuing an opinion.

Onstott was sentenced to life imprisonment in August 2008 after being convicted of the 2nd degree murder of 13-year-old Sarah Lunde.

It took jurors two days to find Onstott strangled Lunde in April 2005 and dumped her body in an abandoned fish pond in Ruskin.

The guilty verdict capped a two-week trial.

With no DNA or fingerprints linking Onstott to Sarah, the case was built mainly on conversations between Onstott and his mother, Onstott and his former wife and Onstott and a deputy at the jail.

The appeals court threw out a purported confession prior to the trial, saying Onstott was not provided an attorney when he requested one.

http://tbo.com/news/appeals-court-upholds-conviction-of-man-who-murdered-sarah-lunde-73081

Why oh why would a woman bring a sex offender, a pedophile into her home around her children?

Poor Sarah had no choice in whom her mother brought home to her bed and exposed her children to. 

IMO this is another POS mother.  A POS man.  Another dead child.

Motorcycle riders raise awareness against child sex abuse


The 6th annual Fallen Angels Memorial Ride honored 13-year-old Sarah Lunde, who was murdered in April 2005.

Ruskin, Florida -- The 6^th annual Fallen Angels Memorial Ride honored 13-year-old Sarah Lunde, who was murdered by a convicted sex offender in April 2005 near her family's mobile home in Ruskin.

The ride had about 70 motorcyclists riding throughout Hillsborough County and stopping at several places including her grave site in Ruskin and her church.

"Each year, we honor a different child who was killed in a sexual abuse crime," said the organizer, Judy Cornett.

Cornett organizes the ride and raises awareness against child sex crimes because she almost lost her son to a vicious attack.

"In 1992, my son and his friend were riding their bicycles through our neighborhood and they were kidnapped," said Cornett. "They were raped and strangled and left for dead."

Her son did not die, but their lives were changed forever.

"Today (Sunday) is very empowering to a lot of people because they get to adopt a stuffed animal in memory of a child," said Cornett.

Cornett's motorcade is called Predator Patrol and they travel to schools and communities to educate families about how to talk to your children about speaking up about bad situations and teaching children how to be safe. Her Predator Patrol group works with her other non-profit called Safety Zone Advocacy, Inc. Their mission is to provide information to families about the safety, prevention, and intervention of sex crimes.

A new rider, Rena Romano, told 10 News she is riding to also encourage victims of child abuse to speak up and share their stories like she did.

"I was molested by an older brother, half brother, for years. I was forced to do pornography, drugs, and a lot of bad things," said Romano. "I was afraid to say anything to my family."

She is not afraid anymore. She publically speaks to families about child abuse and educated children. She has also written a book called His Puppet No More. She encourages survivors of child sex abuse who are now adults to get professional counseling and encourages them to share their stories.

Proceeds from her book go to the local PACE Center for Girls and The Safety Zone Advocacy, Inc. To purchase her book: https://www.createspace.com/3449079


To donate to the non-profit: http://www.safetyzoneadvocacy.org/Donations.html

http://www.wtsp.com/story/news/local/hillsboroughcounty/2014/04/06/sarah-lunde-motorcylce-memorial-ride-child-sex-abuse/7391299/