Investigators continue work on Musil-Buehler case
by Lisa Neff. islander Reporter
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Mosil-Buehler, 49 |
The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office received all the results in lab tests conducted in connection with the disappearance of Haley’s Motel owner Sabine Musil-Buehler.
The MCSO did not release details of those tests. Earlier tests on evidence from Musil-Buehler’s car found small amounts of her blood in the front seat, according to the sheriff’s office.
Musil-Buehler, 49, was reported missing Nov. 6, about two days after she was last seen in Anna Maria by her boyfriend, William Cumber III.
Cumber, 39, is currently in the Manatee County jail awaiting a Feb. 24 hearing for allegedly violating his probation in an unrelated case — a 2005 arson in Bradenton.
Cumber has repeatedly been questioned by authorities about Musil-Buehler’s disappearance and a fire at Haley’s Motel in Holmes Beach on Nov. 16, 2008.
He has said that he and Musil-Buehler were watching election night news on Nov. 4 when they had a verbal argument and she left the home she had rented on Magnolia Avenue in Anna Maria.
Cumber said Musil-Buehler left in her car, which was recovered by the MCSO after a chase that began with a routine traffic stop in Bradenton.
The MCSO arrested Robert Corona, 38, allegedly fleeing from the car. Corona is charged with grand theft auto, but the sheriff’s office does not consider him a person of interest in the Musil-Buehler case.
“We’re still working away on it — putting the case together,” MCSO spokesman Dave Bristow said. “We’re still hopeful we will have a resolution.”
The fire at Haley’s that destroyed a two-story building adjacent to the main motel also remains under investigation, with the Holmes Beach Police Department taking the lead.
HBPD Chief Jay Romine confirmed last week that the fire was intentionally set and “considered to be an arson.”
Meanwhile, offers of rewards still stand for information on the whereabouts of Musil-Buehler.
Manatee County’s Gold Star Club is offering up to $5,000 for information.
Also, the Sabine Buehler Benefit Fund is accepting donations at Whitney Bank, 5324 Gulf Drive, Holmes Beach.
islander Silvia Zadarosni, a friend of Sabine and her husband Tom Buehler, co-owner of Haley’s, established the fund.
Months after Musil-Buehler’s disappearance, Zadarosni said she thinks of her friend every day. “Where are you?” she asks when she looks at the picture of Musil-Buehler in her flower shop in Anna Maria.
“It’s been really hard,” Zadarosni said. “We just keep hoping it will come to a conclusion.”
Anyone with information is asked to call the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office at 941-747-3011, ext. 2519, or Crime Stoppers at 866-634-TIPS. |