Haley's Motel owner missing
Sabine Musil-Buehler, the co-owner of Haley’s Motel in Holmes Beach, was officially reported missing early Nov. 6. Friends and family on Anna Maria Island say they last saw the 49-year-old woman on Nov. 4, election day. The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office released its missing person report on Nov. 6, stating that Musil-Buehler is a possible endangered person and was last seen Nov. 5 in the area of 14th Street West and 26th Avenue West in Bradenton. Her car was reportedly found early Nov. 6 behind the Gator Bar, which is on 14th Street in Bradenton. MCSO spokesperson Dave Bristow confirmed Monday, Nov. 10, that forensics tests revealed blood was found in several locations and on the seat belt of Musi-Buehler’s car. The investigation is being treated as a possible homicide. “We’re working on this pretty hard,” Bristow said Monday. “We’re concerned, and each day we’re more and more concerned.” Information circulated on the Island on Nov. 6 that Musil-Buehler’s car had been stolen and found with several people inside. An MCSO release said the car had been abandoned, but by Nov. 7 MCSO had released information that a man had been seen with Musil-Buehler’s vehicle, a white Pontiac Sunfire, and he was arrested while trying to flee. A report from the sheriff’s office stated that the patrol deputy noticed the vehicle with no taillights and attempted to conduct a traffic stop. The driver pulled over, but walked away. The deputy told him to stop, but the man continued to walk away, and eventually began to run. The deputy, with assistance, pursued and the driver was eventually found hiding under a parked truck on 11th Street West. The man, Robert Corona, 38, was arrested for resisting arrest and driving on a license that had been suspended for failure to pay a fine. Corona allegedly first told deputies that he had been partying with Musil-Buehler, according to a report in the Bradenton Herald. Corona, described on his arrest report as a tile setter, later said he did not know Musil-Buehler and only found the unlocked car with the keys inside the vehicle. Corona is not a suspect in Musil-Buehler’s disappearance, but remains a person of interest. Bristow said MCSO deputies searched the area where Musil-Buehler reportedly was last seen on Nov. 6 and planned to continue their search until they locate the Holmes Beach woman. Her husband and business partner, Tom Buehler, declined to talk with The islander Nov. 7, other than to say, “There’s some things going on. It’s really too early to say anything to anybody. We are right in the middle of the investigation.” Buehler, who is separated from his wife, filed the missing person’s report on Nov. 6, saying he had not seen Musil-Buehler since Nov. 4. His wife is widely known on the Island — an active member of the Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce, a member of a garden club, an advocate for property-tax relief, a participant in Holmes Beach Police Department’s missing children alert program, a volunteer for Turtle Watch, and, most recently, the host of one of the Island’s largest Halloween celebrations at the hotel. Just days after she welcomed hundreds of people to Haley’s for a haunted house and party, Musil-Buehler was reported missing. “Sabine is just a very wonderful person,” said her friend, islander Debby Hall. “She’s an upstanding citizen, an outstanding person.… Sabine thinks she can save the world.” Hall believes Musil-Buehler went to Bradenton to help someone, and she was fearing the worst on Nov. 7. “She would never just not show up for work, not call her friends, not call her husband,” Hall said. “Something has happened to Sabine.” Hall described Musil-Buehler as petite, about 120 pounds, 5 feet, five inches tall, with shoulder-length silver hair and a German accent. Hall also said Musil-Buehler is a health enthusiast, and would not be at a 14th Street bar or partying. “She doesn’t even drink coffee,” she said. Detectives have interviewed friends and family in the case, as well as motel employees. They also interviewed Musil-Buehler’s boyfriend, William J. Cumber, 39, who resides in Anna Maria. Cumber was paroled from prison in September after serving two years for a felony arson conviction. Court records indicate several other arrests of Cumber, as well as a reopened 2002 domestic relations case. Anyone with information on the case is asked to call MCSO at 941-747-3011 or to call Crime Stoppers at 866-634-TIPS. |
