FL - Sarah Lunde, 13, murdered, Ruskin, 9 April 2005

[kato]

This is absolutely disgusting!!!

 

[kk's mom]

I was still willing to give her the benefit of the doubt at that point, saying that it might be the only way that she could cope with the loss & the guilt. But this new information shows that I was incorrect. She did not care for her daughter the way that a child needs to be cared for. For the suffering that filled this child's life, I now also despise her mother.

I despise her too JG. I did not mean anything towards you. I knew that something else would come out about this Mom after things quieted down and low and behold here it is. I had a feeling you would change you mind when that happened. I feel absolutely horrible just knowng the life that Sarah was forced to live, all thanks to her mother.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

I despise her too JG. I did not mean anything towards you. I knew that something else would come out about this Mom after things quieted down and low and behold here it is. I had a feeling you would change you mind when that happened. I feel absolutely horrible just knowng the life that Sarah was forced to live, all thanks to her mother.

No offense taken, kk's mom or cp, (in response to your above post). I just didn't want to crucify her during her grief. I figured that the entire story would come out sooner or later. That's why I continue to do web searches for Sarah's story at least once a week. I would have continued to stand behind her mom if this wasn't the reality. But with this as the reality, there's no way to defend her. Sarah was 12 when she died, (if reports are correct). Addiction, poverty, depression - whatever problems Kelly May had, she had 12 years to find some help for herself and for her family, (even longer if we consider the ages of her older children). I can sympathize with personal problems but only for so long. At some point, people need to reach out & find help. And I can't even be sure that she even had any outside problems. Maybe her problem was simply that she was more interested in her own life than that of her children. I don't know.

Schmerty, you mentioned the church group - I hope with all of my heart and soul that Sarah did, indeed, find peace, happiness, and a sense of belonging with the church. In her short, tragic life, I would like to think that she found that before she died. She deserved that and so much more.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

Tampa Bay's 10 News

Behind the First Apostolic Church in Ruskin, church members are expanding Sarah’s garden, a tribute to a girl who made herself an important part of this congregation...

But as much as Sarah was around this church, she said nothing, about troubles at home...

Sherry Cook:
"Strangely enough, Sarah kept that part of her life completely separate from us..."

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

Lunde Case Eluded DCF Foresight - from TBO.com

The records released Tuesday described May's husband spanking the children to the point of bruising and, eventually, beating May in front of them...

Sarah, then 8 years old, described for investigators how the boyfriend made her stand against a wall while he struck her 11 times with a leather belt. Investigators saw the welts.

The minor children were removed; Sarah was placed in foster care.

When May complied with DCF directives, the children were returned in June 2000. DCF continued supervision until March 2001. No further abuse was reported.

May, contacted at the Ruskin plant nursery where she works, declined to comment for this story.

``You guys got your story. That's what you wanted,'' she said. ``I have nothing else to say.''

Citing privacy concerns about the Lunde family, Ritter said DCF was against the release of the agency's investigation records. Hopefully, he said, people can benefit from some of the information.

``If there is anything to learn from this,'' he said, ``it's that parents who are dating must be very careful and check to see who they are letting into their lives and into their children's lives.''

 

[Sheromom]

I didn't think this case could possibly get any sadder, but hearing that Sarah had NO ONE, not even her church that she chose to confide in, breaks my heart. Poor little girl.

 

[sharon25]

I didn't think this case could possibly get any sadder, but hearing that Sarah had NO ONE, not even her church that she chose to confide in, breaks my heart. Poor little girl.

maybe she wanted them to think that she had a good life?
poor little girl.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

maybe she wanted them to think that she had a good life?
poor little girl.

Here's the next line from that article:

Sarah chose to keep her church life, all positive.

Maybe she just had it so bad at home at times that she just wanted a place where she could be happy, and forget her problems, at least temporarily. I think that the church gave her that. I sure hope it did anyway.

 

[Sheromom]

Here's the next line from that article:

Sarah chose to keep her church life, all positive.

Maybe she just had it so bad at home at times that she just wanted a place where she could be happy, and forget her problems, at least temporarily. I think that the church gave her that. I sure hope it did anyway.

Thank you, Jersey Girl! I found myself getting outright depressed but now I think you are most likely right.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

Thank you, Jersey Girl! I found myself getting outright depressed but now I think you are most likely right.

You're certainly welcome. I didn't want to post too much of the article but now I think that maybe I should have included that last line in the first place. I'm glad to help you feel at least a little better about her situation at church.

 

[richandfamous]

I said it before and I'll say it again..........any *itch can have a litter, it takes an effort to be a Mother. She is dispicable but typical these days. We have a whole generation of accidental parents who have no morals, no boundaries, no goals, no pride. I believe this is the direct result of drug abuse.

My heart is heavy and I am worried for my grandchildren and the world they will have to live in.

 

[lady-eowyn]

Judge Won't Gag Participants In Onstott Case

TAMPA - A sweeping gag order that would have stopped authorities from talking to the media about defendant David Lee Onstott was rejected Friday by a Hillsborough County judge. Onstott's attorney, Deborah Goins, had asked for the gag order and a judicial review of the discovery evidence to determine whether it should be released to the media.


http://news.tbo.com/news/MGBI0Z0AJ9E.html





I don't want to be harsh...I know this mother has lost her daughter, but reading this particular bit in the story made me think "a little bit too late to be there for her isn't it?"


Kelly May, Sarah's mother, said she plans to attend all of Onstott's court hearings. She sat through Friday's hearing with supporters wearing white T-shirts with Sarah's picture on them.

``Sarah can't fight for herself anymore,'' May said

 

[GinaAngel435]

Sarah chose to keep her church life, all positive.

Maybe she just had it so bad at home at times that she just wanted a place where she could be happy, and forget her problems, at least temporarily. I think that the church gave her that. I sure hope it did anyway.

I was thinking the same thing. Sarah used her Church life as a form of escape... "reality" for this poor child was at home, where she was abused, neglected, and felt unloved. (You just want to cry!)

When she she was with her family at church, there with God, she was able to be herself, a child. She learned what love, acceptance and family truly was. I'm so happy she had at least that. She deserved so much more.

I'm borrowing a quote I read on here from another poster I really liked. I think it's very fitting.

Sleep with the Angels, Sarah.

 

[mysteriew]

Hillsborough County authorities will be allowed to talk to news media about the man accused of killing a Ruskin girl in April, a county judge ruled in rejecting a defense request for a sweeping gag order.

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050605/NEWS/506050475/1004

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

AP Wire | 08/18/2005 | Hillsborough County will post sexual predators' photos in parks

... County commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday to post the pictures and other identifying information, and said they would consider extending the policy to libraries and other buildings where children and teenagers congregate.

Sheriff David Gee said the photos will deter predators from lurking in areas that draw children.

Only the photos of those classified as sexual predators will be posted.

Posting the photographs of all 1,400 sex offenders registered in the county "could become unmanageable," Gee said.

A sex offender was charged with killing 13-year-old Sarah Lunde in Hillsborough County in April...

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

AP Wire | 08/17/2005 | After complaints, Orlando probation office near school is moved

The Department of Corrections has decided to reassign sex offenders who report to a probation office near an elementary school after receiving complaints from parents...

 

[Bobbisangel]

Bradenton Herald | 04/24/2005 | 'She's in the hands of God'

In the church where 13-year-old Sarah Lunde found comfort and family, those who knew her best gathered Saturday to celebrate her life and share in her family's pain...

Since his daughter's death, (Mark) Lunsford has dedicated most of his time to supporting efforts to strengthen regulations on sex offenders, but Saturday the soft-spoken man was there to support Sarah's family. Many hugged him and offered their condolences, but he was quick to remind them that the day belonged to Sarah, whose picture was on his T-shirt...

"You don't turn loose a pit bull that's bitten or killed a child, but you turn out a person who would?" (Isn't that the God's honest truth????)

Bless Mark's heart. He didn't go to the service to condem Sarah's mother..he went to comfort her. I doubt that Mark even knew that much about Sarah's mother or that it would have made a difference. He just knew that she was a mother who had lost her child in the same way that he had lost Jesse.

If anyone would know how it felt to be condemed Mark would. Lots of fingers pointed at him and his parents while Jesse was missing. I remember reading something about Mark stopping at a bar one day or evening and having a beer. He sat by himself. People jumped right on that. Condeming him for stopping at a bar and having a beer after his daughter had been murdered.

It is hard to understand how people can be so self righteous...judgemental... when something so horrible happens in a person's life. I hope Sarah's mother doesn't ever find this web site. We don't know her or anything about her. But we do know that this mother will live with guilt for the rest of her life and I think that is punishment enough without her being torn to shreds by people who don't even know her.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

It is hard to understand how people can be so self righteous...judgemental... when something so horrible happens in a person's life. I hope Sarah's mother doesn't ever find this web site. We don't know her or anything about her. But we do know that this mother will live with guilt for the rest of her life and I think that is punishment enough without her being torn to shreds by people who don't even know her.

I understand where you're coming from. And I try my best not to condemn people - Lord knows I'm nowhere near perfect. Yet it's hard to continue to give someone the benefit of the doubt when you read stuff like this:

Hillsborough: Girl's life was full of abuse, fear

Long before she turned up murdered in an abandoned Ruskin fish pond, 13-year-old Sarah Lunde endured a childhood full of physical abuse, neglect and starvation, according to 1,300 pages of documents released Tuesday by the Florida Department of Children and Families.

In October 1999, a judge ordered Sarah, then 8 years old, removed from her mother's care and placed in a foster home. Listed in DCF records as the cause for the placement: "inadequate supervision, inadequate food, physical abuse and family violence."

... social workers described her as walking around for days at a time without a bath and wearing soiled clothes.


Sarah and her siblings allegedly were beaten on several occasions with belts, boards and fists. Sarah also was burned in the face with a light bulb, according to reports.

While the DCF reports chronicle years of alleged physical and mental abuse on the Lunde children by their mother and father, they also provide details about the intensely violent fights between Sarah's parents, Kelly May and Richard Lunde.

"There has been ongoing domestic violence between mom and dad since the children were small," a social worker wrote in a 1995 report.

Documents say Richard Lunde beat his wife with a 2-by-4 while the children looked on. He also broke her ribs and injured her in other ways that required her to be hospitalized, the allegations said.


In October 1999, DCF reported that Sarah was forced to sleep outside by a tree. Her sister would bring her a blanket and pillow.

Sarah was once beaten 11 times with a black leather belt for not picking up the trash in the yard. DCF documented a bruise left on her buttock, red and about 2 inches in diameter. Sarah also said she didn't get enough to eat...

Does that mean that her mother deserved this? Absolutely not. But Sarah was hers to take care of, regardless of whatever troubles she herself may have had. I don't wish this on anyone, and I genuinely do hope that her family finds healing and peace. But being beaten until bruised? Being burned in the face with a lightbulb? I'm sorry but this is not normal, and mothers are supposed to shield their children from stuff like this. It would have been different if the mother took the kids out of that environment after the first time. But apparently, this was ongoing. Please read the above article. It is amazingly sad.

 

[mysteriew]

Sarah Michelle Lunde was a girl desperate for acceptance from her peers, prone to angry outbursts and someone who struggled with depression and anxiety, according to documents from the investigation into the 13-year-old's slaying earlier this year.

More than 1,500 pages of documents related to the investigation, including notes written by Sarah, were released Friday. Another 300 pages of material could be released later; Onstott's public defenders want them kept private because they could jeopardize his ability to receive a fair trial.

In letters Sarah wrote to friends just days before she disappeared, she discussed the circumstances of a four-day stint on in-school suspension, and described crushes she had on movie star Vin Diesel, country singer Tim McGraw and wrestler and actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. She signed the notes "Baby Gurl."

"I'm just tired of everyone picking on me," one note said. "I just want to be friends with everyone and not have people mad at me."

Another note she wrote said, "I'm tired of so much drama up in my life."

Other documents revealed that Sarah's mother, Kelly May, told officials the girl suffered from a condition similar to bipolar disorder, had a "scary" temper and was referred to a psychiatrist.
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/12673309.htm

 

[mysteriew]

None of the kids liked David Onstott. Not Andrew. Not Richard. And definitely not their sister Sarah Lunde. But by the time anyone realized how much that really mattered, Sarah, 13, was already dead.

Sarah's mother, Kelly May, told detectives Sarah never liked any of the men she brought home, including Onstott.

Sarah's brother, Richard Lunde, 21, said the same thing. He told detectives his sisters and brothers "did not care for Onstott and that was a group decision they had made."

That might be one reason why Sarah's other brother, Andrew Lunde, thought it was strange when Onstott showed up the night she disappeared.

Andrew, 17, the last one in Sarah's family to have reportedly see her alive, told detectives he had gone to Taco Bell to get food for his sister around midnight when she said she was hungry. Instead of heading straight home, he and a group of friends went joyriding in Apollo Beach, Brandon and Tampa.

Andrew told detectives Onstott showed up at his house between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. on April 10 and asked for his mother. He said she wasn't at home, then Onstott took one step inside the house and picked up a beer bottle and left. He said that the bottle wasn't there when he left to get food for Sarah.

"When he pulled out of my driveway, he sped off and didn't turn on the light until the middle, towards the middle of the road," Andrew Lunde told detectives, according to a transcript of his interview.

Andrew Lunde then looked at his friend who was spending the night and asked why would Onstott take the beer bottle. "And then I said, he must have been here before," Andrew Lunde told detectives. "And then I shut the porch light off and went to sleep."

The clerk at a Hess gas station not far from Sarah's home told detectives that he "believes he saw" Sarah at his store about 1 a.m. on April 10. The clerk described what Sarah was wearing, noting the green cast on her left arm. He told detectives she came in and used the bathroom, then left.

It's the same Hess gas station, the clerk said, Onstott visited at least once a week to buy Bud Light.
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/09/17/Hillsborough/Slain_girl__her_sibli.shtml