{"id":429341,"date":"2026-10-16T09:16:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T09:16:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/429341\/"},"modified":"2026-10-16T09:16:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T09:16:14","slug":"arrest-in-michelle-parker-case-offers-hope-to-family-of-missing-marion-county-woman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/429341\/","title":{"rendered":"Arrest in Michelle Parker case offers hope to family of missing Marion County woman"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Arrest \"Arrest <\/p>\n

MARION COUNTY, Fla. – An arrest in the 2011 disappearance of Orlando<\/a> mother Michelle Parker is renewing hope for families still searching for answers in missing-person cases, including the family of Sara Ebersole, who vanished from Marion County<\/a> more than three years ago.<\/p>\n

New investigative technology and developments in Parker\u2019s case are reminders that breakthroughs can happen years after someone disappears, Ebersole\u2019s sister, Michelle Tullis, said.<\/p>\n

Sister refuses to give up search <\/p>\n

What they’re saying:<\/p>\n

Ebersole was last seen in March 2023 getting into a vehicle at a gas station in Reddick, a community in Marion County. Her disappearance remains unsolved.<\/p>\n

Since then, Tullis has continued advocating for her sister, determined to keep her case in the public eye and encouraging investigators to pursue new leads.<\/p>\n

\"Sara <\/p>\n

Sara Ebersole went missing in March 2023. Deputies are asking anyone with information on the case to contact the sheriff’s office | Photo credit: Marion County Sheriff’s Office <\/p>\n

“Without me, without the voice of me for Sara, I feel like Sara would be forgotten, and there wouldn’t kind of be a knock on the deputy’s door, the detective’s,” Tullis said. “Knowing that I’m not going to give up on the search for Sara, so neither should they.”<\/p>\n

Tullis said the developments in Parker\u2019s case have reinforced her determination to keep searching for her sister.<\/p>\n

Arrest brings renewed hope <\/p>\n

Big picture view:<\/p>\n

Orlando police this week arrested Dale Smith Jr. in connection with Parker\u2019s 2011 disappearance, marking a significant development in a case that had remained unresolved for 15 years.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Tullis hopes the arrest will encourage investigators in Marion County to revisit Ebersole\u2019s disappearance and identify new opportunities to move the investigation forward.<\/p>\n

Investigators identified a person of interest early in Ebersole\u2019s case, but no resolution has been announced.<\/p>\n

Tullis believes continued public awareness could help generate information that leads to a breakthrough.<\/p>\n

Community urged to share information <\/p>\n

What you can do:<\/p>\n

Tullis said keeping Ebersole\u2019s disappearance visible is critical to ensuring that potential witnesses and anyone with relevant information have an opportunity to come forward.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

“Without the community, it really truly does take a village,” Tullis said, emphasizing the importance of people continuing to share information about her sister\u2019s disappearance online.<\/p>\n

For families of missing people, developments in long-unsolved cases can offer renewed hope that answers may still be found, even after years without a resolution.<\/p>\n

Anyone with information about Ebersole\u2019s disappearance is urged to contact the Marion County Sheriff\u2019s Office or Crime Stoppers.<\/p>\n

The Source: This story was written based on information shared by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and Michelle Tullis, sister of Sara Ebersole.<\/p>\n

Marion County<\/a>Crime and Public Safety<\/a>Missing Persons<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MARION COUNTY, Fla. – An arrest in the 2011 disappearance of Orlando mother Michelle Parker is renewing hope…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":429342,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[630,47,3833,6888,115,139,141,140,628],"class_list":["post-429341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-crime-publicsafety","tag-fl","tag-marion-county","tag-missing-persons","tag-news","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=429341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429341\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/429342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=429341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=429341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=429341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}