On to an airplane. But her prized car turned up with an excon behind the wheel. We thought, oh, my god. It was him. He killed her. Was it that simple . Her personal life was very complicated. A younger boyfriend. The man was very charismatic, dropdead gorgeous. And an estranged husband. He had caught them having sex in room 11. But the case really started to sizzle when someone torched the motel. Somebody was trying to destroy some evidence or something . We just didnt know. This is a murder mystery of epic proportions. Both of us were obsessed with this case. Can this get any more bizarre . Im lester holt, and this is dateline. Heres Keith Morrison with a place on the sand. Island, its own bit of fantasy, off the gulf coast of florida. Its kind of a Little Paradise here. It is paradise. And it just gets better and better, we think. Reporter Anna Maria Island, where high rise condos are banned, is seven miles of unspoiled white sand, unspoiled houses, unspoiled people, too, most of them. When you come across the bridge, its a whole different life. I mean, yeah, you just come across the bridge and its like ah. It is. Reporter and here is where she found her Little Paradise, too. Came all the way from germany for it. Sabine musilbuehler. And whether they called her sabina, or as some did, sabine, they all knew her here on the island. Larger than life person. Absolutely. And the minute you met her, you just were drawn to her. I mean, she was just one of those people that you wanted to get to know better. Reporter and even now, it just doesnt seem possible, not here. I mean, nothing happens on this island. No, i mean, this is a sleepy little town. Its sweet town. We dont have things like that happen here. Reporter no, and certainly not to her. Sabine made good things happen here, crazy things, happy things. Here at the 50s motel she bought and reimagined along with tom buehler, the man she married within two weeks of meeting, her partner at haleys motel. Longtime friends Nancy Ambrose and suzi fox. It had always been her lifelong dream to have her own resort. And haleys came on the market. And at the time it was pretty run down. And we were like, oh, now thats youve got your hands full here. But she needed tom. We knew that tom could do it. I mean, if anybody could do it, the two of them could turn this around. Reporter oh, and they did. The ideas. They invited the whole town to their quirky events, their dressup parties. Hello, welcome to haleys motel. Please join me for a tour. Reporter this is her with jacamo, her everpresent parrot. Sabine was the star of her own promotional videos for the hotel. Well, i hope you like our rooms so far, but with all our activities we offer you you wont spend too much time in there. Reporter neighbor Barbara Hines. Sabine never saw something that had a broken wing that she didnt try to fix. Reporter sabine was a rescuer. People, cats, dogs, turtles. When suzi fox took over the anna maria turtle watch nesting turtles are a very big deal here she asked for help. Tom and sabine were i think my fourth volunteers. And theres nine sections on this island one mile long. And they said theyd take as many as i needed to give them. Leatherback in the water. Reporter bonner joy owns the local newspaper the islander. Unfortunately, the leatherback was missing a flipper. And he swam in circles. So he kept coming back to the beach. And sabine jumped in the water without a second thought. And she was up to here, talking to the turtles face, like she could tell this 400pound turtle to turn around, you know or will him to. Reporter so you get the idea. She was just amazing. I mean, she just was one of those people that cared about everybody. Reporter like Nancy Ambrose, for example, when she was battling cancer and nobody would give her a job because of her demanding treatment schedule. Until the day she met sabine. You know, i explained what my situation was. Shes like, great. Thats fine. Come on, come on to work. And i was like, really . And i was that was one of the happiest days of my life because here she was giving me a chance. Reporter so sabine had animals, her motel, her white pontiac convertible, and in 2008, a new passion campaigning for barack obama. An uphill battle on this predominantly republican island. So on election night, sabine was certainly up for a party. Shed arranged to meet nancy, in fact, in what they hoped would turn into a victory celebration. She was so into the election. She was so excited. She wanted obama to win. Reporter strange then that when nancy arrived she couldnt find sabine. And i thought she had already left because i got there late. Reporter sabines husband tom had been there earlier, too, but without her. Still, nancy didnt worry. Not then anyway. It wasnt until a couple days later that i realized she was missing. Reporter how was it possible . The woman who loved to celebrate didnt. The woman who loved to talk the woman who loved her motel suddenly wasnt there. Sabine was gone. When we come back, the first troubling clue, her car with someone else at the wheel. Flags started going off. Who was this mystery driver . She would have driven through a very rough area, and it just came to my mind that maybe she was carjacked. We dont even know the truth. Ba da ba ba ba dont drop your phone, drop your network. Bring your phone to Cricket Wireless. We have more 4g lte coverage nationwide than tmobile or sprint. Cricket wireless. Something to smile about. If you take multiple medications, a dry mouth can be a common side effect. Thats why theres biotene. 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Visit our website for savings the air was somehow different on tiny Anna Maria Island that november of 2008. Not just because obama won the election, but because sabine musilbuehler, the one and only, was not around to celebrate. Not with her friends. Not with her pets. Not at her motel. She would never, ever leave her animals. She would never, ever not go to haleys to work. I mean, that was her baby. Reporter then, two days later, 2 30 in the morning, a seedy neighborhood across the bridge on the mainland. A patrolman pulled over a white pontiac convertible with a burnedout taillight. As the cop approached the car, the driver ran. There was a wild chase, but they caught him. His name was robert corona. And he had a story, said detectives jeffrey bliss and john kenney of the Manatee County sheriffs office. Mr. Coronas original story is, i was doing crack cocaine with the owner of the car. And it wasnt reported stolen. Reporter did he say he knew yes, and had permission to have the car. Reporter but when detectives checked the registration, they learned the convertible belonged to sabine. And corona had a record. Hes a known street criminal. I mean, he has a lengthy arrest history. Reporter and they learned from sabines friends that there had to be something very wrong with a story that had her doing drugs and drinking with a felon in a smoky bar in a seedy part of town. She would never be buying drugs. I mean, she would not even allow people to smoke around her. She would not let people smoke at haleys motel property. Reporter really . I mean, not even in the rooms, but on the property. I mean, she was reporter she was kind of a health fanatic. She had a private a i mean, she was very into health. Reporter so they arrested corona, installed him in the county jail and in the morning drove over to haleys motel to talk to sabines husband tom. And . In a couple of days. He hadnt filed a missing persons report but did after police came around. What was he like . What was your impression of the guy . He was concerned for her wellbeing. She wasnt answering her phone. He couldnt find her. Reporter and something else. According to tom, sabine never let anyone drive her car. Not even him. Now there was a stolen car, a missing woman and a known criminal. Not adding up to a good combination for sabine. Flags started going off. And shortly thereafter, detectives started getting involved as a missing persons case. Reporter but then it got worse. When detectives went over the car, they found blood drops in the back seat. A patch of the rear seat had been cut out. So they sprayed luminol around, found more blood traces on the rear seat. Now, sabines friends, like chris tollette, were horrified. God, it was him. He killed her. He must have killed her. Reporter so now it was a homicide investigation. Detective jeff bliss decided to pay a visit to corona in jail. I put my Business Card down on the table and slid it across, and we said were homicide detectives. This isnt about an auto theft. We need to know the truth and we need to know now. And hes like, hey, i had nothing to do with any murders. And then he changed his story. Reporter coronas new story . He never met anybody named sabine. He just found her car parked behind a place called the gator lounge, a not exactly upscale wine bar. In a jailhouse interview, corona claimed it was just a crime of opportunity. You didnt see anybody, though, did you . I didnt see nobody inside the car or around the car. So thats why i decided to take the car. Okay. You know . So i go inside, then i see the keys. So im like oh [ bleep ]. You know what i mean . Mmhmm. Like, somebody wanted it stolen. So he just took the liberty of stealing that car. Reporter was the second story any more true than the first . The local paper jumped on all this, of course. And bonner joy heard a lot of stories. There were a number of people who speculated that sabine might have gone to town to go to an obama celebration that was being held downtown. The area that she wouldve driven through to go to that party is a very rough area and that just came to my mind that maybe shed been carjacked. Reporter certainly, something very bad must have happened. Something maybe that happened in her car. So was corona their killer . Or was he finally telling the truth that he stole her car outside that bar . But if that was true, how did it get there . And where was sabine . Coming up could it be sabine had plans no one knew about . Had this free spirit simply skipped town . At the sarasota airport. And they were sure that they saw her up ahead in line, you know, to get on to an airplane. Doctors have been prescribing humira for more than ten years. Humira works for many adults. It targets and helps to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. 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Im hannibal im gonna use samsung pay to get a katzs deli pastrami sandwich. katzs employees hey hey whats up . Hey can i pay with my phone . You mean like apple pay . We dont got that. No like samsung pay. Kind of works everywhere. Even on this janky old thing. He wants to pay with his phone. Whadda ya want hannibal . I want to pay with my phone. Dont look at the cameras mike. You ready . It doesnt work. Watch me. Boom oh samsung pay is here and it was a disturbing time on Anna Maria Island. What happened to sabine . When they found her car there was blood in it. And the felon whod stolen it kept changing his story. So the logical conclusion was dark indeed. Still, she could have just gone back to germany to see her family or something, right . Right, and there was extensive leads and investigation to determine that. Reporter in fact, apparently, sabine had been seen alive and well at the local airport. The story. There were two women who were at the sarasota airport, and they were sure that they saw her up ahead in line, you know, to get on to an airplane. Reporter but when detectives checked out the tip . Her passport wasnt used. That checking surveillance cameras at sarasota bradenton airport, Tampa Airport to make sure that she did not leave the country or fly out. Reporter a couple of weeks went by that way. Lots of tips. No verifiable sightings. And then finally they got the dna back on that blood in the car. We were able to get her toothbrush and some other personal items for a dna comparison. And we were able to match that up that that was, nkt, her blood. Reporter her husband tom told a local News Reporter he was prepared for the worst from that first morning when he was told about her car. The second i knew when the her car without her in it and with the keys in the car, i knew sabine was no longer with us. I knew something had happened to her immediately. Reporter so, looked like this guy corona might be on the hook for murder. But beyond the blood . Well, evidence didnt exactly jump out at them. But who else . Had sabine made an enemy . When detectives started looking at her life, they had to cast a wide net for people she associated with. After all, sabine was like a magnet. Everybody wanted to go to her lavish parties. There was a waiting list to get on her party list. Exactly, exactly. Reporter she could even get a little racy for sleepy little Anna Maria Island. One of the more unusual things, she hired some people that she knew from germany who came here to do nude body painting. And that, that blew up. That nude body painting on anna marie island . You cant do that here. Reporter but sabine did what it can be a tough business running and promoting a little old motel. Debts are fat, margins thin. And with the economy began to tank in 2008, what once was sunny and light was gray with worry. Sabine and tom were in trouble. Neighbor Barbara Hines the Real Estate Market had folded. I know from sabine, not from tom, that they were highly, highly, highly leveraged. Please call me for your reservation. Reporter and while sabine used her marketing skills to try to keep the motel afloat, she and tom couldnt do the same for their marriage. After more than a decade as husband and wife, they were that in name only. But what they did not do was divorce or divide up the business. They were always still good friends, very good friends. I mean they worked well together. Reporter romance part, the the romance part kind of maybe romance changed. Reporter it certainly did. As the detectives couldnt help but discover, tom and sabine had taken up with other people, both of them. He with a woman hed known quite a while. She with a local artist who once worked at the motel as a handyman. And then there was the matter of the Life Insurance. How much did he take out on sabines life, the cops asked. 100,000 said tom. Despite what was apparently an amicable breakup, people on Anna Maria Island couldnt help but wonder about tom. More than a few, said sabines friend caryn hodge. A lot of people whispering and suspecting him in a way just because they didnt know. Reporter photographer jack elka did promotional stills for the motel and became good friends with tom and sabine. There was no evidence found. There was no nothing. So everything was speculative. Its a who did it. This is a murder mystery of epic proportions. Reporter so it was. Then 12 days after sabine vanished from the face of the earth somebody set fire to haleys motel. Im sure my mouth was hanging open just going can this get any more bizarre . Reporter what was this all about . We just didnt know. Reporter dead or alive, where was sabine . Coming up sabines husband, that 100,000 policy wasnt the whole story. It came up later it was 300,000. Money, a motive or just maybe jealousy . Softens your carpet with every use. Its resolve, so you know it cleans and freshens. But it also softens. Resolve. A carpet that welcomes you. And to clean pet messes, try resolve pet expert. Hello my love the flame is out. Ugh. Today the flame is out, tomorrow my attitude. Your mother. Antonio. Antonio. Que . The stove. Its not working. Campbells microwaveable soups. The torching of to be as intractable a mystery as the disappearance of sabine. What they did know was it was no accident. This was arson. And it started in a building beside the main hotel structure, a building that once served as tom and sabines living quarters. Nobody was hurt, happily. But there were questions. Was it personal . An attempt to destroy evidence or what . Around town some people wondered if tom had something to do with it. Others dismissed that as just plain nonsense. Photographer jack elka covered the fire for the islander newspaper. Thats when the mystery really started to, wow, another element of this puzzle that reporter yeah. Why would somebody do that . Kind of bizarre. Reporter surely, it had to have something to do with whatever happened to sabine. Why would that place burn down . Somebody was trying to destroy some evidence or something . It was a theory. We werent sure if something happened there and then she was we just didnt know. Reporter months went by without a decent lead. Though it was not for lack of trying to find one. Especially where their instincts were telling them sabine might be buried. The beach. A break, we into to th