THE UNSOLVED: Winter Garden pilot still missing

It’s been more than a decade since Winter Garden resident Michael Louis Sills went missing. 

Sills, who would be 63 years old this year, was reported as a missing and endangered adult by his roommate/ex-girlfriend, Lynda Pealer, Sept. 11, 2012, after he had expressed suicidal thoughts.

Pealer said Sills, a licensed pilot who owned a private aircraft, threatened to kill himself in his plane or to crash his plane into her residence, because he was upset about their relationship split. Pealer said Sills sent her several text messages indicating he might be attempting to commit suicide. The first read, “in plane.” The second: “Calling police is too late.” 

Although Sills’ vehicle was located in the aircraft hanger Sept. 12, 2012, at Orlando-Apopka Airport, with evidence of failed suicide attempts, his plane was and continues to still be missing.

No one has seen or heard from Sills since. 

WHAT HAPPENED TO SILLS?
Sills was born Jan. 29, 1949. He is a white male with brown/gray hair and brown eyes. He is about 6 feet, 5 inches tall, and weighs about 200 pounds.

According to police reports, the day before she reported Sills missing, Pealer called the Apopka Police Department in reference to Sills threatening to harm himself. The Apopka PD made contact with Sills at the airport but said he was fine and did not appear to be a threat to himself or anyone else. 

Pealer said Sills called her every two hours that night to try to save their relationship. Pealer said Sills mentioned possibly flying to the Florida Keys that weekend, but she was unsure if he did. She said Sills had been Baker Acted in August 2012, and he refused to admit he had mental issues because he did not want to lose his pilot’s license. She said Sills suffered from depression for many years and believed it was getting worse. Sills had lost his job and was no longer close to his sister, and his children refused to have contact with him.

Pealer said she was in a romantic relationship with Sills for about 13 years, until she suspected him of being unfaithful, which led to the break-up. However, the two still were living in the same home.

Pealer had several notes Sills wrote about three to four weeks prior stating he had nothing left to live for and he had lost everything. The notes also told her to sell his vehicle and how to get the tag in her name. Pealer said she was concerned Sills would follow through on his threats and would harm himself or her in the near future.

In the police report from the Winter Garden Police Department, Officer Gail Michaud said they obtained Sills’ cell phone number and provider and attempted to contact him. The call went directly to voicemail, so a message was left requesting Sills contact the WGPD to verify he was not injured. 

Michaud also requested dispatch contact Metro PCS to see if an officer could track Sills’ cell phone number. However, Metro PCS said it would take a judge’s order to obtain the information. Michaud then requested dispatch contact the Apopka PD to see if they could respond to the airport hangar to see if the plane or Sills was on site.

Information that later came from Metro PCS indicated the last communication from Sills’ cell phone was between noon and 1 p.m. Sept. 11, 2012. The location of the cell tower that was used to make that communication was located on Orange Blossom Trail in the Zellwood area of Orange County, just north of the airport. The closest location Metro PCS could provide for Sills’ cell phone was within a 2-mile radius of the last cell tower site. 

Michaud requested the Apopka PD check the area of the airport, specifically the hangar, for Sills or his plane. The Apopka PD responded to the hangar and did not report any suspicious findings. It also checked the entire area of the airport and reported no findings. Winter Garden Officer Thomas Resko, who assisted Michaud with the investigation, requested dispatch contact several other local police departments to check if they had any contact with Sills, which all reported negative results.

Resko also researched the Federal Aviation Administration website to check on any reported small plane crashes in Florida. His search also yielded nothing.

Another Winter Garden officer, Robert Chamberlin, entered the hangar. Sill’s white 2004 Cadillac CTS sedan was parked inside, but the plane was missing.

In the car, police found a disposable blade from a razor knife, red stained towels, a partial roll of silver duct tape, a discarded piece of duct tape on the floor of the driver seat, a set of keys, and a yellow legal pad displaying some handwriting and a red stain. The red stains appeared to be consistent with dried blood, and small smears also were found. It appears Sills might have attempted to intentionally harm himself with the razor blade. The writing on the notepad was barely legible, but Chamberlin read it to state, “Lynda, I never cheated with any of those people.” There was a section of common garden hose in the rear seat with duct tape wrapped around the end. All the windows were up, except the right-rear window, which was found lowered 2 inches, and more duct tape was located around the tip of the exhaust pipe. 

Police said the length of the hose, the condition of the windows and the manner in which the duct tape remnants were placed are consistent with a suicide method involving the inhalation of carbon monoxide from vehicle exhaust. Sills might have attempted suicide by utilizing this method, but the catalytic converter found on modern vehicles, such as this Cadillac, eliminate more than 99% of the carbon monoxide.

Barry Lee, who worked at the main office for the airport, said Sills’ plane was equipped with a 50-gallon fuel tank and could remain in the air for four to five hours. Given the average speed of the aircraft at 100 mph, Sills could have traveled up to 500 miles from the airport before requiring fuel or crashing. Additionally, most rural airfields, such as this airport, are not controlled by a tower. No flight plans are filed for local flights, and there is no active radar in the area. Essentially, Sills could be virtually invisible by avoiding all major airports with control towers and active radar. Given the range of the aircraft, and the locations of major airports, he could fly as far south as the Florida Keys or as far north as Pensacola before he would be identified by tail number. 

Lee personally knows Sills and thought he heard his voice over the airport radio frequency Sept. 11, 2012, possibly taking off around 9:30 a.m.

Given the circumstances and the potential threat created by Sills and his aircraft, Chamberlin determined it was necessary to contact the FAA, which began an investigation and notified the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 

On Sept. 13, 2012, Chamberlin received detailed information from Metro PCS about Sills’ cell phone. The data reviewed included the detailed call records and cell site information. After the last call, the phone was turned off or the battery was expended in the area of Belleview, near the Ocala National Forest. No emergency beacon activations were reported. All known financial institutions were queried for recent activity with negative results. A request was sent out through FraudNet to locate potentially unknown accounts, but none was discovered. All other known accounts were closed and inactive for several years.

CASE GOES COLD
Pealer provided names and contact numbers for Sills’ ex-wife, Myna, and two adult sons, Andrew and Todd. Myna Sills and Todd Sills returned Chamberlin’s calls and indicated they had not heard from Michael Sills for quite some time. Neither knew where he might have been heading to when he left Apopka. They both said Andrew Sills had nothing to do with his father and was not likely to get involved with the investigation.

Chamberlin also spoke with Westley Calderon, who Pealer indicated Sills was frequently giving flight lessons. She accused them of being in a homosexual relationship, although she had no evidence. Calderon said he had not heard from Sills since long before his disappearance and had no specific information but gave the Florida Keys or Canada as possible destinations.

Chamberlin received a response from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Canadian Customs in regards to the search for Sills. They advised neither Sills nor his plane had entered Canada, as they would have caught it traveling in from the Unites States and made contact with him no matter where he entered. Chamberlin also enlisted the assistance of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, whose intelligence and analysis group was asked to conduct in-depth searches and database inquiries for Sills. This produced no leads on Sills’ whereabouts or destination.

On Jan. 23, 2013, Chamberlin received a call from Susan Wallis, in France, who was seeking information about her brother, Michael Sills. She had heard rumors of his disappearance and found news articles on the internet but wanted to get some confirmation from the authorities. She had no new information and did not know of her brother’s whereabouts. 

On July 15, 2013, the case was assigned to David Clarke as the cold case homicide investigator. Clarke entered Sills into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System July 3, 2014.

On July 17, 2014, Wallis advised she last spoke via Skype with Sills two to three days prior to his disappearance. Wallis advised he sounded “very depressed and hopeless.” She said she would not be surprised if her brother committed suicide. Clarke mailed four packaged sterile swabs and the required NAMUS paperwork to be completed by Wallis. On Sept. 10, 2014, the swabs and paperwork were submitted to NAMUS. Another DNA sample was needed but was unable to be provided by Wallis because of the distance and expense required to travel for the sample, she said. 

On Aug. 12, 2019, Clarke received a FlightAware alert notification that the tail number of Sills’ airplane was recorded that morning. Upon reviewing the notification, it appeared an airplane bearing the same tail number was recorded at the Bountiful Airport in Utah. The notification also advised the plane departed the airport at 9:43 a.m. and returned at 10:45 a.m. Officer Kimberly Burton, of the Bountiful Police Department, contacted Clarke and advised that although the airport did document the tail number, it was most likely an error. Burton further advised she walked the airport and spoke with several employees who indicated the plane was not there.

As of Oct. 28, 2019, there has been no additional information as to the whereabouts of Sills. All areas of notification are still active and in effect.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to contact Clarke at (407) 656-3636.