Group to search area where missing Florida woman was last seen after sister says sheriff's office hasn't yet

MARION COUNTY, Fla. - Sara Ebersole, a woman reported missing nearly nine months ago in Marion County, was last seen at a property in Reddick.

Ebersole's sibling, Michelle Tullis, told FOX 35 News she wants investigators to thoroughly search the property in hopes of bringing her sister home.

"She went back and forth to my house from age 14 on, so to me she's more like my child than my sister," Tullis said.

Ebersole was reported missing on March 8, 2023. Her last known location is a wooded property on North US 441.

"When I first reached out and it went to voicemail, I wasn't concerned initially, until the next day when Sara still didn't respond, I knew at that point something was wrong because she would text. She would respond," Tullis said.

Since Ebersole’s disappearance, missing person signs are posted around the area where she was last seen.

RELATED: 'Losing trust': Marion County woman's disappearance remains unsolved 8 months later, deputies say

Deputies said she got into a car with a man named James Robinson at a Circle K gas station down the road from the wooded property.

Tullis took it upon herself Wednesday to find any sign of her sister.

"I was searching a little over an acre of property, combing through everything there," Tullis said.

The property was recently sold to a new owner over the summer. This owner gave Tullis the green light to search it, which is something she said the sheriff’s office has yet to do.

"I felt like if I had to reach out and identify the property owner and get permission myself, then I need to go out myself because they obviously were in no rush to do it themselves," she said.

Marion County detectives maintain they are exhausting all options. FOX 35 News requested an on-camera interview with the Marion County Sheriff's Office, but the request was declined.

"Without searching it, how will they know whether there is or isn't a body on it? They won't proceed forward with their investigation," Tullis said.

FOX 35 News confirmed that Marion County Search and Rescue, which is not affiliated with the sheriff’s office, will be heading to the property sometime next week with the cadaver dogs to search for Sara, nearly nine months later.

"For the last nine months, I took eight of those months to break into Sara’s different accounts from multiple Iclouds, to OnlyFans, to Snapchats, to Gmails, to get any information that I then immediately passed on to the detective," Tullis said.

Deputies said they are following all leads and are asking the public to come forward with any information that may help them solve their case.

Anyone with information can also report anonymous tips to Crime Stoppers.