Lauren Brittney Dumolo

Local law enforcement is seeking dental records related to a missing Cape Coral woman, Lauren Dumolo, after skeletal remains were discovered in a vacant lot off Pine Island Road last Tuesday.

In a joint press conference Wednesday afternoon, officials from the Cape Coral Police Department and Lee County Sheriff’s Office said that based on “limited information,” the skeletal remains found Oct. 5 belong to a small-statured white female between the ages of 30 to 50. Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno added the remains show the individual has been deceased less than five years, and longer than six months.

Concerning Dumolo, Marceno said, “at this time, we cannot confirm the skeletal remains belong to Lauren Dumolo, however, it cannot be excluded.”

Marceno said the agencies called the press conference in hope of locating any dental professionals who have performed work on Dumolo in Southwest Florida, in New York or Maryland, where Dumolo had ties.

The also plan to create a DNA profile to compare with the remains.

“Additional evidence examination will be required to make determination, which includes dental records and a DNA profile,” Marceno said. “Detectives would like to obtain dental records for examination and comparison to assist in confirming or excluding the identity of the skeletal remains.”

Dumolo was reported missing to CCPD on June 21, 2020 and was last seen on June 19 of that year. Her purse was found by a resident at Four Freedoms Park, 4818 Tarpon Court, on the 19th, a place she was known to visit often, police said. Her cell phone was found in her apartment. Dumolo, who was 29 at the time of her disappearance, stands 5-feet tall, weighs 110 pounds and has light brown hair (blonde with darker roots) and brown eyes. She has several tattoos: “Namaste” on her right side, a symbol on her wrist, a “NY” symbol on her pelvis, and rosary beads on her ankle.

CCPD officials said they have pursued Dumolo’s missing person case aggressively.

“Thousands of personnel hours have been dedicated to the case,” said CCPD Chief Anthony Sizemore. “Detectives from our agency have executed 12 search warrants in relation to this case, one as recently as a few weeks ago. Two hundred twenty-five pieces of evidence have been collected in conjunction with Lauren’s case. Approximately 100 interviews have been conducted, and over 110 individual tips have been run down.

“This lead is the biggest lead that we’ve had in the life of this case. We believe that there’s a good possibility that these skeletal remains are that of Lauren’s, but we cannot say this 100%. The dental records are pivotal in this case.”

Sizemore said Dumolo had a tooth extraction 10 years ago in Staten Island, and that CCPD has been pouring over dental offices and making contact with them in that area, as well as locally and in Maryland.

“We are pleading with anybody who worked in those offices or currently does — we’re not asking for any HIPPA information, we’re asking for confirmation of (Dumolo’s) patient status and let us do the requisite work of securing subpoenas to be able to legally get that information.”

Sizemore added that if dental records cannot be obtained, other scientific means will be utilized.

“But we must be cautious about that,” he said. “Skeletal DNA is a very painstaking process, and the time waiting can be very, very long.”

Anyone with information pertaining to Lauren or the case is asked to contact the Cape Coral Police Department at (239) 574-3223. An anonymous tip may be submitted at www.capecops.com/tips or new.tipsubmit.com/en/create-report/anonymous; through CCPD social media platforms or by calling Crimestoppers at 1-800-780-TIPS.

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