March 24, 2025 | By: Kaleb Stowell

This story is part of a collaborative project between Project: Cold Case and the University of North Florida’s Applied Journalism class.

Vann Catherine Lee, known as “Vandy” by those close to her, loved going to the beach, wearing flip-flops, and dancing in the rain with her children and stepchildren.

“She used to take us junking a lot,” said Breese Miller, one of Vann’s stepdaughters. “She also sewed me a purse I still have today.”

Those happy memories stopped when Vann didn’t return to her home in Christmas, Florida and was reported missing shortly after by her husband, Randy Lee. It was only after her remains were discovered over ten days later that her family would learn of her fate.

“I remember my dad called me about five minutes before I saw the news on TV, and even though they didn’t say her name, I remember watching and just knowing it was her,” said Breese. Immediately after hearing the news, Breese, her son, and her fiance went to go visit her father to be with him and his family in their time of grieving. Really, though, the grief hasn’t stopped.

Vann was born on Dec. 16th, 1958, in Polk County, Florida. Vann’s father died when she was still young, and not even a week later, one of her older sisters also passed away. “She had tragedy in her childhood,” Breese said. Breese said that Vann’s older sister, Sue, raised Vann after her father died, due to their mother always working. Vann was relatively short, standing at around 4’10”, with long, dark hair. “Vann loved cooking. She could basically cook anything you put in front of her,” said Breese. “I don’t remember a lot of what she made, but since we weren’t very well off it was a lot of meat and pasta, stuff that’s easy to make for a lot of people. She made really good venison.” According to Breese, Vann would often help with the cooking at family gatherings on holidays. Breese said that she believes Vann’s favorite holiday was Christmas. “She always made sure we had gifts to open and there was always a tree up,” she said. Vann’s favorite song was White Wedding by Billy Idol.

Vann had two children of her own, Austin and Laurie, and three stepchildren, Arla, Randi, and Breese. She desperately wanted to be a role model for her children and stepchildren, but she battled drug use and other difficulties.  Breese said her stepmother really wanted to be a nurse. “Everyone said that that’s what she was focusing on when all this happened,” she said. “She was trying to get her life straight again.”

“My relationship with her was more, parent-child,” said Breese. “There were a couple times during my teenage years that we did stupid stuff together, but it was just different.”

Breese has many fond memories of Vann, the most prominent being when Vann was pregnant. “Riding down Maytown Road when she was pregnant… people used to say riding down bumpy roads would help with labor,” said Breese. “We started at one end of the road and by the time we were at the other end we were on the way to the hospital because her water broke.”

On August 4th, 1992, Vann’s remains were located inside of a duffel bag on the side of a road by a construction worker in an area known as the Green Swamp, a marsh outside of Polk City. According to police quoted in news articles from the Tampa Tribune, she had been there for a week or longer. Vann was ultimately identified by x-rays of her left foot. According to Breese, Vann entered a taxi on the night of her disappearance to meet with someone she had met through work, possibly a boyfriend. Breese believes that whoever she went off to meet that night is the person responsible for her murder.

Following Vann’s disappearance, the owner of “The House of Babes,” the club where Vann worked, put a $10,000 cash reward out for anyone with any information about her disappearance. But not too long after Vann’s body was found, the owner of The House of Babes was shot dead in his front yard. The police investigated to see if there was any correlation between the two homicides, but no evidence linking the two was found.

For Breese and her family, nothing would honor Vann’s passing more than finding the person who murdered her and attaining justice for Vann.

“Last time I asked the police if I could see any records or anything, they wouldn’t let us, but we did have a meeting with them,” said Breese.“I just wish that this could be solved. That way we could all have some closure.”

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If you have any information regarding the unsolved homicide of Vann Catherine Lee, please call the Polk County Sheriff’s Office at (863) 298-6200. You can also remain anonymous and possibly be eligible for a reward by calling Heartland Crime Stoppers at (888) 400-TIPS.

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