Sebring Racer Helps in Search

Joining the search for a missing Deltona grandmother and grandson, race car driver Bobby Sak will be motoring around the 3.7-mile track at Sebring International Raceway on Friday with a photo of Joshua Bryant on the hood of his car. Competing in the Speed World Challenge Touring Race Friday afternoon, the #93 BMW will feature Joshua’s image along with toll-free numbers to report information regarding his disappearance to either the Florida Department of Law Enforcement or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Friday’s event is one of the support races leading up to Saturday’s 12-hour endurance classic, the 50th annual running of the Mobil1 12 Hours of Sebring. “Continuing publicity and exposure is what it’s going to take to solve this case,” said Volusia County Sheriff’s Inv. Steve Willis, the lead investigator in the search for Lillian Martin and her grandson, Joshua. “We appreciate the efforts of Bobby Sak and his racing team to keep Lillian and Joshua in the public eye.”

The grandmother and grandson disappeared without a trace on May 12, 2001 from the Deltona home they shared with Joshua’s older sister, her husband and the couple’s two-year-old son. Nearly a dozen Sheriff’s investigators have been chasing down hundreds of leads and suspected sightings in the case. Investigators also have called in outside assistance from the FBI, Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, but have been unable to find the two or determine whether they left voluntarily or were the victims of foul play. The investigation remains classified as a missing persons case under suspicious circumstances.

The decision to feature a missing child on a race car was the brainstorm of Sak’s father, Don Sak, and their racing team, Revolution Motorsports. Revolution Motorsports joined forces with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to feature missing children on the team’s race cars. Last year, the team featured a photo of a 7-year-old Michigan girl who was returned home safely as a result of tips called in by racing fans. The 23-year-old Bobby Sak, tuning up for Friday’s race, said he hopes to have even more success stories this year. Working through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and FDLE, Joshua’s picture was selected to appear on Sak’s car for the Sebring race. Sak also has posted information about Joshua on his web site, www.bobbysak.com, and is running the whole season with the Turner Motorsports Team. This will lend additional exposure by bringing his efforts to help locate missing children to two separate race series. “I want to bring more kids like Joshua home to their families,” Sak said. “We want to do everything we can to help.”

While Revolution Motorsports isn’t competing in Friday’s race, Sak is catching a ride with the Turner Motorsports Team in the #93 Turner Motorsport/H&R Springs BMW 325i. Friday’s race is scheduled to be broadcast next week on a tape-delayed basis on The Speed Channel. This marks the third time that the racing circuit has tapped into its enormous popularity and fan base in an effort to help the Sheriff’s Office locate Lillian and Joshua. Last year, both of their photos appeared on race cars in Chicago and Hickory, N.C.