On March 3, 2024, a year after 26-year-old Sara Ebersole’s disappearance, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office announced a person of interest in her case.
Sara was featured in Dateline’s ‘Missing in America’ series in April 2023. Dateline spoke with her sister, Michelle Tullis.
Michelle told Dateline that she last messaged her sister on the night of March 2, 2023, and Sara texted her saying she “was getting into a random truck with some cowboys” and that she “hoped they took her on a ride.”
The next day, Michelle tried to get in touch with her sister but never got a response. A few days later, Sara was reported missing.
On March 31, 2023, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office posted a release about Sara’s disappearance. According to the post, Sara was captured on security footage on March 2, 2023, at around 10:00 p.m., in the area of the Circle K gas station located at 17980 N Highway 441 in Reddick, Florida. It added that Sara willingly left the Circle K in [a] black pickup truck with two unknown males.
Michelle Tullis told Dateline that Sara and the men then drove to a residence in Reddick. Michelle said she spoke to one of the men’s roommates at the residence. The man told her that the group was all hanging out there before Sara left in a blue vehicle around 3 or 5 a.m.
In November 2023, Public Information Officer Zach Moore of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office told Dateline that Sara was dropped off at the residence that night with James Robinson, a man who lived there.
“She spent some amount of that night with Mr. Robinson, who resided in one half of the subdivided residence, as well as James Schaller and Teesha McDermitt, a couple who resided in the other half of the subdivided residence,” Moore said. He noted that this is all of the information investigators know for certain. Dateline reached out to all of the people PIO Moore mentioned as having been at the residence that night but has not yet heard back from any of them.
Officer Moore went on to say that “if the residents of that house are to be believed, [Sara] left the house in a newer model, blue sedan, possibly a Hyundai, driven by a man who was described as being a driver for “Uber,” and who was Hispanic, in his mid-30’s, approximately 5’8” tall, with a thin build, and long dark hair. If Sara didn’t leave that residence alive, it means that something happened to her while she was there and that the story of the Uber driver was fabricated to send detectives down a rabbit hole.”
He added that “detectives have confirmed Sara did not order any Uber services on the night of her disappearance but have not ruled out the possibility that she could have left with a third party.”
In December 2023, a search was conducted on the residence where Sara was last seen, although it’s unclear if anything was found.
On March 3, 2024, the first anniversary of Sara’s disappearance, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office announced that 28-year-old Tyrone Morman is considered a person of interest in her case.
According to the release, through numerous leads, it was determined that Sara left with Morman on the night she was last seen. It’s unclear what Morman’s connection is to Sara.
The release goes on to say that investigators interviewed Morman, who said that he was out of town at the time of Sara’s disappearance and never had any contact with her. Witnesses, however, contradicted Morman’s claims.
Investigators were then able to obtain a search warrant for Morman’s phone. According to the release, Morman initially claimed he “had broken” and threw out the phone. Morman eventually turned over his phone, leading to his arrest for allegedly giving law enforcement false information. Morman has since been released on bond.
“During a search of Morman’s phone, detectives located information which suggests Morman and Sara were at a 24-hour convenience store in the Northwest part of Marion County in the early morning hours of March 3, 2023,” the release states.
According to the release, Morman will not speak with detectives. Dateline reached out to Morman’s attorney but has yet to receive a response.
Following the announcement of Morman’s arrest, Dateline spoke to Sara’s sister, Michelle Tullis. She told Dateline that she believes investigators are looking at the wrong person. “I don’t think he has anything to do with her disappearance at all,” she said. “It’s a lot of speculation.”
When asked if there are any other suspects or persons of interest in Sara’s disappearance, Valerie Strong, Public Information Officer for the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, told Dateline in an email that their “detectives are following all leads and right now through evidence and witness, Tyrone was with her after midnight on March 3.”
Sara is about 5’2” tall, 116 lbs., with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing a white tank top and a black skirt and has a tattoo on her lower right hip of Kokopelli, a fertility deity.
If you have any information about Sara’s disappearance, please call Detective Ryan Stith at (352) 368-3542 or the Marion County Sheriff’s Office non-emergency number of (352) 732-9111. To remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers of Marion County at (352) 368-STOP (7867) and reference 23-71 in your tip.