How phone carriers and the FCC are dragging their feet on technology upgrades to pinpoint the location of 911 calls - seven years after a mother-of-two was kidnapped and murdered after cops couldn't trace her call 

• Less than half of 911 calls from cell include exact location of phone used
• More the 70 per cent 911 calls in US now made from mobile phones
• Denise Amber Lee was murdered in 2008 after police failed to trace call
• Her family say FCC could save lives if improve location requirements

By Sam Matthew for MailOnline

Published: 08:02 EST, 24 February 2015 | Updated: 09:18 EST, 24 February 2015

Emergency operators are still largely in the dark when it comes to pinpointing the location of 911 calls seven years after a police failed to trace a call from a kidnapped mother-of-two before she was murder.

Denise Amber Lee, 21, was sexually assaulted before being shot dead and dumped in a shallow grave by killer Michael King, despite managing to make a desperate 911 calls.

Officer's were unable to trace the 21-year-old's mobile phone signal and seven years on less than half of all 911 calls include the GPS coordinates of the phone used, according to 10 News.

Kidnapped mother-of-two Denise Amber Lee, 21, was murdered after police failed to trace her desperate 911 call

The mother-of-two, pictured with her children, was murdered by Michael King who is currently on death row

This is despite the likes of Facebook and a large number of other apps being able to pinpoint the exact location of their user.

Two decades ago the Federal Communications Commission required phone carriers to locate 95 per cent of mobile calls, but only those made outside.

When the calls are made from inside a building or car, the phone's GPS tracking is often disrupted, as was the case for Mrs Lee.

'It's unbelievable how many lives could be saved every year if the FCC would improve the cell location requirements from the cell providers,' said Mrs Lee's widower, Nathan, in 2013.

More than 70 per cent of all emergency calls are made from a mobile phone, but unlike landlines do not alert dispatchers to the callers' location.

'We get location information from cell phones on just a little less than 50% of our calls,' Jerry Wheeler, Sarasota County's Public Safety Communications manager, told 10 News.

If the signal is weak the dispatcher only receives the location of the mobile phone tower and that can be miles away from the actual phone.

The FCC updated their rules earlier this year, but scrapped initial proposals to have a 30 second limit to locate mobile phone calls to 911.

Instead, within the next two years mobile phone providers will need to provide location data on 40 per cent of calls and increases to 70 per cent in five years.

By six years they will need to be able to tell dispatchers coordinates within 50 metres of the call in 80 per cent of cases, the FCC said according to 10 News.

'It's unbelievable how many lives could be saved every year if the FCC would improve the cell location requirements from the cell providers,' said Mrs Lee's widower, Nathan, in 2013

Discovery: Denise Amber Lee's body was found in a shallow grave on January 19, 2008 after a widespread search

Technology experts say that the main issue for mobile phone companies and their lawyers is the issue of privacy.

Mrs Lee was abducted from her Florida home by Michael King in January 2008 and managed to make a six minute 911 call while trapped in her green Camero.

During the call she said: 'I'm sorry. I just want to go. I just want to see my family. I just want to see my family again please. Oh please. I just want to see my family again.'

An eyewitness also told police exact cross streets of where the crime was unfolding, but because of inefficiencies in the 911 system, the calls weren't dispatched.

The mother-of-two was later killed and dumped in a shallow grave where she was found two days later.

Michael King was later convicted of Lee's murder, and is now on death row.