Missing Florida girl, 5, was last seen in May and was left home alone 'at least every other day', says police warrant
Little Taylor Williams, 5, was routinely left alone and several family members had not seen her in months, according to an arrest warrant issued for her mother Brianna Williams.
Bail for the 27-year-old US Navy petty officer was set at $1 million, per the warrant, as she missed a scheduled court date due to being hospitalized in Jacksonville after an apparent overdose, the Florida Times-Union reported Wednesday.
While authorities are still conducting forensic tests to conclusively identify the remains of a girl found in a wooded area in rural Alabama, police said Tuesday they believed the remains were those of Taylor.
Williams, who reported her daughter missing last week, alleged she had last seen Taylor the previous night when she'd put her to bed. But as police searched for the little girl, she went back to work as usual and never made a public plea for her daughter's return. Furthermore, she stopped cooperating a day after filing the missing report.
Williams's apparent falsehoods to law enforcement were detailed in the warrant, with a neighbor asserting he had seen Taylor alone on several occasions. She was once spotted wandering around outside "looking for my Momma" while still in her pajamas. Later on, she would be reported missing in the same outfit.
Police contacted a former neighbor of Williams after it came to light she had recently moved from another apartment complex. That neighbor said he had “witnessed Taylor Rose alone and wandering the apartment complex on more than one occasion,” per the warrant.
The said individual was sitting outside on his balcony on April 17 this year when he saw Taylor wandering up the stairs. “Hey sweetie, what are you doing?” he asked the child, to which she responded saying she was looking for her mother.
When he took her back to her apartment, he saw the door was locked, thereby prompting him to alert authorities. According to him, he had seen her alone on several other occasions, and “at least every other day,” per the warrant.
Brianna had told police that Taylor had been with her grandparents for the past month in Alabama. However, the relatives denied this.
“Both maternal and paternal grandparents have indicated that they have not seen Taylor Rose in over a year,” the warrant said. “Williams’ mother has denied taking care of Taylor this past year, explaining that she last saw Taylor Rose in January 2019.”
Authorities also emphasized there was a huge amount of information to sift through, thereby making the investigation rather extensive.
“We are nowhere near done in this investigation," Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams told a press conference Tuesday. "And while we’ve taken some steps today, we’ve got a lot of work left to do.”