A 5-year-old girl is missing. Her mom, a Navy officer, has been named a person of interest.
Soon after her 5-year-old daughter went missing in Jacksonville, Brianna Williams stopped cooperating with law enforcement. Now, Williams has been named a person of interest in her daughter’s disappearance, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office announced Monday.
Her daughter, Taylor Rose Williams, was reported missing from her family home on the northside of Jacksonville on the morning of Wednesday, Nov. 6.
“(Brianna) has not spoken to us since Wednesday and she was the last person to see Taylor,” Sheriff Mike Williams said in a live-streamed news conference.
“We still need her cooperation in our efforts,” he said.
Brianna Williams was a decorated Navy officer seven years into her career, News4Jax reports. She also graduated as the valedictorian from her high school in Alabama.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and the FBI have expanded the search for Taylor to Alabama, Sheriff Williams said.
He announced that he is seeking tips for anyone who saw Brianna Williams and her daughter between Alabama and Jacksonville in the last two weeks.
He said Williams was likely driving her black 2017 Honda Accord, with tinted windows and black rims.
The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department has deployed 38 firefighters to Alabama to aid in the search for Taylor.
The FBI has also contributed its cellular analysis survey and child abduction teams to the investigation.
“Dozens of FBI special agents and intel analysts and technical experts have committed hundreds of hours to this investigation,” said Rachel Rojas, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Jacksonville Field Office. “Much of their work continues as we speak.”
News4Jax reports that the search in Alabama is focusing on a 30-square-mile area around the childhood home of Brianna Williams.
On social media, the hashtag #FindTaylorWilliams has been circulating to locate Taylor. She is 3 feet tall, weighs 50 pounds and has brown eyes and black hair, according to flyers distributed around her neighborhood.
“As our community has shown over the past few days, there’s a lot of love for Taylor, even those who have never even met her,” Rojas said. “And we want you to know we will do anything we can to bring her home.”
If you have information on Brianna Williams and Taylor Williams, please call 904-630-0500.
This story was originally published November 11, 2019 at 5:26 PM.