Mother Of Missing Florida Girl Considered Person Of Interest

JACKSONVILLE, FL. — The mother of a missing 5-year-old Florida girl is now being treated as a person of interest in the case, according to Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams who said the search for the child has expanded into Alabama.

"As of today, Taylor's mother, Brianna Williams, remains uncooperative with this investigation," the sheriff told reporters on Monday. "She has not spoken to us since Wednesday and she was the last person to see Taylor. She is a person of interest in this case and we still need her cooperation in our efforts."

The search for Taylor Rose Williams began last Wednesday and quickly evolved into a Florida statewide amber alert. Hundreds of law enforcement officers went door to door near the child's home in Jacksonville as well as at a previous address.

The sheriff said the search has expanded into Alabama in the general vicinity of Demopolis and Linden, which are both located in Marengo County. See also Search For Missing Florida Girl; Mother Not Cooperating: Sheriff

"We have deployed assets to Alabama to participate in search efforts," he said. "Primarily, we have our investigative teams from the homicide unit on the ground in Alabama and missing persons unit and additionally, we have deployed our instant management team on site in a support function to oversee the planning, operations, logistics and safety and security of the entire search operations."

The sheriff said 38 members of the Jacksonville Fire Rescue urban search and rescue team were also deployed to Alabama following a request to Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry.

"We've got a pretty large area that we're going to focus on," according to the sheriff. "The information that drove us to Alabama demanded this kind of response, and we absolutely hope to find her alive."

FBI Special Agent In Charge Rachel Rojas of the Jacksonville Field Office said dozens of FBI special agents, intelligence analysts and technical experts have assisted in the investigation.

"As our community has shown over the past few days, there's a lot of love for Taylor here — even those who have never even met her," Rojas said. "We want you to know that we will do anything we can to bring her home."

The sheriff declined to comment on any evidence in the case and continued to appeal to the public for anyone to come forward who may have seen Brianna and Taylor Williams together in recent weeks.

"We're asking anyone who has seen Taylor and Brianna together but this time between Jacksonville and Alabama in the last two weeks," the sheriff explained.

He said Brianna Williams is staying on a Navy base where she works.

"She is not under any kind of Naval confinement or anything like that," he said. "She works on base. She can stay on base so that's where she's at."

He said investigators believe Brianna Williams was traveling in her black 2017 Honda Accord with tinted windows and black tire rims.

The sheriff previously said the child's mother stopped cooperating when investigators questioned her about inconsistencies in her account.

Police were initially called to the child's home in the 600 block of Ivy Street on Wednesday morning at 7:22 a.m. after Brianna Williams said she noticed that her back door was unlocked.

"When she checked her daughter’s bedroom looking for little Taylor, Taylor was actually gone," Chief of Investigations Thomas Waters with the sheriff's office said of the mother's account. "She told investigators that the child had been been last seen around midnight."

The child's father lives in another state but the entire family has been described as cooperative with the exception of Brianna Williams.

The child is described as black, 3 feet tall, 50 pounds with brown eyes and black hair. She was wearing a purple shirt and pink pajama pants when she went to bed, according to her mother's account.

To report a tip, call the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office at 904-630-0500 or dial 9-1-1.