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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Distraught mother of missing Broadway dancer Zelig Williams pleads for
his return: ‘He’s all I got’
By Chelsea Bailey, CNN
Updated:
4:30 PM EDT, Wed October 16, 2024
Source: CNN
The family of a missing Broadway dancer is pleading with their South
Carolina community to share any information about his disappearance
with law enforcement as the search for the 28-year-old grows desperate.
Zelig Williams was last seen on October 3 at his home in Columbia,
according to a statement from the Richland County Sheriff’s
Department. The family filed a missing person report the following day
after he failed to contact them, the department said.
At an emotional news conference Wednesday, Williams’ cousin, Mieoki
Corbett-Jacobs, begged the public to alert authorities to anyone
matching his description.
“Our plea and our ask is to pay attention, look at his face on the
flyers, on the pictures, he might have facial hair he might not,”
Corbett-Jacobs said through tears. “We beg you to please pay
attention and bring him home.”
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said his deputies “have used every
means of manpower and technology that’s available” to try to locate
Williams. Now, he said, they’re also turning to the public.
“We feel confident there’s people out in the community who may know
something that could help us and just not realize that they have that
last key to the puzzle,” Lott said.
The Broadway performer – whose credits include “” and “MJ The
Musical” – has been missing for nearly two weeks. Without any
solid leads, the family – who are no strangers to tragedy – has
hired private investigator Chandra Cleveland to assist in their search.
Cleveland told CNN she believes Williams’ case is an example of
“missing while Black syndrome,” where the disappearances of Black
men and women receive .
“I like to tell everyone that even you can go an hour and not speak
to a person, but when you know that’s not their pattern, something
needs to be done, and you need to call law enforcement immediately and
report that,” she said. “That’s what this family did.”
‘He did not wander off,’ family says
Williams’ mother saw him leave home just before 10 a.m. on
October 3, according to an incident report from the sheriff’s
department. Minutes later, Williams’ friends in New York received a
concerning message from his iPhone, Corbett-Jacobs said.
“At 10:10, three of his friends received an SOS ping from his cell
phone, which is not a lot of time after leaving the house,”
Corbett-Jacobs said. Those friends reached out to Williams’ mother to
share their concerns.
An iPhone to contact emergency services or a list of emergency contacts
if an Emergency SOS is triggered. The device can also alert emergency
contacts if it a hard fall or car crash, according to Apple.
Williams was “spotted driving in the area of the Congaree National
Park,” the Richland County Sheriff’s Department said in its news
release. The following day, a sheriff’s deputy located the vehicle
Williams was driving more than 20 miles away from his home in a parking
lot for the Palmetto Trail, a hiking route that bisects the state.
“(The lot) where the car was parked had only been there a little over
a year, we weren’t even familiar with the space,” Corbett-Jacobs
said.
Given Williams had been in Columbia for only a few months,
Corbett-Jacobs said the family feels it’s unlikely he would have
known the location of the lot or trailhead.
Corbett-Jacobs said the car deputies located did not show signs of a
crash that could trigger the SOS message, which adds to the family’s
suspicions.
“He didn’t wander off. This is definitely a missing persons (case)
with suspected foul play,” she said.
The sheriff’s department told CNN its deputies are investigating the
potential of foul play and are “following up on all leads and all
information” in the case.
‘He’s all I got,’ his mother says
At the news conference Wednesday, Corbett-Jacobs said the family
believes at the time of his disappearance Williams had stopped taking
medication. She later told CNN the prescription is for his mental
health.
“That would put him in a situation that he would be very, very
vulnerable because he might appear to be in distress or maybe even in a
trance-like state,” she said through tears.
Corbett-Jacobs also revealed that Williams is his mother’s last
surviving child, after she lost both her daughters in a car accident in
2004. She said Zelig’s passion for dance began with his sisters.
“That’s how it all started. That’s why it’s so special when you
see him perform because he’s dancing with his sisters in his
heart.”
On Monday, family and friends paused for a moment of silence at 9:52
a.m., to mark the last time Williams was seen.
“We had a moment just of prayer, just to let him know that we are
still here, we want him home,” Corbett-Jacobs told CNN.
Williams’ family later piled into a car with Cleveland to begin
retracing Zelig’s last known movements.
“We’re getting all the camera footage that possibly had him coming
that way to confirm his directions of travel,” Cleveland told CNN.
As a private investigator, Cleveland said she specializes in cases
involving missing Black women and men. News of Williams’
disappearance gained traction after his colleagues on Broadway began
sharing his story, Cleveland said. Actor Hugh Jackman, who previously
worked with Williams, also posted a plea on Instagram for his safe
return.
Williams’ dance coach, Caroline Lewis-Jones, said Wednesday that the
dance community has been reeling since his disappearance.
“He truly is the most talented individual I’ve ever met in my
entire life,” she said. “He’s just the epitome of a friend and a
talent and a creative… We love you Zee, we see you, and we want you
home.”
Williams’ mother, Kathy, broke down crying during the news conference
and was only able to repeat a single phrase: “He’s all I got.”
CNN’s Rebecca Wright and Alli Rosenbloom contributed to this report.
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