Remains are found in search for missing five-year-old Florida girl

Police searching for five-year-old Taylor Rose Williams said the remains were recovered from a wooded area in Demopolis, Alabama, on Tuesday
Taylor was reported missing from her home 500 miles away in Jacksonville, Florida, on November 6
Demopolis police said the remains have been submitted for forensic testing to determine the victim's identity
Just as the discovery was announced, Taylor's mother, Brianna Williams, was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries following an apparent suicide attempt
The mother was named a person of interest in Taylor's disappearance on Monday
Law enforcement sources said officers were on their way to arrest the 27-year-old when she attempted to take her own life

Human remains have been found in the search for missing Florida five-year-old Taylor Rose Williams.

The remains were recovered from a wooded area in Demopolis, Alabama, on Tuesday, six days after Taylor went missing from her home more than 500 miles away in Jacksonville, Florida, last Wednesday.

Demopolis police said the remains have been submitted for forensic testing to determine the victim's identity.

Just as authorities announced the discovery, Taylor's mother, Naval Petty Officer 1st Class Brianna Williams, was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries following an apparent suicide attempt, law enforcement sources told First Coast News.

Brianna had been named a person of interest in Taylor's disappearance on Monday.

The sources say officers were on their way to arrest the 27-year-old when she attempted to take her own life.

SHuman remains were recovered from a wooded area in Alabama by investigators searching for missing Florida five-year-old Taylor Rose Williams (pictured)Taylor's mother, Naval Petty Officer 1st Class Brianna Williams, was named as a person of interest in the case on Monday. The mother and daughter are pictured togetherDemopolis police said the remains have been submitted for forensic testing to determine the victim's identityJacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams announced Monday that a search was being conducted more than 500 miles away in Demopolis, Alabama
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Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams announced at a Monday press conference that the mother has not spoken with detectives since the day she reported Taylor missing and is no longer cooperating with their investigation.

Brianna Williams claimed that she had put Taylor to bed the prior evening, but woke up the next morning and noticed the girl wasn't in her room and the back door of their home was wide open.

The search shifted to Demopolis on Monday, but Sheriff Williams did not disclose why.

Last Thursday, the sheriff said it may have been months since anyone besides Brianna Williams last saw Taylor.
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In a bleak development, a cadaver dog picked up on scents in the trunk of Williams' car, sources told WJXT-TV.

Although authorities haven't confirmed the accuracy of the statement, they towed Williams' car from her home in the Brentwood neighborhood on Wednesday.

'There's not one scenario of theory that we're not exploring, and every possibility is being looked at,' the sheriff said at a press conference.

Asked if he could confirm when Taylor was last seen by anyone other than her mother, the sheriff said: 'We don't know. So that is part of what we are digging into.'Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams (pictured) announced at a Monday press conference that the search had expanded as officers were deployed to Demopolis, west of MontgomeryBrianna Williams (above) reported her daughter missing on November 6. She claimed she woke up and noticed Taylor wasn't in her room and the back door to their home was wide openReports indicate that cadaver dogs were alerted to signs of decomposition in the trunk of Brianna Williams' car. The car was towed from the home by police on Wednesday (above)Law enforcement investigators are seen in the Southside Villas apartment complex off Southside Blvd in Jacksonville, Florida, on November 6Authorities had also been searching for the girl in Georgia. Taylor was reported missing in Jacksonville, Florida (searchers pictured in Jacksonville), at around 7.22am last Wednesday by her mother

At least one community member has come forward to say that she saw Taylor on June 5 at an on-base daycare that her own child also attended on Naval Air Station Jacksonville.

'The kids were in the same class all year long, so I had seen her basically every day until the last day' of day care, the mother told Action News Jacksonville.

However, it's unclear whether Taylor was ever enrolled in school for the fall, and investigators are trying to piece together her mother's movements in recent months.

 

One day after Taylor was reported missing, authorities said it may have been months since anyone besides Brianna Williams last saw the girl

On Sunday November 3, Brianna Williams moved within Jacksonville from Southside Villas to her Ivy Street home in Brentwood.

However, a woman who helped her on the move says that she did not see the little girl during the move.

'We never saw a child. We never heard a child. Nothing,' Tiffani Nicole, who was hired to help on the move, told WJXT-TV.

'I was assuming the kid was in day care, or the child was with a friend, so she can get her apartment cleaned out.'

Nicole said Brianna Williams' house was messy, and the child's mother was behaving strangely.

'It honestly looked like she had been recently evicted or something because it was not well lived-in if there was a child there,' Nicole said.

'There was old food all over the floor, underneath the couches. There was trash everywhere.'

However, one of the items that Nicole helped move was a toddler's bed, she said.

Neighbors at Brianna Williams' new home in Brentwood said that they hadn't seen the young girl since the mother moved in on Sunday. Neighbors at the new Ivy Street home, where Brianna Williams moved on Sunday, say they never saw the girl. Women are seen gathering on the street on Thursday awaiting updates

Taylor was last seen wearing a purple shirt and pink pajama bottoms.

Authorities describe her as being three-feet tall, weighing 50 pounds and having brown eyes and black hair

Detectives are also trying to speak with Taylor's biological father, Maurice Tate, who lives in Alabama.

Family members in Alabama said he hasn't seen his daughter in roughly two years, after Brianna Williams moved from that state to Jacksonville.

Sheriff Williams was quick to point out that Brianna Williams has not been arrested or charged, despite refusing to cooperate after investigators pointed out inconsistencies in her statements.

'Here's what we know: We know that Brianna Williams was the last person to see Taylor, and we need for her to cooperate with us in this investigation,' Sheriff Williams said.

'Nothing's off the table. We won't take the steps to say she's a suspect. We know her daughter is missing and she was the last person to see her. We know she didn't walk away.'

The sheriff's office also refused to comment on whether there had been any reported cases of child abuse or neglect filed against Brianna, or on the conditions inside the woman's home.

The mother had previously listed an advertisement seeking childcare on Craigslist, Sheriff Williams acknowledged.

Taylor was last seen wearing a purple shirt and pink pajama bottoms.

Authorities describe her as being three-feet tall, weighing 50 pounds and having brown eyes and black hair.

Source;Dailymail