A longtime colleague of Brianna Williams, the mother who reported her 5-year-old daughter missing Wednesday, is coming forward saying he wants to speak out about the type of person Williams is.
He told First Coast News he wants to remain anonymous.
Williams' colleague says he's worked at NAS JAX for nearly a decade, but they’ve worked together on the base for the last two years, where they're both First Class Petty Officers in the Tactical Operations Center.
“She was really a kind-hearted person, she always had a smile on her face,” he said. “That was her persona, always willing to go out of her way to help others, that’s who she was.”
He says Williams returned to work Thursday morning after police say she spent all of Wednesday at JSO headquarters.
He saw her on base, in uniform, around 9 a.m. attending to some administrative work.
“She was sad, she was really sad, like someone had cried their last tear,” he said.
He says she always spoke fondly of her daughter. He never met or saw Taylor Williams in person, but he says that wasn’t unusual at work. He recalled seeing Williams’ picture with her daughter as the screensaver on her computer.
He says he has no idea why she would have moved from the Southside to the Brentwood neighborhood and that it came as a surprise to him, but said only she would have the reason.
He says Williams is originally from Montgomery, Alabama and often spoke of work-related aspirations, but he says she seemed like a devoted mother.
Sheriff Mike Williams confirmed Thursday in a press conference that 5-year old Taylor Rose Williams was enrolled in a daycare on base for a period of time, but investigators can’t pinpoint when she was last seen, outside of what her mother has told them.
Close family friend, Neisha Sims, says her sister is the Godmother of Taylor and that they all grew up together in Alabama. She tells First Coast News that Williams was a loving mother who would do anything for her child and describes Taylor as smart, well-behaved and joyful, and often quiet.
“She was just a sweetheart, she would cling to anyone, my son was five at the time and they played together very well, she was super shy," said Sims. She would never, never get into any trouble.”
Sims says they are heartbroken over Taylor’s disappearance. She didn’t want to elaborate on the family’s feelings or knowledge of the current circumstances.
JSO says Taylor didn't walk out of her home on her own accord and she could have been missing for weeks, if not months.
They are trying to piece together a timeline, which they say is more difficult now without the mother’s cooperation so they are asking for anyone with information to call immediately.
JSO says they can’t elaborate about the condition inside of Williams’ home, but it’s clear they will continue to stake it out overnight with patrol units as the investigations and search for Taylor continues.
