GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Alachua County sheriff's deputies and volunteers in Gainesville are now actively searching for a mother of four who hasn't been seen for more than three weeks.
Keyanta Williams, 39, was last seen by her family on Feb. 9. Her relatives said she left to get gas in her car and was planning to come back to pick up one of her children from school, but she never showed up. On Feb. 11, Williams' boyfriend, 41-year-old Kelvin Bryant, was arrested and charged with grand theft auto after he was found driving her car on a suspended license in Putnam County, more than an hour away.
Williams' mother said Tuesday that she is working to get custody of Williams' children. She said the family is very upset and hopes to get a break in the case soon.
The Alachua County Sheriff's Office is spearheading the search for Williams. Deputies said they are trying to build a timeline between the day family members reported Williams missing to the time Bryant (pictured) was arrested. That investigation has led them through four counties.
"We're almost searching for a needle in a haystack at this point," Sheriff's Office spokesman Art Forgey said. "There's one person that could end this search that knows, but unfortunately he has asked for a lawyer and refused to cooperate, so the best we can do is search."
Deputies said between the time Williams was reported missing and Bryant was arrested, Williams' phone pinged off cellphone towers in four counties -- Volusia, Flagler, Alachua and Putnam. Her phone was not GPS compatible, which means deputies can't get the direct path her car took, making the search more difficult. Texas Equusearch, a search and rescue organization, joined in to help.
"They are here at the family's request and that's more boots on the ground, and can assist us, and we welcome the help," Forgey said.
But what could help advance this case even further is what officers found inside Williams' car.
"There was blood, a lot of fiber evidence, evidence on him. It's now a matching game. Is that her blood or is it from something else?" Forgey said. "Obviously, we have a very strong circumstantial case that something bad has happened to her. Until we have the forensics back and the State Attorney has been given the case, we don't have a body to go with that, we just have a circumstantial case."
Deputies said Bryant and Williams had been fighting the day she disappeared. They're asking anyone with information to call the Alachua County Sheriff's Office at 352-955-1818.