Still Missing MI - Olisa Williams, 17 months, abducted, Ann Arbor, 8 July 1982 *dad arrest in 2021*

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http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/369dfmi.html

Olisa Williams
Missing since February 8, 1983 from Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Classification: Non-Family Abduction




Vital Statistics Date Of Birth: August 10, 1981
Age at Time of Disappearance: 1 year old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 2'0; 35 pounds
<LI>Distinguishing Characteristics: Black female. Brown hair; brown eyes.

Circumstances of Disappearance
Williams was abducted by an unknown individual as her father slept on a park bench in Ann Arbor, Michigan on February 8, 1983

 
I wish there were more details available in this case. Why the heck was the father sleeping on a park bench? Hard to say what happened to her without knowing more. My first thought is that the father should be investigated as a suspect. This case reminds me of Jahi Turner, who was allegedly kidnapped from a park and is still listed as missing. Police discovered that no one saw him in the park that day-- in fact, no one saw him at all for two days prior to his disappearance-- and it's a definite probability that his stepfather harmed him and created the whole kidnapping scenario.
 
SadieJane said:
I wish there were more details available in this case. Why the heck was the father sleeping on a park bench? Hard to say what happened to her without knowing more. My first thought is that the father should be investigated as a suspect. This case reminds me of Jahi Turner, who was allegedly kidnapped from a park and is still listed as missing. Police discovered that no one saw him in the park that day-- in fact, no one saw him at all for two days prior to his disappearance-- and it's a definite probability that his stepfather harmed him and created the whole kidnapping scenario.
I totally agree with you!! Too many questions left unanswered!
 
I have heard some rather ugly rumors about this case. And I frankly don't see how the dad could have accidentally fallen asleep on a park bench. I mean, Ann Arbor in the winter is COLD. To fall asleep in that kind of cold is to freeze to death. Why bring a baby out in that weather at all?
 
Good point, Meggily. I never even considered how cold it would be. Do you have any information about what time of day this happened or what park it was? Do you know the father's name? If he did harm his daughter, he probably has a history of other violent offenses.
 
williams_olisa.jpg
williams_olisa_ap.jpg

Missing Since: February 8, 1983 from Ann Arbor, Michigan
Classification: Non-Family Abduction
Date Of Birth: August 10, 1981
Age: 1 year old
Height and Weight: 2'0, 35 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: African-American female. Brown hair, brown eyes.

Details of Disappearance

Williams's father claims she was abducted by unknown individual(s) as he slept on a park bench in Ann Arbor, Michigan on February 8, 1983. She has never been seen again. Few details are available in her case.

Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Ann Arbor Police Department

313-994-2850
 
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080208/NEWS06/80208084/1048/SPORTS

Ann Arbor police seek location of girl missing for 25 years

February 8, 2008
By BOWDEYA TWEH
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Twenty-five years ago today, Olisa Williams is believed to have been abducted by a stranger while her father slept on a park bench in Ann Arbor.
And now, the search is back on to find her...



It's nice to see she finally got some press attention, but this article does not contain any new information.
 
http://blog.mlive.com/annarbornews/2008/02/is_olisa_williams_still_alive.html

This month marks the 25th anniversary since Olisa was reported missing. Nance recently sent out a press release urging anyone who has information on the case to come forward, but even he admits it's "unsolvable" by local authorities.

Many experts say there's a chance Olisa is still alive.
But what happened to the Ann Arbor baby in 1982 remains a mystery. The police report - now buried in the basement of the Ann Arbor city hall - paints a far different picture than the numerous blogs and Web sites that feature her case...


This reminds me of the Peter Kema case.
 
oh wow. I never heard of this case. I cannot imagine any parent falling asleep in a public park with a small one year old child.
But then again, here on websleuths, we have heard it all.

I think this man killed his child.

If I am wrong, which I hope I am, I pray this little girl was raised by someone who desperatly wanted a child. I hope she was raised with love and respect.
 
http://blog.mlive.com/annarbornews/2008/02/is_olisa_williams_still_alive.html

This month marks the 25th anniversary since Olisa was reported missing. Nance recently sent out a press release urging anyone who has information on the case to come forward, but even he admits it's "unsolvable" by local authorities.

Many experts say there's a chance Olisa is still alive.
But what happened to the Ann Arbor baby in 1982 remains a mystery. The police report - now buried in the basement of the Ann Arbor city hall - paints a far different picture than the numerous blogs and Web sites that feature her case...


This reminds me of the Peter Kema case.

snipped from link:

According to the police report, Denise Williams told her attorney, Molly Reno, that Isiah Williams entered her residence in Cincinnati in May 1982, knocked her down and took their baby. The report then inexplicably notes that both Isiah and Denise Williams moved to Ann Arbor.

In court, Isiah told a judge the last time he saw Olisa was in June 1982. He admitted he had been smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol while driving around with Olisa. Isiah said he parked his car at Island Park and fell asleep. He said he woke and discovered the car door open and Olisa gone.

Isiah said in court that he didn't report the abduction to police because he thought his wife or one of her relatives had taken the child.

Reno told police Isiah had called his wife on numerous occasions with different versions of what happened. Among the stories: He lost the baby, killed the baby, she died at the hospital, and "the child was across the water."

Retired Ann Arbor Police Detective Mary Smith, who was involved in the case, said officers searched the Huron River looking for Olisa.

...snipped...

Isiah was brought before a judge for violating a restraining order and said he would only reveal what happened to Olisa if the case against him was dismissed. The judge refused and threatened to put Isiah in jail if he didn't cooperate. That's when Isiah told the story of falling asleep and waking with Olisa nowhere in sight.

...snipped...

Nance said Denise Williams called his agency in March 1985, making it one of the first cases for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. The center didn't officially start until a year later.

Denise Williams' last contact with the agency was in 1992, when a case worker called her to ask if there were any updates. Denise stopped responding to letters after that, and Nance said he hasn't been able to locate either parent since.
 
:bump: for Olisa, missing 31 years today. :( If she is still alive, next month will be her 32nd birthday.

Authorities believe Olisa was not abducted. They theorize she was either killed by her father or given to others to raise. If she is alive she may not know she is a missing child. Investigators have lost track of both of Olisa's parents. Her case remains unsolved.

williams_olisa.jpg


http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/w/williams_olisa.html
 
There is no way anyone would sleep on a park bench in Feb in MI........unlikely that you'd bring a baby to the park in that weather either. Does not ring true. I don't believe there was an abduction.
 
There is no way anyone would sleep on a park bench in Feb in MI........unlikely that you'd bring a baby to the park in that weather either. Does not ring true. I don't believe there was an abduction.

Charley has been updated. Now it appears that she went missing in "June 1982" (rather than 2/8/1983).
It also says that he was sleeping in his car and he woke up with her gone and the car door open.

So the park bench part would make more sense (though now it's sleeping in the car)
...but it looks just as suspicious on the dad's part. Actually moreso considering that the date is now more ambiguous.
 
Updated Doenetwork link:
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/369dfmi.html
Charley Project:
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/w/williams_olisa.html

It must be freezing in Feb in Michigan. I wonder if they fingerprinted the benches or playground equipment (if there was any) after she was reported missing?

It's bitterly cold up there during Feb. I spent an entire winter up there, when Hubby worked @ Ford Motor Co. We never seen the ground for four months. I cried until he brought me back to Kentucky. Not throwing off on Mich. I'm just a mountain gal, and parts of Ky are flat. :)
 
[video=youtube;88yUj13JJ3s]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88yUj13JJ3s[/video]

Video from NCMEC from December 2015 where Olisa's mother speaks out.
 
Ann Arbor mom agonizes over baby's disappearance 35 years later

http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2017/10/ann_arbor_mom_agonizes_over_ba.html

Even after 35 years, with the odds overwhelmingly stacked against her, Denise Frazier-Daniel still believes she'll find her daughter.

All she has left of Olisa Williams, last seen as an infant in 1982, are a few photos kept among documents and newspaper clippings related to the disappearance, and her belief that police are wrong - that her child is still alive.

The primary person of interest in the child's disappearance, Frazier-Daniel's ex-husband, claims a car crash left him with no memory from the timeframe of his connection with the girl.

His changing stories and claims of amnesia have thwarted authorities for decades in their ongoing efforts to find out what happened to the child, according to investigators and a far-flung array of police reports, court records and family services documents.

But Ann Arbor police also still hold out hope for justice in the child's disappearance, and are asking anyone with information to come forward.

"I still have hope that she can be found," Frazier-Daniel said, looking up from files of paperwork spread on a couch in her Ann Arbor home, listing a host of other cases in which children have been found safe after years listed as missing.

"I can't give up."
 

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