After the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office confirmed Monday that the remains found in a wooded area of Alabama are those of missing child Taylor Williams, her family is speaking out.
First Coast News talked to Brianna Williams’ uncle, Boyd Jackson, about the latest developments. He said the family is understandably heartbroken and trying to understand how this happened.
“It’s just rough right now. Ware just trying to hang on to each other and see what's next. What's next is really we are going to see what we have to do for a memorial for Taylor,” Jackson said.
“That's what's next. That’s what's most important right now, lay her to rest where she should be.”
First Coast News talked to Jackson at his home where he said he helped raise Brianna in Linden, Alabama after the remains were found. At the time, he said everyone loved Brianna growing up and she never got into any trouble. He said Brianna graduated at the top of her high school class and was homecoming queen.
Linden is a town of less than 3,000 people, and Demopolis, less than 7,000 people. Jackson said both of these close-knit towns are hurting.
“It’s not even the family, it’s the entire community," Jackson said. "There are people who heard the news and everybody is heartbroken about this because, you know, we're trying to understand why what led up to this.”
“You can't plan for anything like this, no tragedy like this ... nobody can plan for this," he says. "We just ask for prayers and the community to comfort us that's all we can ask,” he said.
Taylor Williams was reported missing on Nov. 6 by her mother, 27-year-old Brianna Williams. She told police that she was last seen at their home in the Brentwood area of Jacksonville in the 600 block of Ivy Street.
A multi-state search involving multiple agencies, including JSO, the FBI, NCIS and FDLE, was launched for Taylor Williams. The search led police near Linden and Demopolis, Alabama where they found the remains on Nov. 12.
On Monday they positively identified the remains as belonging to Taylor Williams.
"It's important to clarify that confirmation adds yet another layer to the vast scale of this investigation that's been underway since Taylor was reported missing," said JSO chief of investigations, T.K. Waters, during a news conference Monday.
Waters didn't reveal her cause of death. FDLE canceled the Amber Alert.
