Family of missing ‘Hamilton’ dancer expands their search area
By Rebekah Riess, CNN
(CNN) — The family of a missing Broadway dancer whose credits include “Hamilton” and “MJ The Musical” is expanding its search beyond the South Carolina hiking trailhead where authorities found his car earlier this month.
Zelig Williams, 28, was last seen on October 3 at his home in Columbia, according to a statement from the Richland County Sheriff’s Department. The family filed a missing person report the following day after he failed to contact them, the department said.
The performer’s mother, Kathy Williams, and cousin Mieoki Corbett-Jacobs told CNN’s Victor Blackwell on Saturday the search will go beyond the parking lot where the vehicle was found more than 20 miles from Williams’ home.
Searchers will look on both sides of the cross-state Palmetto Trail leading to major roads. “As a family, we’ve been searching. We’ve searched that area ourselves on foot more than once, and now we’re looking to expand our search,” said Corbett-Jacobs.
The hiking trailhead is close to Congaree National Park, which is popular with canoeists and kayakers.
Corbett-Jacobs believes Williams may have sought out a spot to go walking, as the family “loves a good walking trail.”
Kathy Williams said she believes her son is in danger.
The family has begged the public to alert authorities to anyone matching the dancer’s description.
The family’s private investigators “continue to get leads, and they follow those leads,” Corbett-Jacobs said Saturday, noting that someone had recently sent them pictures of someone who resembles Zelig Williams, but it turned out not to be him.
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said his deputies “have used every means of manpower and technology that’s available” to try to locate Williams and is seeking the public’s help.
“He didn’t wander off. This is definitely a missing persons (case) with suspected foul play,” Corbett-Jacobs said.
At a news conference Wednesday, Corbett-Jacobs said the family believes at the time of his disappearance Williams had stopped taking medication. She later told CNN the prescription is for his mental health.
Williams is his mother’s last surviving child, after she lost both her daughters in a car accident in 2004.
“He told me when he danced, he feels his sisters with him,” Kathy Williams told Blackwell. ”And he is a awesome dancer, amazing dancer, and that’s what he loved doing, so that keep(s) him going.”
When asked what she would say to Williams, his cousin said, “We’ll tell Zelig to hold on, hold on to God, hold on to your faith and find your way home. We will not stop looking for you, until we bring you home.”
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