Missing Person Photos

A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2 to 5 percent of missing children in Europe. By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends. A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.



Missing Person Photos

Resources for Missing Persons

According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day. Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends. Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.

Missing Person Photos

Olisa Susan Williams
missing person case update January 2023 found new details posted
missing person case update January 2023 found new details posted
missing person case update January 2023 found new details posted
missing person case update January 2023 found new details posted
missing person case update January 2023 found new details posted
Olisa, date, approximate 1982; Age-progression at age 29 (date, approximate 2010); Isiah Williams, date, approximate 1982; Isiah, date, approximate 2015
Date Missing 06/01/1982
Missing From
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
Black
Date of Birth 08/10/1981 (41)
Age 10 months old
Height and Weight 2'0, 35 pounds
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics African-American female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Olisa has a scar on her chin.
Details of Disappearance Olisa was last seen in 1982. She had been living with her mother, Denise Williams, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Denise told her attorney that that her ex-husband, Isiah Verna "Bobo" Williams, entered her residence in May 1982, knocked her down and took Olisa.
Isiah is Olisa's father, although not her biological one; the baby was conceived while he was in prison, and Isiah and Denise resumed their relationship after his release. Denise notified the police about her daughter's abduction, but they did nothing at the time because they thought of it as a custody dispute.
Photos of Isiah are posted with this summary; he was 36 years old at the time of his daughter's disappearance. He is known to have taken Olisa to Ann Arbor, Michigan after abducting her from her mother's care.
Isiah took Olisa too a family reunion in Inkster, Michigan on July 4. According to Isiah's brother, Olisa appeared to be in good health at the time. Isiah took her to his other ex-wife's home a few days later, and she said the baby was fine. On July 9, Isiah was served with a summons ordering him to produce Olisa in court and explain his violation of a restraining order. The very next day, according to Isiah's ex-wife, Olisa was gone.
Isiah appeared in court in February 1983, without his daughter, and said he would reveal what happened to Olisa if the judge dismissed the restraining order violation. The judge refused, and threatened to jail him. Isiah then told the court court he last saw Olisa sometime in June 1982 (which conflicts with his brother and and ex-wife's statements; they say he was with her in July).
He said he had been smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol while driving with Olisa in the vehicle. He parked at Island Park, a 35-acre space in the middle of the Huron River, and fell asleep. When he woke up, he said, the car door was open and Olisa was gone. He did not report her abduction at this time because, he said, he believed Denise or one of her family members had taken the child.
After Olisa's disappearance, Isiah allegedly called Denise several times and gave her different stories as to the baby's fate. He claimed that he had lost Olisa, that he had killed her, that she had died at a hospital, and that she was "across the water." Ann Arbor police searched the Huron River for Olisa, but turned up no evidence.
In October 2021, nearly forty years after Olisa's disappearance, Isiah was arrested and charged with one count of open murder in her . He is awaiting trial. Little information has been released about the against him.
Many agencies give the date of Olisa's disappearance as February 8, 1983 or July 8, 1982.
Investigating Agency
Ann Arbor Police Department
313-994-2850
Other
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
The Ann Arbor News
NamUs
FOX 23

Missing Person Photos

A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2 to 5 percent of missing children in Europe. By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends. A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.



Missing Person Photos

Resources for Missing Persons

According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day. Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends. Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.

Missing Person Photos