RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. (WFLA) – A Florida father is pleading for answers after his young daughter disappeared from a bus stop last Thursday.
According to WPBF, Willis Williams, the father of 11-year-old Jaliyah Williams became worried after she never returned home from school.
“I’ll search to the ends of the earth for her. I don’t care where it is. I’ll go anywhere for her. I just want my daughter. That’s it,” Williams told the outlet.
Williams said he believes an estranged relative took Jaliyah from the bus stop and possibly drove across state lines.
Palm Beach Schools Police Department confirmed to WPBF that the case appears to be a custody issue and police are searching outside the county.
Williams told the local station that he dropped Jaliyah off at her bus stop around 8:40 a.m. and since other kids were standing there, he felt safe leaving her to wait for the bus.
It wasn’t until he went to pick her up later in the day that something wasn’t right. Williams returned to the bus stop located at Lakeshore Drive and East 27th Street in Riviera Beach around 4:30 p.m. As he watched kids file off the bus, he noticed one was missing – his daughter.
“The crazy part is, I had this conversation with my daughter prior to me dropping her off,” Williams told WPBF. “I said, ‘Jaliyah, don’t be no fool for nobody. Don’t trust anybody.’ It was in my heart to say this to her; this was the morning that I dropped her off.”
The father said he decided to call the school to see if there was a late bus but was told that Jaliyah wasn’t on campus.
WPBF reported that Williams received word that an estranged relative drove to Florida from Georgia to take his daughter. He said he believes that’s where Jaliyah is now.
Jaliyah is described as 5 feet, 2 inches tall, and weighs 125 pounds. She has brown eyes and long brown hair worn in braids. According to police, she was last seen wearing khaki shorts, a turquoise polo shirt with a black arrow 87 on it, and pink, grey, and white Nike shoes. She was also carrying a pink Nike backpack.
Anyone with any information about Jaliyah is asked to call Palm Beach County Schools Police Department at 561-434-8700 or CrimeStoppers at 800-458-TIPS.