DEMOPOLIS, Ala. – The mother of Taylor Rose Williams, the 5-year-old Florida girl missing for nearly a week, was arrested Tuesday in connection to her daughter's disappearance after the child's remains were found in Alabama
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office announced Brianna Williams was arrested on charges of child neglect and making false statements during the investigation.
Williams is in serious condition after she was transported to a hospital after an apparent overdose Tuesday.
Search teams uncovered human remains in a wooded area in Alabama on Tuesday during the search for Taylor Williams. The remains were later confirmed to be those of the girl.
Taylor Rose Williams was reported missing from Jacksonville on Nov. 6.
Since then, Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams has said that Taylor's mother, Brianna Williams, has stopped cooperating with the investigation and is now considered a person of interest in her daughter's disappearance. Two sources told WJXT that a cadaver dog alerted on the trunk of the mother's car, a black 2017 Honda Accord, which was towed from her Brentwood home last week.
Sheriff Williams asked anyone who saw Taylor and her mother together between Jacksonville and Alabama in the last two weeks to call the Sheriff's Office with that information. Williams said Brianna Williams was believed to have been driving her Honda Accord which has tinted windows and black rims.
Brianna Williams was still reporting for duty as of Tuesday morning, according to Navy officials. Her Navy bio shows she works at the Tactical Operations Center.
"We need her cooperation," Williams said in a news conference announcing the deployment of the Urban Search and Rescue Team to Marengo County, Alabama.
Dozens of Jacksonville firefighters and investigators traveled to Alabama to search for Taylor on Monday.
"We absolutely hope to find her alive," Williams said.
Search teams, with the assistance of K-9s and some high-tech tools, plan to search a 25-mile radius around Demopolis, where Brianna Williams has friends, and her hometown of Linden.
WJXT was told the search Tuesday morning was concentrated on a heavily wooded area close to Highway 28 and Marengo County Road 19, near railroad tracks.
Jacksonville Sheriff's Office homicide and missing persons detectives, and 38 members of Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department's Search and Rescue Team traveled to the area.
A command post was set up Monday night at the Demopolis Sport Complex in Alabama, where crews arrived throughout the evening. A few Emergency Preparedness Units and a tanker truck could also be seen.
Police said Brianna Williams' family and that of Taylor's biological father are cooperating in their investigation. Family members told News4Jax that police are searching where Taylor's mother's phone pinged. Police would not confirm that information Monday.
The Sheriff's Office believes Brianna Williams drove her black 2017 Honda Accord to Alabama within the last two weeks and asked anyone who saw her with Taylor recently to call investigators at 904-630-0500. There's a $4,000 Crime Stoppers reward offered for information that leads to Taylor. To be eligible, call 866-845-TIPS.
"The information that drove us to Alabama demanded this response," Williams said.
FBI Jacksonville Special Agent in Charge Rachel Rojas said they are offering any and all assistance, both locally and in Alabama.
"We’ve called upon several of our skilled teams, including the FBI child abduction response team, the cellular analysis survey team, the evidence response team and many others with legal and technical expertise," Rojas said. "There is a lot of love for Taylor here -- even those who have never even met her," Rojas said. "We want you to know we will do anything we can to bring her home."