ANN ARBOR, Mich. – It’s been 40 years since an Ann Arbor infant disappeared with her father, who has recently been arrested in connection with her presumed death.
Olisa Williams was 11 months old when she went missing on June 1, 1982.
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Questions surrounding disappearance
Prosecutors said Olisa’s legal father, Isiah Williams, got into an argument with the child’s mother, Denise Frazier-Daniel. He struck Frazier-Daniel and then took off with Olisa, police said.
Williams, 36, was known to have a long history of domestic violence, according to authorities.
READ: Man arrested for 1982 disappearance of baby girl in Ann Arbor
That day in 1982 was the last time Frazier-Daniel or anyone else saw Olisa, but the Ann Arbor Police Department continued to work the case. It went cold after several years, but was renewed in 2011 when the original detective died.
Williams had been a suspect in the case for decades, but he was never arrested.
Williams told a judge that the last time he saw Olisa was in June 1982. He admitted that he had been smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol while driving around with the girl, according to the Doe Network.
Williams claimed he parked his car at Island Park and fell asleep. When he woke up, he found the car door open, and Olisa was gone, he said.
According to Williams, he didn’t report the abduction to police because he thought his wife or one of her relatives had taken Olisa.
Case reopened, father arrested
In October 2021, Ann Arbor police Chief Michael Cox asked Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel to review the case. That led to Williams’ arrest, and he was charged with murder.
“Olisa has never been found and is presumed dead,” Nessel said on Oct. 14, 2021. “We believe he killed baby Olisa as an act of abuse.
“Williams has told many different stories about Olisa’s whereabouts over the years and was even held in contempt of court for his failure to provide information on her whereabouts.”
Williams was taken into custody by Chicago police and extradited back to Michigan.
Missing person’s case
Although Olisa is presumed dead, she is still officially listed in the National Center For Missing & Exploited Children’s database.
She would now be 40, but the most recent age progression photo shows an estimate of what Olisa would have looked like in 2011, at 29 years old.
Anyone with information on this case is asked to call the Ann Arbor Police Department at 734-794-6920.
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