Two decades ago two young men disappeared in Naples under mysterious circumstances. Terrance Williams and Felipe Santos were both last seen with the same Collier County Sheriff’s deputy, Steven Calkins.
They were both men of color in their 20s. And they were both last seen in Deputy Calkins’ patrol car. Deputy Calkins was fired after his story changed when questioned. He denied wrongdoing. He’s the only person of interest in the cases, but law enforcement never found evidence against him.
This week, on Friday, Jan. 12, it will be 20 years since Terrance went missing.
This story is told in the podcast series, The Last Ride, which aired here and can be found wherever you find podcasts. It’s a deep look — eight episodes — at the disappearances.
The team whose reporting was featured in The Last Ride included Janine Zeitlin — who at the time was a journalist for USA Today Network Florida; Amanda Inscore Whittamore, who is a photojournalist with The News-Press; Melanie Payne, who is a manager for investigations at a Tampa TV station; and Ryan Mills, who is now a reporter at National Review.
Janine has since left USA Today Network Florida and has joined us at WGCU as senior producer & writer of our new documentary unit. So as the 20th anniversary of Terrance’s disappearance approaches, Janine sits down with Terrance’s mother, Marcia Williams, to reflect on her son’s disappearance and what has unfolded since.
If you’re interested in taking a look at the public records about this case the Collier County Sheriff’s Office has them on their website — or you can find direct links to them here.
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