Mom Now 'Person of Interest' in Disappearance of Girl, 5

The Florida mother who claimed that she woke up last Wednesday to find her 5-year-old daughter missing is now a person of interest in the investigation, police confirmed Monday. Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams said Brianna Williams, a 27-year-old US Navy petty officer, has not talked to investigators since last week, when she stopped cooperating after they asked about inconsistencies in her story, reports First Coast News. Police have urged anybody who saw Brianna Williams and her daughter, Taylor Rose Williams, together in recent weeks to contact them. They are especially interested in hearing from anybody who might have seen them traveling between Florida and Alabama in a black 2017 Honda Accord.

Jacksonville police have sent teams to Alabama's Marengo County, where Williams went to high school and much of her extended family still lives, to search for the girl, reports the Florida Times-Union. "There are a lot of different efforts going on... There are search efforts that are underway," the sheriff said Monday. "We still have other leads we are focusing on as well. The information that drove us to Alabama demanded this kind of response, and we absolutely hope to find her alive." The sheriff said he couldn't confirm the last time Taylor was seen alive. The FBI and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service have joined the investigation. (More missing child stories.)