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Lack of answers in child's disappearance has neighbors fearful

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Where is 5-year-old Taylor Williams?

It's the question the community desperately wants to know.

The lack of answers in the girl's disappearance has neighbors, like includin Mary Richardson, who has of seven children,  fearful.

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"It makes me feel very frightened because I don't know if the child is safe. I don't know if the child is not safe. I don't know if somebody came in the house," Richardson said.

The girl's mother, Brianna Williams, told investigators she vanished from the home on Ivy Street in the middle of the night.

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said it doesn't believe the girl wandered from the home alone.

Until the community knows more, Jeane Singleton said she's reminding her kids to be cautious.

"I've been talking to my kids every day, telling them not to open the door if I'm not home," Singleton said. "You just don't feel safe now."

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Police said Brianna Williams is no longer cooperating in the investigation after they pointed out inconsistencies in her story.

Action News Jax law and Safety Expert Dale Carson said that could mean one of two things.

"It could mean that she's frightened of them, which is certainly understandable. Or she's hiding something," Carson said.

At a press conference Thursday, JSO Sheriff Mike Williams said, if there was solid evidence the mother had been involved in Taylor's disappearance, she would have been arrested.

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Several red biohazard bags were collected from the Southside apartment complex where the girl and her mother used to live.

Carson said investigators will likely expedite the analysis of the evidence.

"They need an answer now," Carson said. "If mom is telling us a story that doesn't fit the evidence she'll be charged."

The Sheriff's Office has not called the mother a person of interest, but the agency said that is not off the table.