Tyarra Williams, 19, Went Missing In 2016. Can You Help Find Her?

May 07, 2017
By: Mike McPadden

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Photo by: Tyarra Cacique Williams [Greensboro Police Dept]

Tyarra Cacique Williams [Greensboro Police Dept]

GREENSBORO, NC — On the evening of January 7, 2016, 19-year-old Tyarra Cacique Williams stepped out of her family home to drop by a friend’s place — another unit also in the Stoneybrook Apartments complex. Tyarra said she’d be gone for about an hour. Instead, she has not been seen nor heard from since.

Standing five foot five and weighing 120 pounds, Tyarra left the apartment dressed in dark blue Levis, a black jacket, a pink shirt, white Jordan sneakers, and a royal blue knit cap. She was last spotted walking in the Stoneybrook Apartments parking lot at around 8:30 P.M., accompanied by her boyfriend and her younger brother.

Using GPS to track Tyarra’s cell phone, police say that she did walk to the friend’s residence and then left to return home. Alas, she never made it. The signal, at the point, just stopped, as Tyarra’s phone seemed to very suddenly shut down.

At the time she vanished, Tyarra was scheduled to start classes at Guilford Technical Community College the next week. In fact, she had been at the school that very day, signing up for classes in early childhood development.

That evening, Tyarra and her mom, Danielle Williams, put away the last of the family’s Christmas decorations and made plans to go shopping the next morning for textbooks and a laptop. Tyarra’s adult life was just beginning when everything came to a sudden halt.

From later that Thursday evening onward, Danielle repeatedly attempted to contact her daughter, all to no avail. After filing a Missing Persons report, told the press:

“[Tyarra] has never, ever, ever been away 24 hours without us knowing where she is or hearing from her…. She was ready to get back into school and move forward. This was a big event in her life that she was looking forward to.”

After conducting interviews and making an initial investigation, Greensboro PD detectives “determined suspicious circumstances now exist and that foul play may be involved.” That status, sadly, has not changed.

Once word got out that Tyarra was lost, local community members united with law enforcement to launch a massive search. Their methods included 18 billboards throughout the Greensboro area, heavy flyer distribution, and tracking dogs.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children added Tyarra to their database, and the online hashtag #findtyarra has reached over one million views. Still, not a single significant clue has turned up — yet.

Danielle Williams, in the meantime, holds out hope that Tyarra is still alive, even as each day grows more unbearable to be apart from her. Danielle has also pleaded for help from the public, stating:

“Time does not make this easier, it makes me miss her even more. My heart aches the same today as it did 12 months ago. I can only imagine what she may be going through. … “I just want to plead to whoever knows anything to dig deep within their heart and speak up, even if they want to remain anonymous. Let’s end this nightmare and bring her home.”

Susan Danielsen, a spokeswoman of the Greensboro Police Department, reiterates that Tyarra’s case is open and active, declaring:

“We have not given up on finding her. Somebody knows something, so we encourage anyone with the smallest amount of information to give us a call.”

Anyone with information is asked to call Greensboro Crime Stoppers or text the tip to 274637 using the keyword: “badboyz.” All calls to Crime Stoppers are completely anonymous and may result in a reward up to $2,000.

For more on Tyarra Cacique Williams, watch the “The Vanishing Hour” episode of Investigation Discovery’s Disappeared on ID GO now!

If you are in search of a missing person, make sure to enter their information into the database of the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.

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