It was in December 2000 when the entire world turned upside down for the Williams family as 31-year-old Jerry Michael “Mike” Williams went missing without a trace left behind. He was actually presumed to have drowned in Lake Seminole while on a duck hunting trip, as chronicled in NBC’s ‘Dateline: Secrets of Lake Seminole,’ but his mother never believed it. According to Cheryl Williams, her experienced outdoorsman son could have never mistakenly fallen overboard and then failed to recover, and she turned out to be right – he was killed.
Cheryl Williams Persisted to Have Her Son’s Case Investigated
Mike Williams was born on October 16, 1969, in Tallahassee, Florida, to daycare provider Cheryl Williams and Greyhound bus driver Jerry Williams as the youngest of their two sons. Therefore, considering the fact that they were raised in a middle-class household in Bradfordville, they learned the significance of care, determination, love, as well as hard work at an early age. In fact, this is what led them to have big dreams for themselves, all the while pursuing their passions – for Mike, the latter always comprised outdoor activities, especially duck hunting.
Mike was merely 15 years old when he first picked up waterfowl trapping as a hobby, only for him to continue with it as the years passed by because it brought him true joy and solace. That’s why, when he went missing after a trip to Lake Seminole on December 16, 2000, his mother vehemently asserted there was no way he could have had an accident or drowned. The initial belief was that the 31-year-old had sunk to the bottom owing to his heavy gear, following which alligators likely consumed his remains, yet there was no evidence to corroborate the same.
Thus, suspecting something possibly much more sinister, Cheryl hired a private search team to look for her son before beginning lobbying for investigators to look further into the matter. All her efforts sadly fell on deaf ears for a while, though, with some even calling her “eccentric.” Mike’s wife, Denise, even cut ties under the claim that she was confusing their daughter. Nevertheless, she continued posting flyers, putting up signs, running expensive newspaper ads, and privately documenting her every observation until she finally caught the attention of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). They opened their case in 2004, determining possible foul play.
Cheryl Williams Fought Hard to Get Her Son Justice For Years
Although Cheryl succeeded in having the authorities take Mike’s case seriously, she knew there was a long battle still ahead of them, and hence continued investigating on her own too. She had her own suspicions, which she made clear to detectives in extensive letters before going as far as to write one letter a day to Governor Rick Scott, asking him for further resources. The FDLE’s inquiries were seemingly leading nowhere, so from New Year’s Day 2012, she wrote to the Governor every single day in the hopes he would appoint another agency or a special prosecutor to look deeper. As per reports, she wrote to him thousands of times, but most of her letters had been forwarded to the FDLE headquarters unopened. This enraged her to no extent, but ultimately, the FDLE did bring matters to a close.
It was on October 18, 2017, when Mike’s remains were recovered from the dead-end Gardner Road, near another lake in Leon County, roughly five miles from where he had grown up. He was positively identified with the help of his mother’s DNA, and mere months later, on May 8, 2018, his widow, Denise Williams, was arrested in connection with his murder. When she stood trial for the charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and accessory after the fact in December, her former mother-in-law didn’t hesitate to testify against her.
Then, after Denise was found guilty, Cheryl also gave a victim impact statement, telling the court that she knew her son hadn’t drowned the moment she visited Lake Seminole after hearing he had gone missing. She said she heard “a voice comes in my head. Mike is not in Lake Seminole. He did not drown.” But alas, she added, it took over 18 years for the truth to come to light and for justice to be served. “I am a fighter, not a victim,” Cheryl asserted during the sentencing hearing. “If I had not done what I did for 17 years, Mike’s disappearance never would have been solved. There is no manual to tell a mother what to do when her child goes missing. I just did what God put on my heart to do.”
Cheryl Williams Continues to Keep the Memories of Her Son Alive
The revelation about how Mike was killed shattered Cheryl owing to the sheer brutality of it, and the fact that she had to hear it in court directly from the mouth of the assailant didn’t help either. It was Mike’s childhood best friend, Brian Winchester, who testified that he murdered him after starting an affair with Denise because she did not want to go through the process of a divorce. According to records, he and Denise had planned to remove Mike from the picture together by having him throw his friend overboard on the fateful day before deeming it an accident. However, because the father of one fought for his survival even upon falling into the water, Brian testified that he had fatally shot him.
Therefore, of course, the fact that Brian was never charged with Mike’s murder and that Denise’s murder conviction was overturned in 2020, while her conspiracy conviction was upheld, did not sit well with Cheryl. She has since made this much evident, yet now, she mostly prefers to keep her son’s memories alive by holding him dear to her heart as well as sharing his story whenever and however she can. She is also glad that she was able to help him truly rest in peace by giving him not only the justice he deserved but also a final, proper resting place for his body. As for her current standing, from what we can tell, she continues to reside in Florida, where she remains close to her remaining son Nick, his wife, as well as their daughter. Unfortunately, Cheryl has not been in contact with Mike’s daughter, Anslee, since she was a toddler being raised by Denise. She still admittedly loves and cares for her, but they are simply not in touch.
Read More: Jerry “Mike” Williams Murder Details and Investigation Timeline