After Williams disappeared, Calkins was asked to appear before a federal grand jury, but he refused to testify and later moved to Iowa. Alex Murdaugh sentenced to life in prison for murders of wife and son, Biden had cancerous skin lesion removed last month, doctor says, White supremacist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes kicked out of CPAC, Tom Sizemore, actor known for "Saving Private Ryan" and "Heat," dies at 61, Biden team readies new advisory panel ahead of expected reelection bid, At least 10 dead after winter storm slams South, Midwest, House Democrats unhappy with White House handling of D.C.'s new criminal code. A wrongful death lawsuit against a former Collier County deputy returned to court Tuesday. Investigation Discoverys Disappeared: Crime and Punishment chronicle the disappearance of two men, a 27-year-old American named Terrance Williams and a 24-year-old Mexican named Felipe Santos in January 2004 and October 2003, respectively. Witnesses told investigators they saw Calkins pat down Williams and place him in the back of his patrol car without handcuffs. The Doodler was a serial killer in the 70s who killed up to 14 people, mostly gay men. More: Tyler Perry posts about Collier disappearances of minority men last seen with ex-deputy. Police ruled it a suicide. Both men were last Calkins lawyer in Naples, John Hooley, declined to comment on the decision beyond writing in an email: Judge Brodie heard the evidence and reached a conclusion that was upheld on appeal as the proper disposition of the case., In an interview last year, Hooley said about his client: This is not a guy who took Terrance Williams on a one-way ride to the swamp. "I just want answers for Marcia and the Santos family to know what happened," says Tyler Perry, "I think that's only fair. And to this day Deputy Steve Calkins is a free man. Hoping that Terrance's Cadillac could provide a lead to his disappearance, Marcia's family tried the town's tow companies. During those calls, Williams is heard in the background, so at that time Calkins still had Williams in custody but Williams was never booked and never seen again at his home, work or by family members, the lawsuit asserts. What can I do to bring attention to this?'". Cadaver dogs were brought in to search through campus dorms. Three months earlier, the lawsuit says, Santos disappeared under materially similar facts after a minor traffic accident in which Calkins arrested him for having no insurance or registration documents. The Atlanta-based media mogul on Sunday posted a video of a CNN story about Marcia Williams. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Felipe Santos, a Mexican immigrant and Immokalee resident, disappeared at age 23 in October 2003 after his brothers saw him get into Calkins patrol car. The arrest comes one day after Rodriguez-Lopezs mom asked for justice. Calkins had picked him up after Williams' car broke down. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. He is currently living in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Denson, now 30, made the tearful declaration during Thursdays news conference, where Hollywood heavyweight Tyler Perry and the Rev. Calkins responded to a minor traffic crash in which Santos was driving. And whatever we have to do to make that happen, it's my hope that we do it. He told investigators several different stories about how he received the injury. u/mcwjdw33. A judge has set a hearing on the motions for Feb. 18 in Collier County. Calkins has said he gave the men rides to Circle-K gas stations. A Collier County sheriff's deputy prevailed in litigation filed by the family of a man who vanished 17 years ago, shortly after a roadside interaction with the deputy. I highly recommend Dave Cawleys podcast Cold about the case, even if youre familiar with the case. According to the lawsuit, Steven H. Calkins, now 66, came to Cedar Rapids years after the 2003 and 2004 cases in which two men went missing after being placed in the back of his patrol vehicle. These two young men disappeared off the face of the earth and the last man to see them was this deputy. The cases remain open investigations. 2010 The Thought & Expression Company, LLC. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. During this call, Calkins made 'racially insensitive comments about the type of person who owned a 'homie Cadillac, according to the lawsuit. Former. My mom was deeply upset and went to the cops a few times for records, trying to push the case, got blown off. Lets find out. How much should your insurance company pay, and can an adjuster stack on costs? They were all buddies. "They blew the telephones up," she recalls. The lawsuit allowed the team to collect vital and previously undiscovered information, Crump said in the statement. As to why he finally came forward, she said he was at a breaking point., When you bottle something in for so long, it bothers your mind, she said. 2018: Former CCSO deputy faces civil lawsuit in decade-old disappearances of 2 Collier men. In an audio recording of a call the officer then made to dispatch to have the car removed as a traffic hazard, the legal filing says, Calkins made numerous racial stereotype remarks about what kind of person could own the Cadillac he staged as abandoned. Williams, a civil rights investigator with an office in Naples, said he hadnt come forward before for fear of retaliation and reprisal.. Flores allegedly stated that he and Kristin went their separate ways on the night of her disappearance, each going to their own dorm rooms. Santos' wife gave birth to a daughter just four months before his disappearance. A lawsuit seeking to hold a former Collier County sheriffs deputy accountable for the 2004 disappearance of a Naples man was denied on appeal Wednesday. The civil lawsuit filed on behalf of the victims' families claims that the two men - Terrance Williams, 27, and Felipe Santos, 24 - were taken away in a squad car by Steven Calkins, a Collier. About a month ago a man was seized at Glasgow airport, they believed it was him, but no. Initially, Steve said he had no memories of the incident, but later on, he was able to recollect meeting Terrance. We reached out to Williams mother about the decision, who referred us to her attorney. An investigation led to Calkins being fired from the Collier County Sheriff's Department in the Naples, Fla. area. Terrance Williams and Felipe Santos: Missing or Found? Lawyers blamed the missed deadline in the 2018 suit on miscommunication and an extended office shutdown due to the pandemic, court records show. No body, no case. 500,000 open heart surgeries are performed in the U.S. every year, and half of those patients require a blood transfusion. Williams' family filed a wrongful death suit against Calkins in 2018. He has several tattoos: a "T . Both men were reported missing more than 15 years ago, after last being in contact with former Collier County Sheriff's Office deputy Steven Calkins. This lawsuit is going to formally say what people for the last 14 years have been informally saying, that he intentionally murdered Terrance Williams and Felipe Santos.. No one did anything, not the cops or family. He walks away a richer murderer. Those inconsistencies, combined with his decision to not cooperate in an investigation or appear before a grand jury, eventually resulted in Calkins' termination, according to authorities and the lawsuit. If you are decent, human, kind person with a soul, I dont know how you cant be upset these two people were put in the back of a sheriffs car, disappeared, and have not been seen for 14 years.. The police shooting of Nicolas Morales Besanilla in 2020 rocked the farmworker community of Immokalee, Florida, already beset by Covid. Steven Calkins gives a deposition in 2020 "Never Seen Again"/Paramount+ A court appointed arbitrator ultimately ruled against the lawsuit, citing a lack of evidence. 2, 2021 7:30 am700d ago, Trish Mehaffey Crime and Courts Mar. Marcia Williams, the mother of Terrance Williams, sued Calkins in a 2018 wrongful death action on behalf of her sons estate and four children. He said he suspected Santos was driving without a license or insurance and took him into custody. The police at the time had one suspect that they were convinced was responsible, and after he was arrested the murders stopped. Privacy Policy. His motion states his office changed filing practices during the coronavirus pandemic and the motion inadvertently wasn't filed by the deadline. Since civil lawsuits dont require proof beyond a reasonable doubt, its impossible to say whether O.J. Marcia filed a complaint against Steve and an internal investigation against him was initiated. Denson plans to give his statement to investigators next week, Williams said. Neither man has been seen or heard from since." ClutzyMe Williams has been missing since that happened. Three fellow students escorted Smart back to her hall of residence after a party. Detectives believe Steven Calkins is the last person to have seen Terrance Williams and Felipe. He did say hell study a second defense motion to dismiss. By January 2004, Steven H. Steve Calkins was a Collier County Sheriffs Office Corporal who had served the forces for 17 years. His family also lived in Cedar Rapids, records show. A decision was made that makes it nearly impossible for a family to get compensation for the death of their loved one even with the story having made national headlines and celebrities such as Tyler Perry offering money to help. Former Collier County Sheriff's Deputy Steven Calkins was the last person to see both men alive and is believed to have been potentially responsible for the men's deaths. In short order, she received a call from the local Mexican consulate. He had arrested a twenty-seven-year-old man named Terrance Williams eighteen years ago, and he had never been found after that arrest. Felipe Santos was a 23-year-old undocumented Mexican worker who disappeared in October 2003, three months before Terrance vanished. Calkins then called dispatch and said he found an 'abandoned car, the records show. The suit states Calkins moved to Iowa sometime after being fired, but it was unclear when he relocated to Cedar Rapids. Allison Christian faces a charge of aggravated animal cruelty, according to an arrest report. 3, 2023 4:34 pm, Crime and Courts Mar. Al Sharpton announced they wanted action in the case of two missing men who had last been seen with Calkins. A Collier County judge sent the lawsuit to non-binding arbitration, or a neutral party, to review the facts of the case, as allowed in Florida law. / CBS News. "He was happy to be a father, and his daughter had to grow up without one," saidJulia Perkins, of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, which advocates for the Santos family in a 2017 interview. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Calkins' Naples attorney, John Hooley, declined to comment but did point out the arbitration decision in November found there is a lack of evidence in the case. Terrance Williams and Felipe Santos went missing in 2004 and 2003, respectively, under . In that report, Calkins completely changed his story, from not remembering anything to outlining a very detailed account of his interaction with Terrance. Perry is offering a $200,000 reward in the case. It sheds a lot of light onto the Powell family and how most of them probably covered for Josh before he took his life and the lives of his children. sh4nn0n. COVID-19 has made that difficult. Steve Calkins is the former deputy in the Collier County Sheriff's Department. Crump added that 680,000 people were reported missing in America in 2014. But no new evidence cropped up that could help find either Terrance or Felipe. Corporal Calkins then apparently put Felipe in the patrol car and drove away. A Collier County judge allowed a wrongful death lawsuit against a former Collier County sheriff's deputy to move forward Thursday. Calkins didn't initially report he had contact with the car's owner, records show. For the most part, however, the former police officer said he was unable to remember his encounters with Terrance and Felipe. To the dismay of Terrances family, Steve had never filed any incident report or arrest memo, leaving no paper trail regarding his contact with Terrance. Firefighters are battling several brush fires in Charlotte County; the one off McCall Road threatens several buildings, including a church. The Calkins team argued the Williams family failed to file the wrongful death lawsuit two years after Williams disappeared as required by law. A judge entered the arbitration as final word in the case - meaning Calkins is not responsible for the disappearance - but that action is now being contested. Connect with her at jzeitlin@gannett.com or on Twitter @JanineZeitlin. The first two episodes of the series are dedicated to the Williams and Santos story, and are narrated and executive produced by filmmaker and actor Tyler Perry, who became involved in the case after seeing a TV report about it. "I remember flipping through channels one day and I came across this story and I was shocked and outraged at what I was seeing," Tyler Perry says on "Never Seen Again." He was named that because sketches of the victims would often be found near their bodies. Al Sharpton, left, and filmmaker Tyler Perry. Not only was there a game, but college students showed up for a dunk contest. No refunds for partial months. When he allegedly called Circle K, he came to know that Terrance did not work there. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. You will begin to receive our Daily Courts & Public Safety updates. Several witnesses had seen Steve at the Naples Memorial Cemetery with Terrance and saw him get into Steves patrol car. Both men were last seen in the company of now-fired CCSO deputy Steve Calkins. "They're both disappearing with the same deputy after being put in the same deputy's car," says Tyler Perry. A former Collier County Sheriff's deputy, then Corporal Steve Calkins, is believed to be the last person to see both of the men. Both men were declared dead after five years of being missing. Gardner said he learned of the case in 2018 because he happened to be in Florida on vacation at the time and heard news reports. Gabby Petitos Family Says There Is No Doubt Brian Laundrie Murdered Her, The Mystery Of Who Betrayed Anne Frank And Her Family May Have Finally Been Solved. Both men were last seen being arrested by Steve Calkins, then a deputy in the Collier County Sheriff's Department, for driving without a license. Williams was 27 at the time of his disappearance, and he had four children. The week before the murder, he had bought lime, big trash bags, shovels, a silencer, rifle bullets. Benjamin Crump, the civil rights attorney representing the family of Terrance Williams, said the legal filing was the culmination of more than a decade of investigative work with the cooperation of the Collier county sheriffs office, and would compel Calkins to explain his actions in a formal deposition. He was last seen on a surveillance footage in the Var, and was never ever heard of again. Williams and Santos disappeared within months of each other almost 15 years ago, after allegedly being picked up by the same former Collier County, Florida deputy, Steven Calkins. Santos was involved in a minor crash while on his way to work, according to sheriff's reports. Both Terrance and Felipe disappeared mysteriously, and their bodies were never found. Calkins made several inconsistent statements to investigators, according to the lawsuit and arbitration. Hooley, in his motion against new trial, said the plaintiffs had adequate time to file a motion for new trial from the time it was rendered Nov. 24, 2020, to the judge's order, 27 days later on Dec. 21. The evidence and the pleadings state that Mr. Calkins killed Mr. if he killed him at all would have killed Mr. Williams no later than February of 2004. But although he was fired and named as a person of interest, he refused to appear before a grand jury, was not charged with a crime and subsequently moved to Iowa, where the lawsuit says he currently lives. Now, the only way this case sees a courtroom is if criminal charges are filed. All rights reserved. He is also presumed dead. Marcia Williams remembers how, in the immediate aftermath of her son Terrance's disappearance, she and other family members launched an intensive search around Naples. Film-maker Tyler Perry, center, speaks during a news conference announcing a lawsuit against former Collier County sheriffs deputy Steven Calkins on Monday in Naples, Florida, in the 2004 disappearance of Terrance Williams. The sheriffs office says the incident has []. Now, a deposition given by Calkins in 2020 in a civil lawsuit brought by Marcia Williams will air publicly for the first time on "Never Seen Again," a new Paramount+ docuseries about missing persons cases. New subscribers can get one month free on Paramount+ (see details at the bottom of the page). The arbitrator, Robert E. Doyle Jr., ruled the plaintiffs' arguments lacked evidence to show Calkins' acts led to Williams' disappearance. she said in 2017. Theres two 911 calls, one of her saying he was threatening to shoot her, which got cut off. Nothing really has changed from February of 2004 to the filing of this complaint.. By Caleb McCullough and Erin Murphy, - Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau, Williams' mother, Marcia Williams, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in 2018, Subscribe to the Public Safety newsletter. recalls Marcia, "And I'm like, 'Oh my God, they found my baby, they found my baby!' 5, 2021 7:30 am698d ago, Tom Barton, Quad-City Times Business News Apr. They even ended up asking how (boyfriend) was. According to the lawsuit, Steven H. Calkins, now 66, came to Cedar Rapids years after the 2003 and 2004 cases in which two men went missing after being placed in the back of his patrol vehicle.. I guess it's time to march in Naples now." Santos, who did farm work and construction, was 23 when he vanished in October 2003. He is presumed dead under Florida law, though the investigation into his disappearance is still active. His stories were so inconsistent, so unbelievable, and even though he had all these inconsistencies there were no charges brought. Deputies say they got a call about the shooting shortly after 5 a.m. Sunday morning. Allison Christian faces a charge of aggravated animal cruelty, according to an arrest report. Detectives looked into their disappearances at the time, including Calkins claims that he dropped both men off at a convenience store after changing his mind. Not even shamed publically, because police withhold his identity. DecadentEx. Calkins, a former Illinois farmer, was a seventeen-year veteran road deputy with a clean disciplinary record who had worked for the Sheriff's Office since 1987. Steve followed the car to the cemetery parking lot and agreed to give the cordial Terrance a ride to the nearby Circle K since the latter stated he was late for work. A fish kill is filling up the water in Southwest Florida. The lawsuit was sent to a neutral party or non-binding arbitration that found no evidence that incriminated Steve in Terrances disappearance, though the arbitrator found Steve uncooperative. Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com, Rod Boshart Government & Politics Apr. An arbitrator found the case didn't show Calkins in a 'good light, based on his inconsistent statements to law enforcement and that he didn't cooperate in the investigation, but the evidence was mostly circumstantial. During the investigation, detectives learned another man, Felipe Santos, also went missing three months before Williams, who was last seen by Calkins during a similar encounter. The case was supposed to be heading to trial, but the attorneys representing the family forgot to file the motion for trial in time, so that means the arbitrators decision is now final. As more people start to pile into the area, and beaches reopen, the fish kill will become a bigger problem. France, 2011. Asks for it back. Collier County sheriff's deputy Steve Calkins claimed both times to have changed his mind and left each of them at a different Circle K convenience store nearby. Steve Calkins and his wife Christeena Calkins sold the 6,826-square-foot . Steven Calkins, former Collier County, Fl deputy, andrecent CR resident, to be deposed today over disappearance of Terrance Williams & Felipe Santos webcache.googleusercontent 17 26 Cedar Rapids Linn County Iowa United States of America North America Place 26 comments Best Add a Comment Training-Tea6146 9 mo. She's the mother of Terrence Williams, who went missing in Naples, Florida, in January 2004. CCSO says the thieves in recent distraction thefts typically use a ruse to approach senior citizens, usually in grocery store parking lots and remove the victims watch [], Cassandra Smith, accused of killing Charlotte County Deputy Christopher Taylor in a November DUI crash, was denied bond for a second time on Friday. Collier County EMS says they transported one person to the hospital with an abdominal injury. Two women, just 20 and 22 years old, lost their lives in an overnight crash. Firefighters are battling several brush fires in Charlotte County; the one off McCall Road threatens several buildings, including a church. Crump said: The last person to be with them that anybody witnessed was the then Collier county sheriffs deputy Calkins. The episode follows the investigation process and helps the viewers comprehend all the details. Despite not calling in the stop, Calkins drove off with Williams in the back, and later returned alone with the mans keys to move the car.