Showing posts with label Steve Calkins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Steve Calkins. Show all posts

Sunday, November 30, 2014

Terrance Williams and Felipe Santos

Officer Steve Calkins, the last man to see Santos and Williams alive.




This is a blog about missing persons who have not been found. I have mostly older cases now, but I will add new cases if they do appear to be truly missing. My hope is that by putting all of the information out there and updating it, we can solve these cases and/or put pressure on law enforcement to solve these cases.
Felipe Santos

My very first case I am profiling because both of these men disappeared in similar circumstances and had the very same person see both of them last alive. However, that person has not been prosecuted and their bodies have not been found.
Their names are Terrance Williams, 27 and Felipe Santos, 24. Both lived in SW Florida at the time of their disappearances. Felipe disappeared first, on October 1, 2003. Since he was an undocumented worker, he did not have a driver's license. He was involved in a minor car accident on his way to work that morning. A Collier County Sheriff named Steven Calkins arrived at the scene and cited Santos for reckless driving and driving without a license or insurance, handcuffed him, and put him in the back of the police car.

Later that day, Santos' boss called the jail to bail him out, and learned that Santos was never booked.Calkins claimed that he changed his mind about the arrest because Santos was "polite and cooperative" and left him at a local Circle K and drove off. The other driver in the accident contradicted that report, stating that Calkins was agitated about Santos' lack of documentation. "He just stated that he was tired of pulling people over that didn't have licenses," she said.

Two weeks later, after Calkins submitted his incident report, Santos' family filed a missing persons report as well as a complaint against Calkins. An investigation cleared Calkins of any wrongdoing. Santos has not been heard from since. Felipe Santos' wife was never interviewed by police and began questioning the investigation.

Terrance Williams
Early the next year, Terrance Williams made a poor decision. He was close to the end of his license suspension, had just purchased a used Cadillac, and wanted to drive it to a party. However, his tags were also expired, so he decided to drive back roads, hoping to not get caught. He did get to the party, but his roommate became worried when he did not arrive home that night.

Williams' mother, Marcia Williams, filed a missing person's report the next morning. Shortly afterwards, Williams' aunt was able to locate Terrance's vehicle. It had been towed from a Naples cemetery because it was obstructing traffic. The tow report was signed by no other than Steven Calkins, but no incident or arrest report was filed with the tow report.

However, witnesses from the cemetery verified that Terrance drove in ahead of Calkins, who had his lights on. He asked for ID, which Williams did not have. Employees of the cemetery then stated that Calkins patted him down and put him in the back of the police car. Calkins then asked the employees to leave the Cadillac alone until he returned. He did return approximately 15 minutes later to change the position of the Cadillac. Terrance was not in Calkins' car at that point.

Following the witness statement by the cemetery employees, the Williams family repeatedly called the police station asking to speak to deputy Calkins. He was contacted by dispatch and asked about the incident. He claimed to have no memory of having any cars towed on that day and claimed he did not arrest anyone on that day either. However, when he was contacted a few days later, he remembered Williams' in fairly good detail. He was asked by his supervisors to submit an incident report. Calkins' report states that he first came in contact with Williams at 12:15pm after noticing that the car he was driving was "in distress". He claimed he followed him to the cemetery parking lot. Calkins claimed that Williams asked for a ride to a nearby Circle K because he was late for work. (Williams did not work at the Circle K). After dropping him off at the Circle K, Terrance told him the paperwork for the car was in the glove compartment of the vehicle. Calkins claimed that he returned to the Cadillac and discovered that there was no proper registration or insurance in the car. He stated that he felt deceived, so he called Circle K from his work issued cell phone and asked to speak to Terrance. The clerk allegedly told him over the phone that Terrance did not work there. According to the report, he then called in the license number and found that the plates were expired. However, upon further investigation, it was discovered that phone and surveillance records did not back up his story. There was no sign of Williams or Calkins on the available surveillance footage from the Circle K and the phone records from Calkins cell phone showed no phone call to the Circle K. Circle K could also find no witnesses who placed either man there. Marcia Williams then filed a complaint against Steven Calkins.

Further suspicion was cast on Calkins when the recording of his call to dispatch requesting the tow of Williams' car revealed further conflicting statements. In this recording, he described the car as abandoned and blocking the road. This statement contradicted both his incident report and the witness statements. Both reported that Calkins himself moved the vehicle to its location, which blocked the road. Calkins also joked with the operator: "Maybe he's out there in the cemetery. He'll come back and his car will be gone." He was also heard using inappropriate and racist language during the call, describing the car as a "homie Cadillac" Approximately 20 minutes later, at 1:12 pm, Calkins requested a background check on "Terrance Williams", with an incorrect birth date. This contradicts his earlier statement that he never knew Terrance's last name. He was questioned on these inconsistencies and could not explain them. Following this interview, he stopped cooperating with police and was fired from the police department.

Because the main person of interest in the case was a police officer, the Florida Dept of Law Enforcement and the FBI were called in to work on the case. Various other investigative techniques were used, including the covert placement of a GPS on Calkin's vehicle and a forensic investigation of the patrol car. Cadaver dogs were used to survey the areas identified by the GPS in Calkins' vehicle but these turned up no further evidence.
There is currently a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever is involved in this case. We all know it is Steve Calkins, so I guess the $100K is to find some way to prove he did it.
It has been 11 years since these men disappeared and their family needs closure.
 
Missing Poster for Terrance Williams and Felipe Santos