The Case of Terrance Williams and Felipe Santos
Okay, so yesterday I was bingeing Disappeared episodes, and sometimes I don’t go in order. This is season 5 episode 3, titled ‘Crime and Punishment.’
This post is going to be a little shorter, but this case PISSED me off so much, and you’ll see why. This is probably one of the cases where I yelled at the screen more than usual because it was that frustrating. Not one did one man disappear, but TWO, and they were last seen by someone who should protect a community.
Background of Terrance Williams
Terrance Williams was on born on January 17, 1976. He was originally from Tennessee, but have moved to Naples, Florida, to be closer to his family. Terrance was a 27 year old man, also had four kids, but they were living back in Tennessee with the mother of his children.
Terrance had struggled in his life, at the time of his disappearance, he didn’t have a drivers license because it was suspended due to a past driving under the influence incident. He would rely on his mom or his roommate, Jason, to get him to work.
Terrance was working on getting his life back on track when he disappeared, and it’s so sad that his family couldn’t see him succeed or turn his life around.
Terrance and Felipe
Terrance Disappears
In the early morning hours of January 11, 2004, Terrance asked his roommate to go to a work party with him. His roommate declined, and Terrance took his new car, a Cadillac, to the party, despite him not having a valid license and expired registration.
On January 12, Terrance still didn’t return home and his roommate, Jason, contacted Terrance’s mom, Marcia. Marcia then called and filed a missing persons report.
Terrance’s whole family was constantly searching for him and calling the police, who at first didn't help the family. Terrance’s aunt was able to find out where Terrance’s car was, it had been towed from the Naples Memorial Cemetery. An officer named Steve Calkins had called it in because it was obstructing traffic.
Terrance
Investigation
Terrance’s family then called the police department again, and found out that Steve Calkins didn't file a missing persons report or take Terrance to jail.
Next, Marcia called the cemetery. There were a few witnesses that were working that day that said the officer had pulled Terrance over and asked him for his ID, and that he didn’t have any. He was then patted down and put into the police car. They said about 15 minutes later, Calkins returned to the cemetery and moved the car from a parking spot to the side of the road. The keys were found on the ground by the car.
The Williams’ family continued to call the police department wanting to speak to Steve Calkins. Calkins was also contacted by dispatch about it, and he responded that he didn’t remember.
He only started to remember what happened after Internal Affairs opened an investigation. He was asked to write a report about what happened.
Steve Calkins’ Story
He said he had seen Terrance and his car around 12:15pm after seeing a car in “distress.” He then followed Terrance into the cemetery parking lot, and then Terrance asked for a ride to his job at the Circle K. Marcia was confused about this piece of information because Terrance didn't work at the Circle K.
There were also witnesses, employees from the Circle K that said they would have remembered a police car driving up and a person getting out, they said that didn't happen. When the surveillance cameras were looked at, there was no sighting of Terrance or the police car.
Calkins then wrote that Terrance had deceived him about working at the Circle K and about having registration in his glove box.
Marcia Williams filed a complaint against officer Steve Calkins.
Another Disappearance
This wasn’t the first time a man disappeared after coming into contact with Steve Calkins. As soon as information came out about Terrance’s disappearance, Marcia was contacted by the Mexican Consulate in Miami about this other disappearance.
Felipe Santos was born on January 1, 1979. He was a Mexican national living in Florida illegally. He was a hard working person, who was sending money back to Mexico for his family. He and his wife just had a baby girl.
Felipe Santos
On October 1, 2003, around 6:30am, Felipe and his brothers were driving to work when they got into a car accident. He, along with the other driver pulled into a parking lot to exchange information.
Officer Steve Calkins also arrived. Felipe was cited for reckless driving and driving without a license or insurance. He was then put into the car, just like Terrance. He was never seen again, and was only 24 years old.
Investigation
Later that same day, Felipe’s boss contacted the jail to post bail, thinking that Felipe was there. When Steve Calkins was asked where Felipe was, he said he let Felipe go because he was cooperative. He said he dropped him off at the Circle K, wow sounds familiar.
Two weeks after Felipe disappeared, his family filed a missing persons report and a complaint against Calkins. At this time, Calkins was cleared of any wrongdoing.
Steve Calkins
Where is Terrance and Felipe?
Steve Calkins, already under scrutiny, was heard talking to someone from dispatch saying very rude and almost racist remarks. It sounded like he was talking about Terrance. He was heard talking about finding a Cadillac blocking the road, but originally he had said he moved the car from the parking lot to the side of the road. Calkins referred to the car as a “homie Cadillac,” and said
““Maybe he’s out there in the cemetery. He’ll come back and his car will be gone.””
His story was contradicted again when he was heard talking to dispatch at 1:12pm asking for a background check on a Terrance Williams. In his original story, he said he never knew Terrance’s first or last name.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and FBI had to be brought in because Calkins’ was a police officer. They did a search on the GPS on Calkins’ car and found he had been to several areas that they thought they should search. No evidence was found.
Other
Steve Calkins was fired for not cooperating and for providing conflicting statements. He tried to appeal the decision, but it was denied.
It’s believed that Steve Calkins is the person responsible for these disappearances. He was not been charged with anything, and is still the main person of interest.
One of the biggest advocates for this case is Tyler Perry. As of 2018, he put up a $200,000 reward for any information.
FINAL THOUGHTS
It makes me so mad that there is no way Calkins can be charged with anything!!! Just firing someone isn’t going to fix their awful behavior. Obviously something happened to these men in 2003 and 2004, there is no other evidence that they came in to contact with anyone else and it’s so eery that the exact same thing happened to both of them.
The victim’s and their families deserve justice!!! Steve Calkins belongs in prison. He needs to stop being a coward, stop lying and confess to what he did.
I recommend watching the Disappeared episode, especially if you want to hear Steve Calkins’ recordings, I couldn’t find them on YouTube. One of my other favorite podcasts also just released an episode about this- check out True Crime Garage!
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearances_of_Terrance_Williams_and_Felipe_Santos
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/05/florida-sheriffs-deputy-murder-lawsuit-tyler-perry
