In search for missing girl, police turn focus to mother

Amber Alert expands to Georgia, other Southern states for 5-year-old Taylor Williams
The search for Taylor Williams has been expanded into Florida, Georgia and Alabama.

The search for Taylor Williams has been expanded into Florida, Georgia and Alabama.

The mother of a missing 5-year-old Jacksonville girl is considered a person of interest in her daughter's disappearance, police said Monday.

»PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Search intensifies for missing Florida girl

The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department's Urban Search and Rescue team traveled Monday to Demopolis, Alabama, to continue the search for Taylor Rose Williams, who has been missing since Nov. 6. On Sunday, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office tweeted the search for Taylor has been expanded into Florida, Georgia and Alabama.

The girl's mother, Brianna Williams, grew up in the rural town of about 7,000 people just west of Montgomery.

There, officials plan to search a 30-square-mile area for any signs of the girl for up to seven days.

»VIDEO: More images of missing girl

Williams, who was initially not considered a suspect,  hasn't spoken to police since the second day of the search and is not cooperating with the investigation since detectives pointed out inconsistencies in her story, said Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams.

"We still need her cooperation," the sheriff told local media outlets.

Brianna Williams told police she put Taylor to bed about midnight the night before she vanished. By the time she checked the child’s bedroom about 7:20 a.m. Wednesday, the girl was already missing. The back door to the home had been unlocked.

Records show Williams called the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office minutes later, at 7:22 a.m.

From there, more than 100 police officers, K-9 teams, firefighters and people in the community handed out flyers, knocked on doors and searched the area for two days, hoping for any sign of the girl.

At the same time, investigators searched small bodies of water near an apartment complex where Williams lived recently.

Taylor was last seen wearing purple and pink short-sleeved pajamas.

An Amber Alert remains in effect, and the reward for information in the case has grown to $4,000.