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RICHLAND COUNTY, S.C. (WIS) - It’s been 68 days since former Broadway dancer Zelig Williams was last seen or heard from.

Richland County investigators said Williams was last seen leaving his family home on Longwood Road on Oct. 3.

The next day Williams’ car was found by a deputy in the parking lot of the Palmetto Trail Parking Lott off Bluff Road near McCord’s Ferry Road.

On Tuesday, family, friends, and community members went back out to the trail for four hours to search for the 28-year-old again.

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Volunteers combed through the thick woods walking for miles, but unfortunately didn’t find any new answers.

With no sign of Zelig Williams yet, the Williams family remains hopeful.

“We’re going to always have hope but time is passing,” said Meioki Corbett Jacobs, Zelig’s cousin.

WIS was there as family, friends and community members embarked on the first of a series of organized searches scheduled for this week.

We asked Corbett Jacobs what exactly they’re hoping to find.

“Anything. Literally anything, that would lead us to Zelig,” she said. “You know the water was pretty high before when he was missing and even before Helene the water was high so really anything.”

More than 20 people showed up for the search on Tuesday and split into two groups.

One group searched by foot while the other group searched by boat.

WIS spoke with Zelig’s mother after the search ended for the day.

“I think it went very well and I felt at peace on the trail and everything and that’s a good thing,” said Kathy Williams, Zelig’s mother. “I just trust God. I have faith in him, and I believe and that’s all I need.”

But, this wasn’t the first time the family searched the trail.

WIS was there in early October just days after Zelig didn’t come home.

Now the family has extra help.

We Are the Essentials, a non profit group out of Florida, has teamed up with the family to help search.

Their team is made up of retired investigators.

“Our team was actually out here a month ago and did some searching today we’re doing a follow up,” Nico Tusconi, the president of We Are the Essentials.

Tusconi said weather conditions last month made their search more difficult.

“It was different water levels stuff like that and now that the waters have receded we’re out here just making sure we didn’t miss anything.“

Investigators with the Richland County Sheriff’s Department (RCSD) were there Tuesday morning helping with the search.

They said they are conducting their own searches, but could not say how they’ve been searching because of the ongoing investigation.

Another search is scheduled for Zelig on Thursday, Dec. 12.

The family is asking for more volunteers.

If you’re interested in helping, they ask that you be at the Palmetto Trail by 8:30.

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Copyright 2024 WIS. All rights reserved.

Published: Oct. 15, 2024 at 2:26 PM PDT|

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - It’s been more than a week since the disappearance of former Broadway dancer Zelig Williams.

The 28-year-old was last seen leaving his home on Longwood Road in Richland County on Oct. 3. A day later, his car was found more than 30 miles away parked at the Palmetto Trail Head parking lot.

Williams disappearance has made national headlines.

Actor Hugh Jackman, who worked alongside Williams, made a public call to action to bring Williams home.

Williams was widely known for his dancing career. He’s danced in several Broadway productions including Hamilton and MJ: The Musical.

Family members are continuing with their own search.

Private Investigator Chandra Cleveland, of SHE-Private Investigations, announced on Tuesday the family had hired her to investigate Williams' disappearance.

The press release from Cleveland said Williams was a “devoted believer in God,” and that he “had been exploring his faith by visiting various churches in the area and may have joined a men’s group.

The investigator asked anyone who may have had any interaction with him recently in church to also come forward, the news release said.

“It is unclear where Zelig was headed the morning he disappeared, and the family is eager to speak with anyone who may have seen or spoken with him around that time,” the news release said.

It also notes Williams needs medication.

Cleveland’s number is: 855-218-7772 and asks anyone with information to call her.

Investigators with the Richland County Sheriff’s Department told us, at last check, they were searching through phone records but there are no new updates at this time.

The family is urging anyone with any information on his whereabouts to please reach out to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department. The non-emergency line for the department is: 803-576-3000.

The sheriff’s department is planning to hold a press conference on Oct. 16 at 11 a.m.

As Williams' family continues to search for him, some of the people that he’s impacted most in the dance community, specifically, at the Southern Strut Dance Studio, are using their talents to raise awareness.

A sense of hope is what these dancers feel when they perform a dance made in honor of Zelig Williams. They performed it for the first time Thursday night ― just a week after Williams disappeared.

“After they were done performing, they said they felt hopeful and they wanted to share the same love Zelig gave to them back to him,” said Nancy Giles, the owner of Southern Strutt.

Giles said she remembered when Williams first came to the studio at 12 years old. Giles said he began dancing in a class once a week.

She said, “I think what stood out to me most was his smile. His eagerness to learn and his light. He had so much light about him.”

And that light quickly became a star.

Williams came to Southern Strutt after losing his two sisters in a car crash. Giles believes he used dance to get him through that tragic period in his life.

“And from there he just moved forward and radiated with hope and light and sunshine and talent,” said Giles. “He was brilliant and just impacted everyone around him,” she added.

A force to be reckoned with is how Giles describes Williams when he hits that dance floor.

She said it wasn’t long after Williams first walked into that studio that he became a part of an elite group of male dancers. Launching his career on Broadway.

“He could make you laugh. He could make you cry. He could make you feel like everything was okay. He could fill your heart all in one performance” she reminisced.

Williams performed in several professional shows including Broadway productions of Hamilton and MJ: The Musical. Giles says she hopes performances like this aid in the effort to bring Williams back home.

“It keeps me hopeful. It keeps me wanting to keep his name and face out there. So people will know he is human and he is worth finding,” said Giles.

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Copyright 2024 WIS. All rights reserved.

FOREST ACRES — Crews have been tearing down the long-struggling Richland Mall in Forest Acres since March to make way for a city park, apartments and retail space.

Since work began on March 21, massive portions of the 930,000-square-foot structure have been torn down, with only a sliver of the three-story building remaining in the back of the lot, furthest away from the former mall entrances on Forest Drive and North Beltline.

Demolition of the mall structure is proceeding on schedule and is slated to be complete by the end of the year, Forest Acres Mayor Thomas Andrews said at a Dec. 10 meeting where the city approved a master plan for the future park on the site.

“We are happy with the progress of both the mall demolition and the planning for the city’s new park at the site,” Andrews said in a subsequent statement. “So far, everything is on schedule and that’s no small thing for a project of this scope and magnitude.”

After the remaining portions of the mall have been completely razed, workers from Demolition Environmental Company will crush and clear the concrete from the building to be recycled, and prepare the site for future construction.

That work is scheduled to be completed in March 2025, a year after excavators began tearing down the facade of the mall.

“It’s hard to believe we only started demolishing this mall in March,” Andrews said. “And by this time next year, we should expect to see new buildings under construction. It’s an exciting new chapter for our city.”

Crews have remained on track to level the mall despite a fire that broke out as crews tore down the former movie theater on the building’s roof in July, Hurricane Helene’s generational wind damage in Forest Acres in September and multiple arrests of trespassers on the site since demolition began.

Parts of the building which held all of the mall’s former anchor stores have been demolished as of Dec. 20, including the former Barnes and Noble space, which was the last store to leave the mall in Sept. 2023.

The mall’s three-level parking garage has been preserved for use in the site’s future redevelopment, which includes over $100 million in apartments, retail and a public park.

What's next

The City of Forest Acres approved a master plan for the six-acre public park slated for a portion of the site at a Dec. 10 meeting. That plan calls for various green spaces and seating areas, a playground and spaces for a farmers market and live performances.

The park will be situated on the back of the site along Pen Branch creek, which formerly ran under the mall’s back parking lot.

The city has taken some of the first steps toward cleaning up the creek in order to make the flowing water a centerpiece of the park, Andrews said at the Dec. 10 meeting.

Augusta-based Southeastern Development bought the 32-acre mall property in an $18.6 million deal in early 2023 before selling the 6-acre park plot to the city for $3 million.

Southeastern has yet to finalize the design for the redevelopment. Preliminary proposals for the mixed-use development include more than 500 apartments, restaurants and retail space, a grocery store and a brewery. Current plans call for a portion of the parking garage to remain for use in the future redevelopment.

“We anticipate the development to create a new city center in Forest Acres,” Andrews said. “We are hopeful the park and the retail will have strong synergy that will be enjoyed not only by our residents, but increase tourism from the greater Midlands into Forest Acres.”

Southeastern has received $23 million in tax breaks from Richland County and Forest Acres, The Post and Courier previously reported. Property taxes on the site will be waived for 20 years, or until the tax value meets that amount.

Southeastern previously forecast the development could take close to a decade to be completed once demolition began, according to a press release on the city’s website.

The first phase featuring the brewery, grocery store, park and some apartments is expected to be finished first, in three to four years, with a second phase of more retail and apartments coming after, taking another four to five years.

The final development will reduce the 930,000-square-feet of retail space in the former mall to around 215,000 square feet in the new development. City officials expect traffic concerns to be muted by the reduction in square footage.

Richland Mall originally opened to the public as a open-air mall in the 1960s before being enclosed in the ‘80s with the three-story building now being demolished. Successful as an open-air shopping center, the mall struggled to attract tenants after being enclosed.

The Richland Mall had welcomed increasingly fewer shoppers and several failed redevelopment plans for over half a century when demolition began in March, marking a new chapter in the city’s history.

Westinghouse’s nuclear fuel plant expansion faces uncertainty as Richland planners rejected rezoning.

HOPKINS, S.C. — The Richland County Planning Commission has pumped the brakes on a proposed expansion by Westinghouse Electric Company, potentially slowing progress on a state-of-the-art nuclear fuel plant in Hopkins.

In a decision Monday night, the commission recommended disapproval of a rezoning request for 52.71 acres of undeveloped land near Westinghouse’s Bluff Road facility. The company sought to rezone the land from agricultural to heavy industrial to build a new facility for advanced nuclear fuel manufacturing. The rezoning proposal will now go to the Richland County Council, which will make a final decision on December 17.

While Westinghouse has positioned the expansion as a step toward producing Low Enriched Uranium Plus (LEU+), an advanced nuclear fuel, the planning commission found the proposal inconsistent with the county's 2015 Comprehensive Plan, which designates the area for conservation. The plan prioritizes low-impact uses, such as forestry and natural open spaces, particularly near the Congaree River.

Residents raised concerns about potential environmental impacts. The facility is close to the Congaree River biosphere.

Richland County Councilman Don Weaver said Tuesday the council must weigh the economic advantages of the expansion, which promises to bring high-paying, high-tech jobs to the area.

“We don't have a lot of high-tech industry out there,” Weaver said. “These are good-paying jobs, and we want to encourage that.”

Westinghouse announced in 2023 its plans to build a 275,000-square-foot facility on the site, slated to begin construction in late 2025 and be operational by 2029. The project, according to the company, is essential for meeting demand from the nation’s nuclear power plants.

In a statement provided after the planning commission’s decision, Westinghouse said, “For the last 50 years, Columbia has produced the nuclear fuel that powers roughly 10% of all the electricity used in the United States. This expansion would help us continue to provide the safest, most advanced nuclear fuel to the nation’s nuclear power plants. We are working with Richland County officials on our planned expansion...."

Councilman Weaver says he wants to see more specific plans for how the land would be used before making any decisions about the rezoning.

“We need to hear more from Westinghouse—to hear what they plan on doing with the change in zoning,” Weaver said.

The rezoning proposal will go before the Richland County Council at its next zoning public hearing on December 17.