Family photo, Pittsburgh Courier
Allegheny County Police are searching for clues after a passing citizen discovered the remains of 2-year-old Adrionna Williams, Action 4 News reports.
Williams was last seen by relatives around 6:30 p.m. Sunday evening. Her family attempted to find her, but by 7:05 p.m. they decided to call police for help. At 7:45 p.m. the tot’s body was discovered in a shallow ravine in Swissvale, Pennsylvania, approximately 2 1/2 miles away from her home in Wilkinsburg.
“A passing citizen walking their dog made the discovery. Obviously, the child didn’t walk there on her own; she was placed there after her death,” said Lt. Andrew Schurman, of Allegheny County Homicide. “The exact location where the child was discovered is a little bit of a gully, so it wouldn’t be easy to see the child from the footpath,” Schurman said.
“(The pedestrian) saw what she believed to be a leg of, like, a toddler,” said Swissvale Police Chief Greg Geppert.
Detectives say that Williams’ body showed no obvious signs of trauma that would indicate her cause of death, but the case is being investigated as a homicide. Toxicology reports and test tissue results from her autopsy are still pending.
“Nothing noticeable, no trauma or anything like that. A slight abrasion on her face and that was it,” said Geppert.
Williams would have turned three years old next month.
“I never cried so much. Never hurt so bad. Girl, you were my life. I can’t think of nothing but you. My heart is shattered into pieces. Mommy loves you, girl! My angel,” the girl’s heartbroken mother, Adrienne Williams, wrote in a Facebook post.
Currently, there is no evidence that Williams was randomly targeted, investigators say.
“At this point, we don’t have any reason to believe that there’s a stranger abducting children in that area,” Schurman said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police immediately.
“We are asking for anyone who heard or saw anything suspicious in that area between 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. to call the County Police Homicide Unit at 412-473-1300,” Sherman said.
A Go Fund Me page has been set up to assist the girl’s family in their time of bereavement.
