What happened to Eileen Faye Williams?
The missing woman’s family is still trying to answer that question, 60 years after she disappeared without a trace on Prince Edward Island.
Now Williams’ family has teamed up with a retired RCMP officer in hopes of finding new information that could help solve one of Prince Edward Island’s oldest cold cases.
“We know that time is not on our side and that anyone who knows what happened to Eileen may not be around much longer,” her family said in a statement released this week.
“We want people to know that Eileen was a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a cousin and a friend – not a day goes by that we don’t think of her.”
The 19-year-old woman was last seen on August 6, 1962.
The youngest of seven siblings, the teenager grew up in Beach Point, PEI, located about 30 kilometers southeast of Montague, PEI
Williams eventually moved to Hamilton, Ontario, but returned home to PEI every summer to visit family.
Police say she disappeared during one of her annual trips home and was never seen or heard from again.
THE DAY HE DISAPPEARED
According to a statement from her family, Williams’ sister-in-law, Pearl, drove her to Montague and dropped her off at the post office on August 6, 1962.
Williams was said to have planned to run some errands and visit high school friends. She told Pearl that she would go back to Beach Point if she didn’t stay with her friends.
Investigators believe Williams was considering going to a party in Montague the night she disappeared. Police say she was last seen just outside Montague, on the road that leads to the Murray River and Beach Point, around 7 p.m. Her family believes she may have been trying to get home to Beach Point at a stop.
When Williams failed to return home that night, her family assumed she had stayed with her friends.
However, they became worried when she did not return the next day and began looking for her.
They reported her missing to RCMP in Montague the next day and an investigation was launched.
“The days, weeks and months that followed were incredibly difficult for all of Eileen’s family and friends,” her family said in a statement.
“Her sister, Esther, was expecting a baby at the time and family members remember her being so upset that they were also concerned about her health.”
Police say extensive searches have been conducted in the weeks and months since Williams disappeared.
According to her family, more than 150 volunteers have joined the search, scouring the area from Montague to Beach Point, including a marshy area outside Montague.
“This has been a traumatic time for the whole community,” they said. “There are a lot of people here who still remember the search parties.”
Investigators note Williams’ return plane ticket to Hamilton was never used and her bank account remained intact for several years until it was turned over to her surviving relatives.
Her disappearance is being treated as suspicious, but no arrests have yet been made.
“Eileen’s mother died the following year – some say heartbroken,” her family said.
“Her father followed two years later – they never got the answers about what happened to their daughter.”
Eileen Williams is seen in this photo from her childhood. (PEI RCMP)
WHO WAS EILEEN FAYE WILLIAMS?
While Williams’ closest family members, including her siblings, have passed away, she still has nieces, nephews and other relatives who still remember her fondly.
“Aunt Eileen is still talked about most days among our family members, even sixty years after she was last seen,” her family said.
“She was only 19 when she disappeared but she had already achieved so much.”
After graduating from high school, Williams took shorthand courses and got a job as a secretary at a law firm in Hamilton. She lived there with her sister Eva and shared a room with her two young nieces.
“We still remember her playing with us, tickling us and taking us on treats and outings,” they recalled.
The baby of the family, Williams was close to her siblings and brought gifts for her nieces and nephews when she came home to Beach Point.
“We were so excited when we knew she was coming to visit, it was such a big deal to have an aunt who lives in Ontario,” her family said.
“She was so popular and beautiful. She was outgoing, kind and loved to have fun.”
Eileen Williams was last seen near Montague, PEI on August 6, 1962. Her disappearance has never been solved. (PEI RCMP)
POLICE, FAMILY APPEAL FOR INFORMATION
Corporal Alexis Triantafilou of the PEI RCMP Major Crimes Unit first came across the file in 2019 and was intrigued by the case.
“I worked at Montague for a number of years and I was kind of vaguely aware of that file, but I got this tip so I was able to dig into it a lot more. Many of the names and places were familiar to me,” he said. “She was just a young girl and she had so many family members who obviously still cared so much about her. That just stuck with me. She deserves to be found. She deserves to come home.”
As he prepares to retire after 27 years with the RCMP, Triantafilou is appealing to the public to come forward with any details that could help police find Williams or find out what happened to her when she went missing.
“Because of the significant time frame we are working with, anyone who knew Eileen or who may have been involved in her disappearance is either deceased or will be elderly,” Triantafilou noted.
“We hope this new information will help reminisce or maybe encourage people to come forward with information they haven’t shared before.” I have not given up hope that she will be found and neither will her family.’
Williams’ family is urging anyone with information about her disappearance to contact police. They also release photos that have never been made public.
“Our hope is still that she will be found and that we will get the answers that her entire family has been waiting for for sixty years,” they said.
“Please come forward so her family can feel some closure. Please help bring Eileen home.
Williams was last seen wearing a green sweater and black pants with a white stripe.
Anyone with information regarding the 1962 disappearance of Eileen Faye Williams is asked to contact the PEI RCMP Major Crimes Unit at 902-566-7112.
Information can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
Add Comment