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Pinched from ozbiker.org
Steve Williams - "No comment" from police
After a month missing, SA police say they still have no evidence to suggest
Adelaide identity Steve Williams has "met with anything untoward".
Nearly 40 calls have been made to CrimeStoppers and two searches undertaken
since Mr Williams disappeared more than a month ago.
The Sunday Mail (Adelaide paper) understands police have forensically tested a
utility owned by an associate of Mr Williams, who is said to have links with
another bike club.
Police are known to have interviewed certain friends and associates in the past
weeks, concentrating their questioning on his connection and membership with the
Gypsy Jokers motorcycle club and his subsequent resignation and retirement,
after serving as their SA President.
Whilst no longer being directly involved, Mr Williams still maintained
friendships and contacts within Adelaide’s close knit OMC ‘community’
Yesterday, Mr Williams' mother, Jan, said she was satisfied the way police were
handling the case, although she was frustrated more progress had not been made.
Detective Superintendent Peter Woite, who is heading the investigation, declined
to comment "for operational reasons" on whether police had fresh leads.
But he said officers were continuing to investigate information from 37 calls to
BankSA Crime Stoppers.
The Sunday Mail emailed a list of questions to Det-Supt Woite this week,
including:
• Could he rule out various theories on what had happened to Mr Williams?
• Did police think Mr Williams' disappearance was linked to his alleged
knowledge of a paedophile network or his work as a debt collector?
• Were any further searches scheduled this week?
• If there were suggestions the investigation was stalling.
"As you can imagine, there is a lot of information to be analysed and that takes
the investigation in various different directions," Det-Supt Woite said in a
telephone interview.
"We do not have any evidence that Steve Williams has met with anything untoward.
We are in contact with the family of Steve Williams on a regular basis."
Mr Williams' mother said she understood the difficulties of police missing
persons investigations, particularly the reluctance of people to come forward
with information in light of her son's past.
"(Police) are having problems finding things because some people will come
forward and others are very reticent to," she said. "There is no crime scene and
there are no direct leads for them to follow."
She said the family was coping and "trying to readjust to life without Steve".
Meanwhile, Mr Williams' daughter Blayze, 13, is still holding out hope her
father will return home.
Mr Williams had organised to take Blayze to Queensland this week but, instead,
she took a trip to Kangaroo Island with family friends.
Mr Williams, 39, was last seen when he visited his mother soon after he was
dropped off at the Gepps Cross Hotel by his boss at 2.30pm on June 14.
His white Ford Falcon was later found abandoned in the hotel car park.
Theories behind his disappearance include retribution from a bike club, criminal
organization or certain disgruntled police; a debt collection that ended
fatally; or, that he was planning to buy valuables, stolen from former
magistrate and convicted paedophile Peter Liddy to provide compensation to
victims of child abuse.
Another suggestion has been Mr Williams may have been in danger and was offered
witness protection by police.
Another popular theory revolved around Mr Williams planning his own
disappearance
to highlight an upcoming potentially controversial civil court case involving
members of the Star Force… planned for early August.
This case has since been postponed.
