Family Grieves After Police Identify Body as Alonzo Williams
By: Cierra Putman
Updated: March 27, 2012
After nearly four months missing, the search for Alonzo Williams has ended. Police identified Williams as the body found in the Genesee River Friday night.
"We have closure, it's not the type of closure we were expecting but now we can, we can move on," his aunt Lisa Alexander said.
His aunt Leslie Gordon got the call early Monday morning while at work. Immediately after receiving it she rounded up the family and broke the news to Williams' parents.
"We'll never fill the void, but we just have to grieve," Gordon said. "We have to be supportive of his mother and of his father."
"It's just heart wrenching, you know," Alexander said. "You search and you just know. You know your family and you know your nephew. Know he wouldn't just leave and stay gone."
Williams' body was found not far from his mother's home where he was last seen in November. Rochester Police do not believe foul play was to blame but have not determined the exact cause of death. Family and loved ones surrounded his parents Monday afternoon. They describe Williams as a quiet, popular young man who was crowned prom king. They say he loved music and was socially conscious.
"He was just the average kid," Gordon said. "He was really nice, respectful."
Williams' family started searching and making fliers immediately after he went missing four months ago. Just this weekend, Alexander was in North Carolina at the CUE Center's National Missing Persons conference. While their search ended sadly, the family plans to continue supporting other families.
"Of course we would still be in contact with the other families whose loved ones who's still missing," Gordon said. "And do as much as we possibly could to help them find their loved ones, or bring some type of closure to their families also."
By remembering their nephew these aunts hope to bring comfort to others in the future.
"We have closure, it's not the type of closure we were expecting but now we can, we can move on," his aunt Lisa Alexander said.
His aunt Leslie Gordon got the call early Monday morning while at work. Immediately after receiving it she rounded up the family and broke the news to Williams' parents.
"We'll never fill the void, but we just have to grieve," Gordon said. "We have to be supportive of his mother and of his father."
"It's just heart wrenching, you know," Alexander said. "You search and you just know. You know your family and you know your nephew. Know he wouldn't just leave and stay gone."
Williams' body was found not far from his mother's home where he was last seen in November. Rochester Police do not believe foul play was to blame but have not determined the exact cause of death. Family and loved ones surrounded his parents Monday afternoon. They describe Williams as a quiet, popular young man who was crowned prom king. They say he loved music and was socially conscious.
"He was just the average kid," Gordon said. "He was really nice, respectful."
Williams' family started searching and making fliers immediately after he went missing four months ago. Just this weekend, Alexander was in North Carolina at the CUE Center's National Missing Persons conference. While their search ended sadly, the family plans to continue supporting other families.
"Of course we would still be in contact with the other families whose loved ones who's still missing," Gordon said. "And do as much as we possibly could to help them find their loved ones, or bring some type of closure to their families also."
By remembering their nephew these aunts hope to bring comfort to others in the future.
