Family of missing 'Hamilton' dancer expands search area | CNN

The family of a missing Broadway dancer whose credits include “Hamilton” and “MJ the Musical” is expanding its search beyond the South Carolina hiking trailhead where authorities found his car earlier this month.

Zelig Williams, 28, was last seen Oct. 3 at his home in Columbia, according to a statement from the Richland County Sheriff's Department. The next day the family filed a missing person's report after failing to contact them, the department said.

The performer's mother, Kathy Williams, and cousin Miyuki Corbett-Jacobs told CNN's Victor Blackwell on Saturday that the search will go beyond the parking lot where the car was found, more than 20 miles from Williams' home.

Searchers will look on both sides of the cross-state Palmetto Trail that leads to major roads. “As a family, we have been searching. We've searched the area on foot multiple times, and now we're looking to expand our search,” said Corbett-Jacobs.

The hiking trailhead is near Congaree National Park, which is popular with canoeists and kayakers.

Corbett-Jacobs believes Williams may have found a place to walk, as the family “loves a good walking trail.”

Kathy Williams said she believes her son is in danger.

The family has urged the public to alert authorities if anyone matches the dancer's description.

The family's private investigators “keep getting leads, and they follow those leads,” Corbett-Jacobs said Saturday, adding that someone recently sent them a photo of someone who looked like Zelig Williams, but it turned out he wasn't.

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said his deputies have “used all available manpower and technology” to try to find Williams and are asking for the public's help.

“He didn't move. It's definitely a missing person (case) with suspected foul play,” Corbett-Jacobs said.

Corbett-Jacobs said at a press conference Wednesday that the family believes Williams was off her medication at the time of her disappearance. He later told CNN that the prescription was for his mental health.

Williams is her mother's last surviving child after losing both her daughters in a car accident in 2004.

Kathy Williams told Blackwell, “She told me when she was dancing, she felt with her sisters.” “And he's a great dancer, an amazing dancer, and that's what he loved to do, to keep him going.”

When asked what she would tell Williams, her cousin said, “We would tell Zelig to hold on, hold on to God, hold on to your faith and find your way home. We won't stop looking for you until we bring you home.”