SC SC - Phyllis Gilliam, 11, Columbia, 16 August 1971

[natureaker]

Phyllis Gilliam, NamUs #MP56099

Missing Age: 11 Years
Current Age: 59 Years
First Name: Phyllis
Last Name: Gilliam

Sex: Female
Height: 4' 0" (48 Inches)
Weight: 65 lbs
Race/Ethnicity: Black/African American

Circumstances
Date of Last Contact: August 16, 1971
NamUs Case Created: March 18, 2019
Columbia, South Carolina 29204
County: Richland County
Circumstances of Disappearance:
Phyllis Gilliam was last seen at her grandmother's home at 2100 Saxon Plaza, apt. 34-5. She left her grandmother's home and was going to the local laundry mat on Read St. in the city of Columbia, SC.

Physical Description
Hair Color: Black
Left Eye Color: Brown
Right Eye Color: Brown

 

[Beekarina]

So young.

Edited: this is the closest I can find, but the remains seem to indicate the death also occurred in 1983....

717UFNC

 

[Moonwalker9]

Wasn't she reported missing before or simply that her nameus profile wasn't created until now? Feels odd to me that there ain't more info on amissing 11 years old that dates back to the early 70's.

 

[Beekarina]

Right? So sad.

I'm not really sure how it works with creating a Nameus, but I hope she was reported missing back in 1971. She looks cared for & happy in the photo. I know its hard to tell, but you know how some of the kids just look sad, etc?

She's been missing my entire lifetime. When I see the 70s missing, I'm always struck by that, and wish we could solve. Wish there was more information, more photos, etc.

 

[natureaker]

Trying to find more information about the area she went missing from. Read Street is not far from where she lived on Saxon Plaza (now Cecil Saxon Street) and it seems that the laundry mat that was there in 1971 is no longer there, as a quick Google search told me.

For her to walk from her grand,mother's home to the laundry mat, depending on what route she took and where the laundry mat was located, it would've taken ~10 minutes or maybe less. Here's a visual of that.

However, since I am not from the area, I don't know all that much about what it's currently like or what it was like in the 1970's.

 

[PayrollNerd]

Cold Cases Facebook page, posted on 3/18/19

Cold Cases

 

[PayrollNerd]

Right? So sad.

I'm not really sure how it works with creating a Nameus, but I hope she was reported missing back in 1971. She looks cared for & happy in the photo. I know its hard to tell, but you know how some of the kids just look sad, etc?

She's been missing my entire lifetime. When I see the 70s missing, I'm always struck by that, and wish we could solve. Wish there was more information, more photos, etc.

I agree she looks healthy and happy. I wonder what happened to the laundry? I’m assuming she was carrying it. Did they find it?

 

[natureaker]

Age progression of Phyllis per NamUs

 

[PayrollNerd]

Great age progression. She was such a tiny little girl. That laundry had to bulky & difficult to carry. Who remembers seeing her carrying it? Are there or were there sidewalks? Did other shoppers pass her?

 

[WhrRUGoingWhrHvUBeen]

Trying to find more information about the area she went missing from. Read Street is not far from where she lived on Saxon Plaza (now Cecil Saxon Street) and it seems that the laundry mat that was there in 1971 is no longer there, as a quick Google search told me.

For her to walk from her grand,mother's home to the laundry mat, depending on what route she took and where the laundry mat was located, it would've taken ~10 minutes or maybe less. Here's a visual of that.

However, since I am not from the area, I don't know all that much about what it's currently like or what it was like in the 1970's.

I grew up about 10 minutes away from Read Street, and it was definitely a rough area. Gonzalez Gardens, a low income housing project built in the 1940s with 200+ apartments, used to be located minutes from where Phyllis disappeared. It was torn down in 2017, and this along with other factors have improved the area over the last 20 years.

 

[CastlesBurning]

Phyllis Gilliam Disappeared During Trip To Laundromat In 1971

 

[Beekarina]

Phyllis Gilliam Disappeared During Trip To Laundromat In 1971

Reading this article, it sounds as though she may not have been doing laundry? Perhaps the laundromat had a soda or candy machine inside?

When I was a kid in the late 70s/80s, a friend's family owned a laundromat, and we used to stop in and buy drinks from their machine if we were out and passing by. Not sure if this was common elsewhere, but it seems possible for a kid with some spare change looking for a treat?

And if kids did this, it could be an explanation for people not remembering her carrying laundry, and also maybe the laundromat was a place creeps looking for kids might think to watch for one?

 

[Diane Redfern]

This case made me think of Mary Ellen Deener. Lester Eubanks
I'm not saying he's involved, but I'm curious about where he was in 1971.

 

[TheArtfulDetective]

Anniversary of disappearance today.

 

[citizen_sleuth]

"Friends Offer Reward For 'Lost' Gilliam Girl," Columbia Record, 2 September 1971, 8D.

Friends and neighbors of the family of a missing 11-year old girl have offered a reward of $450 for information leading to her whereabouts.

[...]

Phyllis Gilliam of 201 Dixon drive has been missing since August 16. She was last seen in the 2300 block of Read street. She was wearing a black and white dress.

Harry L. Logan, "Girl's Disappearance Baffles Police Agencies," Columbia Record, 4 November 1971, 1A, 5A.
[part 1] [part 2]

Phyllis left her grandmother's house on August 16 to go to a dry cleaning plant on Read street. [/] Police have been able to confirm that she made it to the dry cleaners and that she left. From that point there is no trace of what happened to the girl.

"In my 30 years of law enforcement I don't remember a case like this where a child has disappeared with no trace," said Det. Capt. Harry T. Snipes of the Columbia Police Department.

"This is a baffling case. There is no doubt about that."

[...]

"I'm still at the day she left home as far as I'm concerned," [Sgt. Samuel] Peay said. "We have one witness that saw her leaving the cleaners and heading towards Two Notch road. Her parents say that she wouldn't have gotten into a car with strangers and would have put up a fight if someone tried to force her into the car."

The girl was a resident of Richland county, but was last seen in the city of Columbia so both the sheriff's department and city police have been working on the case.

"We have been working very closely," Snipes said. "In a case like this where a young child just disappears all law enforcement is concerned."

[...]

Peay said, "This thing has me puzzled. I don't know where to go from here."

Peay said private citizens have gone down to Read street to ask questions and try and help. He said they had checked out the same house twice on reports from different people but without any results.

Snipes said that lie detector tests had been given to numerous people, including a parole violator from Pennsylvania.

Snipes said the man from Pennsylvania had been the only "real good suspect," but that he had been given a lie detector test twice and "had run a clear chart" both times.

[...]

"She was very active in her Sunday school class. Children I've talked with say that Phyllis wouldn't just run away. My own two boys knew her too," Peay said.

He added with a touch of sadness in his voice, "Her mother and father call me constantly and it gets harder and harder to tell them I don't know anything new."

Harry L. Logan, "Files On Missing Children Gathering Dust," Columbia Record, 16 February 1973, 1A, 2A.
[part 1] [part 2]

The last time 11-year-old Phyllis Gilliam was seen was at a dry cleaning plant on Read street on Aug. 16, 1971.

[...]

However, according to Snipes, it became apparent from Phyllis Gilliam's background that she would not have left without a trace.

Snipes said that local Negroes had volunteered their services and gone into the Read street area searching for clues in the Gilliam girl's disappearance.

"We got excellent cooperation from the citizens in that area, which we don't always get," Snipes said.

"It's like the chief, (William R. Cauthen) said, 'It's like the earth just opened up and swallowed her up," Snipes said.

 

[Moonwalker9]

This is her grandmothers apartment on saxon avaneue

2100 Celia Saxon St · 2100 Celia Saxon St, Columbia, SC 29204

2100 Celia Saxon St, Columbia, SC 29204

www.google.com

And this is 2300 Reed Street where the dry cleaning service was located Apparently she made it there and then she was last seen close to Two Notch Road, a few blocks away.

2300 Read St · 2300 Read St, Columbia, SC 29204

2300 Read St, Columbia, SC 29204

www.google.com

But it's not too far away from her grandmothers home. Everything happened on a walking distance.

Seems like there is too lite info available here. Ny guess she was poicked up by someone she know

 

[lightofmine99]

Now on the Doe Network.

4688DFSC - Phyllis Gilliam

 

[marytoodles]

I’m just reading about this. So sad. I wonder if any of her immediate family is still alive? I couldn’t find any recent news stories about it.

 

[Pennysmom1]

April 1, 2020

Phyllis Gilliam, 11: Disappeared During Trip To Laundromat In 1971

The 11-year-old took a trip to the nearby laundromat and has never been seen or heard from again. Phyllis Gilliam disappeared on August 16.

ourblackgirls.com

"Friends Offer Reward For ‘Lost’ Gilliam Girl"

Clipping found in The Columbia Record published in Columbia, South Carolina on 9/2/1971. "Friends Offer Reward For ‘Lost’ Gilliam Girl"

www.newspapers.com