Darci Irene ’Smiles’ Williams was 25 when she disappeared in late summer 2004 from Kansas City, Missouri. Her mother last saw her on the afternoon of August 25, 2004, when she was dropped off near 25th and Prospect; Darci was seen walking toward a small group of men and was not heard from again.

On September 4, 2004, police were directed by an anonymous 911 call to an alley between 24th Street and Terrace, near a U-Haul facility. Darci’s badly decomposed body was found concealed under roofing tar paper and brush, with a black knit shirt wrapped around her neck. The state of the remains prevented determination of an exact cause of death, but the medical examiner ruled the manner of death homicide because of how she had been concealed.

Investigators later linked Darci’s killing to a series of other female homicides. Terry A. Blair was arrested and charged in connection with Darci’s death and the deaths of several other women; he was convicted at a bench trial and sentenced to consecutive life terms. If anyone knew Darci or has information about her last known movements near 25th and Prospect on August 25, 2004, please come forward.