Yolanda Marie Williams was 7 when she was last seen on July 20, 1977, after a fire destroyed the family home in Compton. The house fire began in the room where the children slept. Yolanda’s mother, Earlene Williams, was found inside the burned home, strangled. Yolanda and two siblings, Ivy and Violet Matory, plus a family friend, Sir-Kristopher Marshall, were not at the scene. Investigators found a trail of blood leading from the house to a nearby alley and evidence suggesting someone wounded left the property and entered a vehicle.

The timing drew attention because the three girls were due to testify in a sexual abuse case against their father, James Williams. He was arrested for Earlene’s murder and was reportedly seen with the children at a Denny’s the morning after the fire, though he later did not have them with him. Prosecutors charged him in connection with the children’s disappearance, but two trials ended in hung juries and the charges were dropped in 1979. Skeletal remains later identified as Ivy Matory were found in Corona in 2014; Yolanda, Violet, and Sir-Kristopher remain missing. If anyone knew Yolanda, Violet, or Sir-Kristopher or has information about that night, please come forward.