Rally outside Rochester City Hall demands mayor's action on missing persons cases

Protestors from the WNY Missing & Unidentified Persons Network gathered outside of city hall on Monday yelling for Mayor Malik Evans to come out and speak with them. What was that about?

Frustration with official responses and effort to find their missing loved ones.

Joyce Williams, the mother of 27-year-old Tommy Williams who has been missing since 2022, walked down the steps of city hall to face the building. In her hand was a sign that read, "SAY MY NAME TOMMY WILLIAMS."

"We don't need you to look good, we need you to make action," Williams yelled out. "Return somebody's call!"

Audrey Brentson, Tommy Williams' neighbor, walked out of the building to announce that the mayor said he would not be coming out to speak with them. He wasn't going to send out a representative either. Instead, Evans reportedly said he would reach out to the group and set up a time when they could meet.

The group says they have been trying to call the mayor for two years with no response.

To them, this lack of response from him felt like another blow-off, another reason why they were there to protest. In their experiences, they say, it feels as if agencies in New York, specifically Rochester, don't prioritize missing or unidentified people.

And they were there to demand change.

Where is the accountability?

The WNY Missing & Unidentified Persons Network, started by Merry Williams-Diers, is a group of community members organized to help families with missing loved ones. They have teams set up across Western New York that hold protests, organize search parties, create and pass out flyers and work to improve communication between police agencies and families.

The group of about 10 people, consisting of community members and families of local missing people, began their protest outside of the Public Safety Building. They were there to raise awareness of local cases and to demand accountability for what they feel has been a lack of transparency from both Rochester police and the Medical Examiner's office.

"Everyone says don't talk about it, be about it," Joyce Williams said. "But there's not enough talking about it. People don't even know half the missing people in Rochester."

What about DNA testing and other ways to find people?

Sylvia Didas stood on the sidewalk, holding a sign above her head that read, "WHY NO DNA FOR OVER 3 YEARS? RPD FAIL."

Her nephew, Nicholas Alvarez, has been missing since 2020. He walked out of his Rochester home three days before Thanksgiving and has never been seen since.

After the recent news about another local missing man, Sean Marrero, whose body sat in the ME's office unidentified for nine months, Didas began to question if the DNA she and her family gave to police had ever been tested to see if Nick could be at the ME's office, too.

With the help of Merry Williams-Diers from the WNY Missing & Unidentified Persons Network, they learned that their DNA, which they gave to police a week or two after Nick went missing, has never been tested.

To make matters worse, she said, they learned the DNA never even made it to the ME's office in the first place.

At first, she said, her family trusted the police were doing everything in their power to find Nick. But after three years with no answers, she said they were ready to fight.

"You trust the police to do these things, and they were not done," Didas said. "They've dropped the ball completely on Nick's case.

Before the group began their walk to the mayor's office, RPD's Captain Bello took Joyce Williams, Sylvia Didas, and Ja'Quan Holley-Grisham, the brother of Domonique Holley-Grisham who has been missing since 2009, to the side to hear their concerns.

"I just told him I wish there was better communication and better procedure and protocol for how they handle these things," Holley-Grisham said.

Then the group began their walk down Exchange Street to City Hall.

'It takes a village to find our missing'

Joyce Williams and Jaquan Holley-Grisham held hands and led the group on their walk.

"It takes a village to raise a child," Williams yelled. "It takes a village to find our missing."

"Nicholas Alvarez"

"Tommy Williams"

"Domonique Holley Grisham"

"Brian Sullivan"

"Johnathan Bradley," the group yelled, sharing the names of those missing from Rochester.

At City Hall, the group stood on the steps with their signs in their hands, continuing to yell the names of missing people and demanding for the mayor to come out to speak with them. The head of security came out to tell them he would hand deliver a note from them to the mayor asking him to come out.

What is Rochester doing to find missing people?

The group waited on the steps for about an hour before they got the news that Mayor Malik Evans would not be coming out to speak with them.

"You can look good on the TV, but he ain't doing nothing," Williams said after she learned the news. "Actions speak louder than words and he didn't even have the decency to call me after the last protest."

"He don't care, and now he won't even show his face," she said.

Though this was not the outcome the group was hoping for, they said their fight was not going to end on those steps of City Hall. They gave the mayor's office their contact information and said they would continue to make noise and raise awareness for their missing loved ones. This protest was just another step in the group's fight for justice.

"Don't hide, come on out," Williams yelled one last time before the group dispersed for the day.

On March 9, the WNY Missing & Unidentified Persons Network will be hosting a 2-in-1 search party and flyer-hanging event for Tommy Williams and Nicholas Alvarez from 12-3 p.m. The group will meet at the 18-Hour store on the corner of Garson and Goodman streets in Rochester and is asking for community volunteers to come out and help.

— Madison Scott is a recent college graduate who is an intern with the Democrat and Chronicle. She has an interest in how the system helps or doesn't help families with missing loved ones. She can be reached at MDScott@gannett.com. Tell her if you have a good history book recommendation, especially about the Rochester region.

This article originally appeared on Aberdeen News: WNY Missing Persons Network protests outside Rochester City Hall