Murder Mixtape 185: Terrance Williams and Felipe Santos

Who was Terrance?

Terrance Deon Williams was born on January 17th, 1976 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. His mother, Marcia (pronounced Mar-see-uh) Williams, had Terrance when she was just 17, so she felt that she grew up with her son. The two became best friends and Terrance and Marcia did everything together. 

At 17, in 1993, Terrance had a child with his girlfriend. Eventually, he ended up fathering four children with different mothers. Terrance was young, with some maturing left to do, and wasn’t always able to make child support payments for his kids, but he loved them very much. In fact, at the time of his disappearance, Marcia said that her son was doing his best to get his life together and on the right track so he could have his children all together with him in Florida.

In 2001, Marcia moved from Chattanooga to Naples, Florida. Terrance, 25, had grown up so close with his mother that he couldn’t stay in a city where she wasn’t, so he followed his mother to Naples. He got a job as a cook at a local Pizza Hut in Bonita Springs and was working to save money. 

Marcia began working at PNC Bank, where she and Terrance met Jason Gonzalez. Terrance and Jason hit it off immediately, so they became roommates. Marcia even referred to Jason as her second son. Terrance and Jason would go out often together, talk to girls, and make new friends. Jason said that he and Terrance were opposites; Terrance was quiet and easygoing, and seemed to get along with everyone. He was just a nice guy.

The Disappearance

On Sunday, January 11th, 2004, Terrance, 27, wanted Jason to come to a party with him that night. The party was going to be with several friends of Terrance’s from Pizza Hut. Unfortunately, Jason couldn’t go. He had his kids with him that weekend and he didn’t go out when they were with him. Terrance left that night in his white, 1983 Cadillac. His standing rule with Jason for going out was if Jason didn’t see him in a day or two he shouldn’t worry. If he didn’t see him in three days, start looking. 

When Jason woke up the next morning, on Monday the 12th, he found that he had several missed calls from Terrance. He tried calling him, but couldn’t get in touch with him. Marcia was also growing concerned as the day went on. The last time she’d seen her son had been the day before, when she picked him up for work and took him home. She told Terrance that she needed some gas money. He gave her some and told her, “I’ll see you later momma.”

Terrance usually called his mother often, more than once a day. When she still hadn’t heard from him and couldn’t reach him, she knew something was wrong. Jason contacted Marcia and told her that he thought something might be wrong. Finally, Marcia went to the Collier County Sheriff’s Department to report her son missing. The officers told Marcia that since her son was 27-years-old, he was an adult, and could do whatever he wanted. Marcia wasn’t deterred. Her, Jason, and the rest of Terrance’s friends and family began calling everyone they knew, looking for any sign of Terrance. 

Jason called every hospital nearby and contacted all police offices in surrounding areas. Nobody knew where Terrance was. Marcia’s family called the local tow companies, looking for his vehicle. Luckily, one company had towed a 1983 white Cadillac in the early morning hours of January 12th. They’d towed the seemingly abandoned vehicle from the Naples Memorial Gardens Cemetery.

Marcia quickly made her way to the cemetery to speak to the staff who’d been working when Terrance’s vehicle was towed. The workers told Marcia that they saw a Collier County Sheriff’s Deputy put Terrance in the backseat of his patrol car, then drive away. They recalled that the name on the deputy’s tag was “Steven Calkins”. 

Marcia, who was absolutely NOT here to fuck around, called a notary to meet her at the cemetery, where. The workers made sworn affidavits that were notarized, explaining what they’d seen that night.

The Investigation

Marcia headed back to the Collier County Sheriff’s Department with the affidavits to show them that her son was last seen with one of their deputies. Now, January 16th, and still no sign of Terrance, Marcia was adamant that Terrance was in trouble. In a recorded phone call, a dispatcher called Deputy Calkins to ask him about the encounter:

Dispatch: “I hate to bother you at home on your day off, but this woman’s been bothering us all day. You towed a car from Vanderbilt and a hundred…Do you remember it?”

Calkins: “Uhhh, no.”

Dispatch: “Do you remember…she said it was near the cemetery.”

Calkins: “Cemetery?”

He denied having a vehicle towed from the area and said he didn’t remember any of it. Dispatch said that they didn’t have any record of him arresting anyone. The dispatcher told him that the vehicle was towed at 12:27AM. He said that he had to look it up in his notes, but that there was no one in the vehicle. Calkins said he hadn’t arrested anyone in a long time.

Dispatch: “Uh, well, somebody’s at the cemetery telling the mother that you picked up the driver and he’s been missing since Monday.”

Calkins: “Oh, for Pete’s sake.”

Marcia spoke with a detective at the office, who assured her that Calkins wouldn’t have done anything nefarious. He was a 16 year veteran of the Collier County Sheriff’s Department. His personnel file had many commendations and great recommendations from the public, his co-workers, and superiors. On paper, he was a stellar deputy, and there didn’t seem to be any reason to doubt him. It definitely seemed like his co-workers were taking Calkins’ word for it that he didn’t know anything about Terrance’s disappearance.

After speaking with Calkins, the dispatcher called Pam Williams, Marcia’s sister. She told Pam that they’d spoken to Calkins about the night that Terrance’s vehicle was towed, and that he said he didn’t pick Terrance up. Dispatch argued that there was no report and that Calkins denied it, so CLEARLY it never happened. 

Marcia and the rest of her family began posting pictures and missing persons posters around the city and surrounding areas, begging anyone to come forward with information about Terrance.

Despite the initial belief that the Sheriff’s Department didn’t believe that Calkins was involved, the department launched an internal investigation into Deputy Calkins. His superiors asked him to write an incident report to read aloud to internal affairs. Wildly enough, his story had COMPLETELY changed. This is Deputy Calkins’ account of what happened:

On January 12th, 2004 around 12:15AM, while on patrol, Calkins noticed an older model white Cadillac driving southbound on county road 901. The vehicle appeared to be having problems, so he motioned for the driver to pull over. The Cadillac’s driver pulled into the parking lot of cemetary. Calkins yelled out to ask the driver if he was having trouble and the driver said yes. The two spoke and Calkins said that the driver told him he’d just bought the vehicle and it wasn’t running right. He was now late for work and asked the officer for a ride. Calkins said he offered to call a cab for the man, but the driver said he couldn’t afford it. The driver again asked for a ride from Calkins. He said that his job was nearby at the Circle K on William’s Pass Road, and he was scared he’d lose it. Calkins said that he agreed, opened the rear door of his cruiser, and told the driver to get in. Calkins drove him up the road to the Circle K and said that he dropped him off at the south side of the building. He told the driver that he better make plans right away to get his vehicle moved and warned him that his tag was expired. The driver told Calkins that the receipt and proper registration were in his glove box in the Cadillac.

Sergeant Mike Koval asked Calkins why he decided not to arrest or cite the driver. He had multiple violations, including driving with a suspended license and an unregistered vehicle, for which Calkins would’ve written him tickets for or even taken him to jail. Calkins responded that he had no plans to arrest him, he was just planning on helping the disabled vehicle. The interviewer asked him again, why hadn’t he arrested the driver. Calkins said, “he just seemed like a really nice guy from what I can remember.” He also said that he didn’t know the driver’s name. 

On February 11th, 2004, in a sworn statement, Calkins said that he had decided to stop back at the Cadillac after dropping the guy off at the Circle K. He checked the glovebox, found that the documents were not inside of it. He then phoned the Circle K that he’d dropped Terrance off at, but the clerk said she didn’t know a Terrance. Calkins said he felt like he’d been lied to. 

Internal affairs found a call that Deputy Calkins had placed to dispatch around the time that Calkins said he’d dropped Terrance off at the Circle K. The call was inappropriate, to say the least:

Calkins: “I got a homie’s Cadillac on the side of the road here, signal 11, signal 52, nobody around…I’m at the cemetery at the corner of Vanderbilt and 111th.”

Dispatch: “Oh yea, you be doin’ some prayin’? Been prayin’ to the Heavenly Father?”

Calkins: “Maybe he’s out there in the cemetary. He’ll come back and his car will be towed…The call comes back to nothin’. It’s a big old white piece of junk Cadillac…I’m towin’ it.”

Dispatch: “You tow it baby, give me the VIN number.”

Calkins gave the dispatcher the VIN on the vehicle.

Calkins: “It’s gonna come back to one of the brothers in Fort Myers.”

Calkins and the dispatcher both spoke in an intentional dialect that seemed to mock African-Americans. The two both laughed throughout the call. The dispatcher, Dave Jolicoeur, later said that he and Calkins were using language from the movie, “Sudden Impact,” and that this type of conversation was typical between them, sort of an inside joke. He admitted it was poor judgement.

30 minutes later, Calkins called dispatch back, asking him to run a search with Terrance’s full name, with a fake birthday that Terrance had supposedly used before when he’d been in trouble. He said that he was alone when he called and gave this info to dispatch, however some don’t believe this. The birthday he gave would’ve only been known by Terrance and Calkins would’ve only known it if Terrance had given it to him. Calkins later told investigators that he only knew Terrance’s first name. In the sworn statement, Calkins said that he checked the vehicle, called the wrecker, now thinking that it could’ve been stolen or abandoned, since he couldn’t find the paperwork. A signal 11 and signal 52 indicate an abandoned vehicle, though Terrance was driving the vehicle when Calkins approached him.

When asked if Calkins suspected that Terrance may have been intoxicated, Calkins said he didn’t smell alcohol. He described Terrance as clean, very clean cut, obviously except for his long dreadlocks, he seemed to be a very clean young man.

Marcia didn’t understand most of Calkin’s answers. Why would he have called to tow a vehicle when he had supposedly JUST driven the owner down the road to the Circle K?? She also said that her son would have NEVER asked for a ride from a police officer. He was still dealing with issues with the law based on his failure to pay child support. Marcia didn’t think there was any possibility he would’ve willingly gotten in a police cruiser for no reason.

Calkins told investigators that he’d used his agency issued Nextel to call the Circle K looking for Terrance, however, there was no record of this call. Calkins also said that after the Cadillac was towed, he went back to the Circle K. Investigators asked why he did this. Calkins said said, “I believe I wanted to try to talk to Terrance.” The investigator probed further, asking him why he wanted to talk to him…he hadn’t done anything wrong, at least nothing wrong that Calkins had originally planned to deal with him for. Calkins just said that he couldn’t remember, but that he wanted to talk to him. Calkins voluntarily took three lie detector tests and failed all three.

Meanwhile, Marcia and Terrance’s stepfather were doing everything they could to bring attention to their son’s disappearance. They’d given interviews, posted missing persons posters everywhere, and stood in front of the Circle K holding signs. They even filed a complaint with the sheriff’s department, RIGHTFULLY SO. Calkins’ response to Marcia and her family’s efforts was exactly what you think it would be. He said that the family talked to everyone except him about the situation, and now he was kind of pissed about it. He said that he didn’t understand why they didn’t just come to him right off the bat, adding, “this tells me that they’ve done this stuff before. They’re too quick to attack, too quick to accuse.” WHAT THE FUCK.

In March of 2004, feeling helpless, Marcia wrote a letter to the Naples Daily News newspaper, explaining what had happened, asking for answers. Soon after, she received a call from the Mexican consulate. Marcia was hopeful that they had found her son, but instead she was told something that made her stomach sink. Terrance wasn’t the first young man to go missing in the Naples area after having an encounter with police. Three months before Terrance disappeared, 23-year-old Felipe Santos disappeared after a minor car accident. He was last seen getting into the backseat of a police cruiser belonging to none other than Deputy Steven Calkins.

Felipe Santos

Felipe Santos was born on January 1st, 1979 in Oaxaca (Waa-Ha-Kuh), Mexico. He was the second of five brothers, the oldest being Jorge, then Felipe, then Salvador. He came to the United States in 2000 as an undocumented immigrant, hoping to build a better life. His younger brother, Sal, followed Felipe and Jorge to the states. They lived in a small town, just an hour from Naples, called Immokalee. Immokalee is one of the nation’s largest migrant communities, and there were lots of resources there to help these immigrants.

Felipe was a very hard worker and part of the reason he came to the United States was to earn money to send to his family back in Oaxaca. In particular, his girlfriend, Apolonia, and his baby girl, Brittany. Shortly after arriving in the United States, Felipe and his brothers got jobs working in masonry and construction. 

On Wednesday, October 1st, 2003, Felipe and his brothers piled into his white 1988 Ford to head to work in Naples around 6:30PM. Unfortunately, Felipe hit another vehicle while driving near the Green Tree Shopping Center. The accident was extremely minor and nobody was injured. Sal said that they asked the woman who was driving the other vehicle to not call the police, that they would happily pay her for the damage. None of the men were legal citizens and Felipe, who’d been driving, didn’t have a driver’s license. The woman was extremely angry and told the men that she’d already called the police.

Shortly after, a Collier County Sheriff’s Deputy arrived on scene. It was Deputy Steven Calkins. Sal remembered that Calkins was extremely angry. He went and spoke to the woman who Felipe had hit, then came back to the men. Sal was extremely afraid of getting in trouble. He hadn’t been in the country for very long and was only 18-years-old. Calkins cited Felipe for driving without a license or insurance and told him to get into the back of his police cruiser. Calkins drove him away.

Sal and Jorge assumed that Calkins was taking Felipe to jail. One of the brothers called the Collier County Jail to find out about bailing Felipe out, but they had no record of him. Their boss at the construction company told them that they’d wait a bit and call back. Maybe he hadn’t been processed yet. However, they called back several hours later and there was still no record of Felipe, and he wasn’t at the jail.

Sal and Jorge couldn’t find their brother and hadn’t heard anything from him, so they contacted the Mexican consulate to assist them with filing a missing persons report and an internal complaint against Deputy Calkins. 

The sheriff’s department launched an internal investigation into Calkin’s encounter with Felipe. Calkins said that he’d changed his mind about taking Felipe to jail because he was SO POLITE AND COOPERATIVE. He said that he didn’t leave Felipe at the scene because he didn’t want him driving his car illegally, so he dropped him off AT A CIRCLE K ABOUT A MILE AWAY. Felipe was never seen again. Calkins’ actions were deemed lawful and proper, and the complaint against him was closed. 

The Theories

The first theory was that both men were running as fugitives from the law. Felipe was an undocumented immigrant, which very likely could’ve resulted in him being sent back to Mexico. Terrance reportedly got into a few different fights while living in Tennessee. He pled guilty to robbery in 1995 and was sentenced to 11 months in jail, including probation, according to court records. Marcia said that her son had spent 55 days in jail following a DUI charge and still owed child support to the mothers of his four children. After that, he moved down to Florida in hopes of getting his life on track. 

Coincidentally, Terrance was set to appear in court on January 14th, 2 days after his disappearance, in Tennessee for child support. If he’d failed to show up for court, he would’ve had to pay a $5,000 fine and serve 60 days in jail.

On July 2nd, 2004, the Collier County Sheriff’s Department issued a statement saying that both men were wanted by law enforcement, and that they may be purposely avoiding being found by law enforcement. 

The second theory was that the two men had gotten lost in the Everglades after being left there intentionally. There are many stories of people in power taking others out to the middle of nowhere, to the desert, the tundra, the Everglades, and leaving them to get back on their own. They’d even take their shoes from them. Rather than arresting these people, they’d punish them by essentially giving them a death sentence by leaving them in an extremely dangerous area, with no resources and no idea how to get home. Investigators didn’t think this could’ve happened, as both Felipe and Terrance were healthy young men, who seemed like they could’ve gotten to help. Investigators also felt that it was impossible for them to search the massive wetlands for signs of the men.

Theory three was the most obvious: murder. So many of Calkins’ fellow deputies were suspicious, especially after Terrance went missing too. One deputy even reportedly said, “most of us thought he killed both of them.” It seemed that the sheriff’s office was doing everything it could to find something on Calkins. There was no video footage from either Circle K of Calkins dropping either man off. 

In August of 2004, Calkins was fired by the Collier County Sheriff’s Department because they couldn’t get him to fully cooperate with the agency to get the information they needed to locate Terrance and Felipe. In October of 2004, the grand jury invited Calkins to testify, but he refused. He was never indicted because there was no evidence that a crime had actually occurred. 

In January of 2016, Calkins sold his house in Naples and moved to Iowa. The new owners of Calkins’ former home gave police full permission to search the residence without a warrant. They tore that house and yard up, looking for any evidence of foul play, even digging up freshly poured concrete in the backyard. Despite not finding anything, this signified how convinced that the sheriff’s department was that Calkins murdered Felipe and Terrance. 

In December of 2020, Calkins was forced to be deposed as part of a civil suit against him. He again talks about how he didn’t take either man to jail because they both seemed like such nice guys. Unfortunately, the wrongful death suit was not allowed to move forward. The court appointed arbitrator said that there just wasn’t enough evidence to bring forth a case. Calkins is currently living as a free man in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. There have been no developments in the search for Felipe Santos or Terrance Williams.