The Day Zelig Vanished
Dateline: Missing In America
Zelig Williams, a talented Broadway performer and former ensemble member of Hamilton and MJ the Musical, vanished on October 3rd, 2024, whil
Key takeaways
- Zelig was a dedicated performer who balanced academic life with Broadway ambitions, ultimately earning his degree while pursuing his career.
- He had deep familial ties and spiritual connections, often returning home to visit relatives and share faith-based moments.
Main topics
- Zelig Williams' rise from South Carolina to Broadway
- His personal life and family relationships
Notable quotes
He was full of faith and he was full of belief for his life.
Conclusion
Zelig Williams' disappearance remains an active mystery, with his family and
Transcript preview
Speaker 4 (0:00) Natalie Jones disappeared July 4th, 2020. Three months later, her body was found. And that is where the mystery really begins. There's nothing to indicate that she was shot, stabbed, or anything of that sort. Speaker 1 (0:13) There's a lot of people that had motive to do something. Speaker 4 (0:16) We want to paint Natalie as this angel. It's not all angelic. I'm your host, Sean Kite. And this is The Truth About Natalie. Listen and subscribe now, wherever you get your podcasts. The moment a body is found, the clock starts ticking. 48 hours. That's how long detectives have before the trail begins to go cold. From A &E and Crime House, this is the official podcast from the famous true crime series, The First 48. Step inside the critical window, the interrogations, the dead ends, and the breakthroughs that crack a case wide open. I'm Carter Roy. Each week, I revisit a landmark homicide investigation with the depth you know and immersive long-form storytelling built for your ears. Real detectives, real cases, real stakes. This is The First 48. New episodes every Thursday. Listen to and follow The First 48 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Speaker 7 (1:32) New York City has always had a magnetic pull for young, bright-eyed performers looking for their big break. That part in a Broadway show that takes you from obscurity to stardom. Like the song says, if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. The line missing from that anthem of hope is that most of those would-be stars do not make it there. Those are dreams that a lot of people have, but very few people achieve. Speaker 6 (2:05) You're right. You're definitely right. Speaker 7 (2:08) Zelig Williams was one of those rare success stories. Speaker 8 (2:12) I literally looked at him while he was dancing. I was like, you're going to be a star. I just knew it. Speaker 7 (2:18) Zelig was just 19 and attending college when he landed a role in the ensemble of a little musical you may have heard of. Speaker 1 (2:27) I am not throwing away my shot. Speaker 7 (2:29) I am not throwing away my shot. Hamilton. Speaker 7 (2:35) What was that like seeing him on stage? Speaker 8 (2:38) Amazing. Speaker 7 (2:41) A legit triple threat. Speaker 8 (2:43) He wanted to perfect his craft, whether it was dance, acting, singing. He truly studied it and wanted to just be the best version of himself. Speaker 7 (2:57) By the time he was 28, Zellig was a Broadway veteran and ready to share what he had learned with the next generation. Speaker 3 (3:06) What's up, y'all? I've been planning on doing a two-day workshop slash boot camp for dancers on how to audition for a Broadway show. Speaker 7 (3:14) He would never get the chance to impart all that wisdom. That's because on October 3rd, 2024, Zellig Williams disappeared. Speaker 7 (3:27) I'm Josh Mankiewicz, and this is Missing in America, a podcast from Dateline. This episode is The Day Zelig Vanished. Please listen closely, because you or someone you know may have information that could help Zelig's family find the answers they're looking for. Speaker 7 (3:55) Zelig Williams was born in the Palmetto State, South Carolina. He had two older sisters and was raised by his mother, Kathy Williams. He was an awesome little boy. Zelig's aunt, Christine Barber, saw her nephew blossom. Speaker 3 (4:10) He was very energetic, loving, caring. He clung to his mom. He loved his family dearly, his cousins, his grandma. He just loved everybody. Speaker 7 (4:25) Family was an anchor in his life. So was the church. Here's his cousin, Meoka Corbett Jacobs. He Speaker 2 (4:32) was full of faith and he was full of belief for his life. Speaker 7 (4:36) Zelig spoke about that nexus between faith and career on the podcast, A Time to Live with Amanda Jane Cooper. Speaker 3 (4:45) I grew up in the church and I grew up having a, I felt like I had a connection with God. My sister sang at church and so I just followed their lead. Looking back, that Speaker 7 (4:56) was probably the start of something. I sort of get the feeling he was a performer from very young. Speaker 6 (5:03) Yes, probably at the age of two or three. My baby girl used to step, and she'd come home, and she'd step in front of him. He'd just sit and look, and he just picked up just like that. Speaker 7 (5:16) A born dancer. Speaker 6 (5:18) Yes. Speaker 7 (5:20) In 2004, the Williams family faced a brutal tragedy. Both of Zelig's sisters were killed in a car accident. Zelig was just seven years old. Speaker 6 (5:32) After my daughters had passed on, I had to find something to keep him focused. Speaker 7 (5:40) That's how Zellig met Caroline Lewis-Jones at a dance studio in Irmo, South Carolina. She would become his friend and mentor. Speaker 8 (5:50) I'll never forget the day he walked in a dance class. Some people are just naturally born with it, and some people have to work really hard to achieve what they want. He did both. Speaker 7 (6:01) Zellig graduated high school in 2014. He took a deep breath and made a big leap. He moved to New York City to attend Pace University, where he studied dance. In the battle between Broadway and going to school, sounds like maybe school lost. Did he finish, or how did he balance that? Speaker 6 (6:23) It got to him a little bit, and he sat out for a little while. Speaker 7 (6:27) On Amanda Jane Cooper's podcast, he talked about the pressures he'd been facing. Speaker 3 (6:32) So there was a phase where I got to a breaking point of doing school and the show at the same time. I wasn't like failing or anything, but it wasn't my best because I was trying to do everything. I was stretching myself too thin. Speaker 6 (6:47) But he went back and got his degree. Speaker 3 (6:51) Which made you very Speaker 7 (6:52) happy. Speaker 6 (6:53) Yes, of course. Did Speaker 7 (6:56) you go Speaker 6 (6:56) see him Speaker 7 (6:57) on Broadway? Speaker 6 (6:58) I did. I was there all the time. Speaker 7 (7:03) Zellig's big break did not end with Hamilton. After two years in that cast, he went on tour with Hugh Jackman in his 2019 global concert tour, The Man, The Music, The Show. Then in 2022 came a featured part in another Broadway hit, MJ, The Musical. Here's Zellig introducing himself on the show's TikTok feed. Speaker 3 (7:29) My name is Zelig Williams and I'm ensemble slash Marlon Jackson in MJ the Musical. On Speaker 7 (7:35) Instagram, he posted a clip from a curtain call and a moment of celebration after he took on an even bigger role playing Michael Jackson. Speaker 7 (7:54) Zelig spent nearly a decade building his career in New York. By 2024, Zelig had left the cast of MJ the Musical and was looking for his next gig. Since he no longer had to be in New York to perform in eight shows a week, Zelig found himself visiting home more and more. Speaker 6 (8:14) He came back to visit me. Speaker 7 (8:16) Right. Speaker 6 (8:17) And he loved to come home and see my mom. He would go in the room with her, sing to her, read the Bible to her, and stuff like that. Speaker 7 (8:28) Zellig's grandma passed away in April of that year. His cousin Miyoka says after that loss, Zellig decided to come back to South Carolina for a longer stay. Speaker 2 (8:40) He definitely wanted to spend a little bit more time with his mother. He, of course, went back to New York initially, but then decided to come back just to spend some time. Speaker 7 (8:48) That did not mean he was giving up on returning to the stage. He kept his apartment in New York and continued to audition remotely. Speaker 2 (8:57) He had his family or friends help him with the scripts and the auditions. Speaker 7 (9:03) So, I mean, this was going to be a temporary thing back home. Speaker 2 (9:06) Right. Speaker 7 (9:08) In between his auditions, Zellig wanted to share tips with other kids, also hoping to make it to Broadway one day. Speaker 3 (9:17) I've auditioned for a lot of other Broadway shows. Speaker 7 (9:20) So he came up with the idea for a workshop, posting about it on Instagram. Speaker 3 (9:26) So I wanted to give my knowledge back to the students out here in Columbia and nearby areas on how to audition for a Broadway show, because there is skills that you need to have before even getting into the room. This is somebody who, Speaker 7 (9:40) once they had achieved their dream, like still wanted to help other people achieve theirs. That kind of tells you a lot about who he Speaker 3 (9:47) was, doesn't it? Yes. Hello, everybody. Save the date, September 27th and September 28th. Those will be the days we will be doing this boot camp. Speaker 7 (9:59) Unfortunately, when late September 2024 arrived, Mother Nature had other plans in the form of Hurricane Helene. Speaker 1 (10:09) Hundreds of thousands of residents in South Carolina still without power after Hurricane Helene's devastating winds and heavy rain caused widespread damage throughout the state. The Speaker 8 (10:20) studio that he was having it at, they had to cancel it because all the electricity was out. Speaker 7 (10:26) Caroline says Zelig was working on rescheduling the workshop for October. Then came Thursday, October 3rd, 2024. Zelig's mom, Kathy, remembers that morning as routine at first. I went outside Speaker 6 (10:42) on the front porch, and you saw I was sitting out there. And then he came back in the house, and the next thing I know, he came back with... He had shorts on and his top and little flip-flops and a picture of him, headshot. Speaker 7 (11:01) Like a headshot. A Speaker 6 (11:02) headshot. And he said, Mama, how you slept last night? I said, I slept good last night. I said, how you slept? He said, I slept good last night, too. And then he walked down, got in the vehicle, and then he drove off. Speaker 7 (11:14) Did he say where he was going? Speaker 6 (11:16) No. Speaker 7 (11:18) Kathy says Zelig left their home around 9.50 a.m. She thought he