LEFT: Family members of Nancy Stewart Hranko Williams and detectives who are seeking information about her fate hold a portrait that depicts the way she would look today. Williams went missing in 1988, and a sketch artist created the portrait from photos of her and from studying the way family members have aged. In front from left are her niece, Janice Scott Jackson; her sister, Shirley Scott Davis; her daughter, Jennifer Hranko; and her great niece, Lakesha Jackson. Behind them are Detectives Jon Williams, left, and J.T Williams, both of the Sandy Springs, Ga., Police Department.

POWHATAN POINT — For nearly 30 years, Shirley Scott Davis has wondered what happened to her sister. Now, law enforcement officers from Georgia are trying to help Davis and her family find some answers in Belmont County.

Nancy Stewart Hranko Williams was 26 years old when she vanished. She had a young daughter, but that may have been about all she had going for her. The Sandy Springs, Ga., police detectives investigating her disappearance said Williams lived a hard life — a fact that several of her family members acknowledged when it was discussed last week. Davis didn’t mince words when describing Williams.

“She was a known drug user and a prostitute,” Davis said of her sister. “I’m not like that. My mother was a Christian, and I am, too. But she was still my sister.”

Sandy Springs Detectives Jon Williams and J.T. Williams traveled to Belmont County last week to meet with the missing woman’s family in Powhatan Point and to search for clues in her disappearance. They became involved in the investigation after Davis reached out for help. She contacted their department because her sister was living in Fulton County, Ga., when she went missing. That area was later incorporated and today is known as Sandy Springs.

Davis said Nancy Williams was born and raised in Powhatan and was living in Georgia with a man her family did not know very well when they lost contact with her. The family members all lived in Powhatan Point, according to Davis, and her Nancy would “hang out” in Bellaire and Wheeling.

Davis said her sister “kept a room” at the Rogers Hotel in Wheeling, where she would sell sexual favors. The man in Nancy’s life was identified by Davis as Robert Mayhew, aka Bob or Tom Katz and Bob or Tim Wilson. She said he would accompany her sister on frequent trips back and forth from Georgia to the Ohio Valley.

The detectives said they are not sure about the identity or the whereabouts of “Robert Mayhew.” They added that they would appreciate any information that a member of the public might be able to provide about him, since they would like to talk to him about the case.

“Nancy had lived a low lifestyle, had been known to hitchhike, been into prostitution, frequent to bars and had been in several jails,” Davis wrote about her sister.

Nancy Williams was also described as a small woman — 5 feet 2 inches to 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighing 95-100 pounds. She had short, reddish blonde hair that she sometimes dyed black and blue eyes. Born on Oct. 9, 1961, she used the alias “Bobbi Jo,” according to family members. She also had a tattoo on her fingers that spelled out “JENFR” and may have had more tattoos.

The woman’s last contact with her family came in early 1988 by phone. Relatives also received a collect call from the man Nancy was living with in February 1988. He told them Nancy had left him and was headed for the Ohio Valley.

Nancy Williams was never seen or heard from again.

Davis said she reported her sister missing soon thereafter. She filed reports with the Belmont County Sheriff’s Department and with law enforcement in Fulton County, Ga., but no sign of Nancy was ever found.

The detectives currently investigating the case said the Georgia apartment complex where Nancy and her male companion lived is now gone, and no activity has been associated with her Social Security number since 1988. They believe she was murdered, though they have no physical evidence of her remains.

They also believe that her death occurred in the Ohio Valley and that someone still living in the local area today has information about her disappearance. That is why the Sandy Springs Police Department is offering a $10,000 reward for information about Nancy Williams’ whereabouts or leading to prosecution in the case.

J.T. Williams said he and Jon Williams have strong reason to believe someone in or around Powhatan Point has information that could help them with the case. Together, they spent time last week doing a general canvass of the area, interviewing residents and learning what they could.

Davis and other family members said people in the area still talk about Nancy, and rumors about her disappearance still circulate in the local area. Those rumors keep them on edge.

“I’m still scared,” said Jennifer Hranko, Nancy Williams’ daughter who was being raised by other family members when her mother disappeared.

“We’re already starting to stir up a hornet’s nest,” J.T. Williams said. “We’ve been knocking on doors … and it’s starting to generate chatter.”

As part of their investigation, the Georgia officers collected DNA from Davis and from Hranko and submitted it to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. They said that effort could lead to a “familial hit” in the NamUs system as evidence of human remains is found and reported all across the country. So far, however, no evidence has been linked to Nancy Williams or her family members.

The detectives’ goal is to recover Nancy Williams’ remains and to obtain a conviction in her disappearance and apparent death.

The family and the detectives hope that someone will come forward with information that could give them a break in the case. Anonymous tips will be accepted, but the detectives said they cannot guarantee any sort of immunity from prosecution for any crime.

To report information about Nancy Williams or her disappearance, call Detective Jon Williams at 770-551-3296 or email him at jwilliams@sandyspringsga.gov. Information on the case can also be reported to local authorities by contacting Belmont County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Steve Forro at 740-695-7933 or emailing sforro@belmontsheriff.com.