The disappearance of Danielle Stislicki
Dec. 2, 2016, was a cold Friday night. Stislicki, 28, left work at around 5 p.m. Witnesses said they saw her leaving the parking lot of her MetLife office on Telegraph Road in Southfield with Floyd Galloway, a security guard who worked in her office. Galloway was known to seek out or flirt with Stislicki, and had previously sent her flowers.
Galloway told police he had worked until 11 p.m. that night. Investigators later learned that Galloway did not work and had called off for a “doctor appointment.” The witness said that night Galloway was in the parking lot with the hood up on his Buick Regal -- indicating he had car trouble, according to court documents.
Her co-worker told police that they later saw Galloway in the passenger seat of Stislicki’s Jeep Renegade. They said Stislicki was leaving the parking lot and waiting to turn north onto Telegraph Road. Prosecutors said Stislicki’s phone pinged with a cellular tower nearest to Galloway’s home in Berkley.
Stislicki had plans to get to dinner with her best friend that evening but did not show up and did not contact her friend. She was never seen again.
On Dec. 3, 2016, Stislicki’s Jeep Renegade was found outside her apartment. Stislicki’s best friend, the one she was supposed to have dinner with the night before, contacted Stislicki’s parents and they went to her apartment in the Independence Green complex in Farmington Hills. When they arrived, they found her vehicle in its normal spot -- just eight feet from her door. Her purse, ID and credit cards were found inside her vehicle. Her phone, a Samsung Galaxy Core Prime with a rose-gold case, and keys were missing. They contacted the police and initiated the first missing person report. Her belongings and her cat were still in her apartment. Police weren’t sure if she drove the Jeep to her apartment or if someone else did.
On Dec. 19, 2016, police announced that they believed Stislicki was the victim of a crime. On Dec. 22, 2016, police searched Galloway’s home for evidence in Stislicki’s disappearance.
They discovered that a patch of carpet had recently been replaced in his bedroom. They tested the carpet adjacent to the replaced patch and found “very strong support” that Stislicki’s DNA was on the carpet. Investigators also discovered that Galloway had purchased a new comforter from Bed, Bath, and Beyond on Dec. 4, 2016 -- two days after Stislicki vanished.
What prosecutors say happened the night Stislicki vanished:
8 p.m.: Stislicki’s phone communicates with towers on the route between Galloway’s home and her apartment. Security footage shows a vehicle matching hers moving toward her apartment.
8:40 p.m.: Security camera footage from Tim Horton’s (a 10 minute walk from Stislicki’s apartment) shows Galloway getting coffee and using the business’ phone.
Police later found her keys and FitBit in the area between her apartment and the Tim Horton’s.
9 p.m.: Cab driver says she picked up Galloway from Tim Horton’s and dropped him off at an apartment complex about 1,000 feet from the workplace parking lot.
9:35 p.m.: A vehicle matching Galloway’s was found on security cameras driving toward his home.
On June 27, 2017, Galloway was arrested in connection with the attempted sexual assault of a jogger in Hines Park. Galloway told a judge on Nov. 21, 2017, that he had tried to rape a woman on Sept. 4, 2016 when she was jogging at Hines Park in Livonia.
Galloway was ordered to stand trial in Stislicki’s murder on Sept. 10, 2019. At a hearing, a judge ruled that there was enough evidence to send Galloway to trial in her murder. At that point, it had been nearly three years since she vanished. Due to complications, the trial is still ongoing.
