FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. – The parents of Danielle Stislicki have spent two years hoping for a break in the case, and they got it Tuesday when Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed a first-degree premeditated murder charge against Floyd Galloway Jr.
The Stislicki family looked on as Nessel made the announcement. The charge comes after more than 75 search warrants were issued on the case.
Galloway is expected to be arraigned Wednesday in Farmington Hills.
"This is about Danielle, for the justice, for not only her, but for other families who have been told, 'You can't move any further because there isn't a body,'" her mother, Ann Stislicki, said.
Ann Stislicki's comments come after more than two years of mystery and heartbreak since her daughter's disappearance.
"I'm very confident in the evidence that exists right now," Nessel said. "I will tell you that I've seen multiple cases without a body that were successfully prosecuted, and I feel like that will be what happens here, irrespective of whether Danielle's remains have been found."
Galloway went to Shrine High School in Royal Oak, played sports and went to college before working as a security guard at MetLife in Southfield, where Danielle Stislicki and her mother worked.
"I remember him being one of the few security guards that would extend himself," Ann Stislicki said. "You don't suspect someone like that."
Karen sat down with the Stislickis in their Fowlerville home to talk about Galloway being charged. Ann Stislicki said that, looking back, there were some signs they should have paid attention to when she was with her daughter at work.
"I would meet her in the cafeteria on her floor and we would have lunch together and he would appear there, which I thought was strange," Ann Stislicki said. "Not on a regular basis, but he was doing it and going to Danielle's cube, which she did mention to me that she was uncomfortable about that. I did ask whether or not that was something we needed to address with (human resources) or the company that he was working with and she felt that she had addressed it in the point of being very pointed and said, 'I don't think you should be up here.'"
Galloway had been named a person of interest in Danielle Stislicki's disappearance, and as police searched for her body, they searched his home, finding DNA that would later link him to the attempted rape of a Livonia jogger.
"As she passed me, I pulled her to the ground from behind, putting my arm around her neck," Galloway said.
He pleaded guilty in the case and is now serving time in prison.
Rich and Ann Stislicki believe the case against Galloway is a strong one, even without their daughter's remains.
Rich Stislicki said there's evidence that hasn't been released that can help the case.
"Absolutely there is," he said. "Not all evidence has been released to us because that could compromise the case. The less that we know, that only law enforcement knows and the killer knows, the greater chance of success when it comes to our trial."
"Is there anything you want to ask Floyd?" Karen asked. "Is there anything you want to say to him?"
"I don't have something to say to him, but if I could ask and know where my daughter was," Rich Stislicki said.
"I would agree," Ann Stislicki said. "Nothing else is to be said. We've said everything that we've needed to."