SOUTHFIELD, Mich. – Six years ago today, Danielle Stislicki walked out of her Southfield, Michigan, office never to be seen again.
Her body still hasn’t been found. Floyd Galloway, a former security guard who worked in her office, is facing murder charges in her disappearance.
On Nov. 17, a judge ruled that numerous pieces of key evidence gathered in the case against Galloway will not be allowed to be presented to the jury during the trial.
At one point the Stislicki family hoped Danielle Stislicki would be found alive. Now, six years later, they hope her remains can be found and her case can be solved.
Over the years, Local 4′s Karen Drew has spoken with Danielle Stislicki’s friends and family about who she was and they’ve shared their hopes of solving the case and getting closure.
“We don’t want her to be out there like somebody’s garbage or something,” Danielle Stislicki’s grandmother, Carol Stislicki, said in 2020. “She deserves a resting place.”
Read: How tainted evidence was discovered in the Stislicki murder case and why it can’t be used in court
Breaking down the timeline in Danielle Stislicki’s disappearance
As time passes, memory fades. So we turn back the clock. It was around 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 2, 2016, when Danielle Stislicki walked out of her office at the MetLife building on Telegraph Road in Southfield.
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.
On Dec. 7, 2016, her family spoke out. “I plead as a family, as a mother, from the deepest of my heart, help us bring Danielle home,” Danielle Stislicki’s mother, Ann Stislicki, said in 2016.
Days turned into weeks. On Dec. 19, 2016, police announced that they believed Stislicki was the victim of a crime.
“I feel that she didn’t just walk away,” Danielle Stislicki’s father, Richard Stislicki, said.
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.
Mothers later, 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 charged with murder in Danielle Stislicki’s disappearance. On Sept. 10, 2019, Galloway was ordered to stand trial on the murder charge.
Family waits for murder trial to continue
Jessica Perry is Danielle Stislicki’s cousin. Her memories of Danielle Stislicki always involve the holidays.
“There’s not a lot of closure, or peace. I don’t think that has been found between everyone,” Perry said. “There are certain memories you want to keep kind of holy. Just still filled with that joy that she had. And I think sometimes when you get to talking, it just in evidently ends up a conversation about her last hours . . . and it’s difficult. It really is.”
Ann Stislicki is not talking about the case as she waits for the trial to continue, but she has shared Danielle Stislicki’s story many times. In 2019, she showed how a locket her daughter gave her gives her hope. The locket says, “I’ll love you forever. I’ll love you for always. As long as I’m living.”
Danielle Stislicki’s family hopes 2023 will bring answers to a mystery that has baffled Metro Detroit for years.
The trial is expected to continue on March 28.
Have a case you’d like us to look into? Reach the Local 4 investigative team at 313-962-9348, or email Karen Drew at kdrew@wdiv.com.