Arrest made in 2000 Cold Case Featured on Investigation Discovery's "Disappeared"

On December 16, 2000 Mike Williams disappeared. According to his wife Denise, he had gone duck hunting on Lake Seminole in Leon County, FL and it was long suspected that he had fallen out of his boat and been eaten by alligators. Even though his body was never recovered, Denise Williams was able to have her husband declared dead within six months of his disappearance and cashed in on $2 million worth of insurance policies. One of those policies was written by Mike Williams' best friend Brian Winchester. By 2005, Denise Williams and Winchester were married.

Flash forward to August 5, 2016. Denise and Brian Winchester's marriage had gone downhill and the couple had, by this time, been separated for four years. Winchester, after learning that his mother had cancer and his son from a previous marriage wanted to live with his mother, snuck into Denise's car and held a gun to her ribs for an hour. He was sentenced to twenty years for kidnapping. On the day after Winchester's sentencing, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced that Mike Williams' body had been found. According to court documents, Winchester had kidnapped Denise because he was afraid that she would talk to police about what really happened to Mike Williams after their divorce was final.

Denise Williams made her first appearance in court this morning, after being indicted on a first-degree murder charge. Her attorney claims that Winchester acted alone in the shooting death of Mike Williams and that he is lying about his client's involvement in order to get his kidnapping sentence reduced. Denise Williams is currently being held in Leon County Detention Center without bail.

Watch it: Police lead Denise Williams from office in handcuffs

Watch it: Denise Williams' lawyer says she's innocent

From duck hunting disappearance to murder charge: A timeline of the Mike Williams case

The Mike Williams case as featured on ID's Disappeared

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