NAPLES, Fla. -- A Collier County judge allowed a wrongful death lawsuit against a former Collier County sheriff's deputy to move forward Thursday.
Attorneys representing the family of Terrance Williams filed the lawsuit last year against Steven Calkins.
The suit alleges Calkins was last seen with Williams in January of 2004, at the intersection of 111th Avenue and Vanderbilt Drive, before dropping Williams off at a Circle K gas station.
Williams was never seen again, and Calkins was fired from the sheriff's office for not cooperating with the investigation.
"This is her son, we're talking about and there are unanswered questions," said the attorney for Williams' mother, Christopher O'Neal.
Calkins is not facing any criminal charges. He represented himself in court Thursday.
"The complaint does not clearly say at all what the defendant did wrong, there are no material facts at all," Calkins told Judge David Friedman via the phone.
Friedman says the defendant's claims don't need to be supported by factual allegations.
Calkins did not return calls placed to a number listed with his address in Iowa, where he now lives.
The former deputy has also been associated with the disappearance of another man, Felipe Santos.
Santos was last seen with Calkins in October of 2003. Like Williams, Calkins said he dropped Santos off at a gas station.
Actor and film maker Tyler Perry is offering a $200,000 reward for anyone with information that leads to an conviction in either case.
