WILLIAM DORIEN TONEY: A MOTHER'S LAST CONVERSATION, TWO UNIDENTIFIED MEN, AND NEARLY TEN YEARS OF UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
He was 20 years old. He had a job, a family who loved him, and plans for his future. Then, in November 2016, William Dorien Toney disappeared from the Philadelphia area. Nearly a decade later, investigators have classified the case as cold, and his family is still waiting for answers.
By RICHIE D MOWREY
The Sassy Gazette | Dicking Around With Richie: A True Crime Feed
DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA | OCTOBER 11, 2026
THE CONVERSATION THAT SHOULD HAVE MEANT NOTHING
It was supposed to be an ordinary conversation.
The kind a mother might have with her grown son a thousand times without ever imagining she would spend the next decade remembering it.
Twenty-year-old William Dorien Toney had plans with his mother, Michelle Duncombe.
They were going to spend some time together and watch television.
But William changed his mind.
In a December 2016 interview with NewsOne, Michelle recalled his explanation:
"He said never mind, I'm going to hang out with my friend."
And just like that, the plans were canceled.
No dramatic farewell.
No indication that Michelle would soon be searching for her oldest child.
Just an ordinary young man choosing to spend time with friends.
Except William never returned to his family's regular routine.
He missed Sunday dinner.
He missed Thanksgiving.
He missed work.
His telephone stopped answering.
And eventually, the terrible realization settled over the people who loved him.
Something was very wrong.
For nearly ten years, William's family has been living with the consequences of those November days.
There have been no publicly confirmed answers explaining what happened to him.
No verified account of where he went.
No publicly established resolution to his disappearance.
And the uncertainty remains.
Where is William Dorien Toney?
That is the question at the heart of this investigation.
Not a theory.
Not a rumor.
Not a declaration of murder unsupported by evidence.
A question that deserves an answer.
WHO WAS WILLIAM? BEFORE THE FLYERS, BEFORE THE QUESTIONS
William Dorien Toney was born October 7, 1996.
He had celebrated his 20th birthday just weeks before he disappeared.
At an age when many young adults are beginning to discover who they want to become, William was building a life of his own.
According to contemporary reporting, he was employed at Macy's in Center City Philadelphia.
He was pursuing educational opportunities.
He had considered following his mother's example by studying computer science.
He enjoyed basketball, spending time with friends, and the independence that comes with early adulthood.
He was living with a roommate in West Philadelphia.
And despite having a life outside the family home, he maintained a close relationship with Michelle and his younger brothers, Keldon Jr. and Justin.
His mother described William as playful, affectionate, and sometimes naïve.
She knew he was growing up.
She understood he would make mistakes.
But she also knew her son.
In the 2016 NewsOne interview, Michelle made clear that she did not recognize the disappearance as consistent with his established behavior.
William regularly returned home.
He maintained contact with family.
He had responsibilities.
He had people expecting to see him.
And then, seemingly without explanation, he vanished from those routines.
But even those details cannot capture the entirety of a human life.
William was more than the job he held.
More than the college courses he planned to take.
More than the places he visited.
He was somebody's oldest child.
A big brother.
A young man with a sense of humor and interests that had nothing to do with the investigation now associated with his name.
In photographs shared publicly over the years, William appears smiling, posing with friends or taking selfies.
One photograph shows his distinctive chest tattoo.
Another captures him smiling in a white shirt with earphones hanging from his ears.
These images matter.
Because missing-person cases have a way of reducing lives to descriptions.
Six feet tall.
One hundred fifty pounds.
Black hair.
Brown eyes.
Last seen November 2016.
Those details may help identify someone.
But they do not tell you who that person was.
And William deserves to be remembered for more than the circumstances of his disappearance.
NOVEMBER 2016: THE DAYS THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
The public timeline of William's disappearance contains inconsistencies that deserve attention.
The Black and Missing Foundation lists November 18, 2016, as his missing date.
NewsOne also used November 18 in its original case summary.
A missing-person flyer circulated by the Pennsylvania Missing Persons Foundation identifies November 19, 2016.
And the December 2016 NewsOne article reports that William's last known calls and text messages occurred November 19.
Those dates are not necessarily contradictory.
A person can last be physically seen on one date and communicate with someone on another.
But the available public evidence does not establish a complete, minute-by-minute reconstruction.
Rather than quietly choosing one date, we are examining what each source actually says.
NOVEMBER 18, 2016: PLANS CHANGE
According to a March 2024 article by Brandon Holveck in The News Journal, William told Michelle he would not be coming home for dinner as planned.
He reportedly said he was with friends.
At the time, he was living in West Philadelphia, working at Macy's, and preparing for college.
The 2016 NewsOne account likewise describes William changing plans to spend time with a friend.
The substance of both accounts is similar.
William had been expected to see his mother.
He changed those plans.
And the family would later recognize this period as the beginning of his disappearance.
NOVEMBER 19, 2016: THE LAST REPORTED COMMUNICATIONS
According to NewsOne, William's final reported calls and text messages were made to female friends on November 19.
Following those communications, the article reported that his telephone and social-media activity stopped.
That detail is significant.
But it also raises questions the public record does not answer.
What time were those final communications?
Did the recipients recognize anything unusual?
Did William indicate where he was going?
Did investigators obtain telephone records that independently established his movements?
And what did those records actually show?
These are questions, not claims that evidence was mishandled or overlooked.
Without access to the investigative file, we cannot know precisely what police established.
NOVEMBER 20–24: AN ABSENCE BECOMES ALARMING
William did not resume his usual contact with family.
He was absent from Sunday dinner.
He was not attending work.
His mother grew increasingly worried.
The official CRIMEWATCH entry displays a creation date of November 20, 2016, although later family reporting describes Michelle contacting police after William missed Thanksgiving.
Those dates create an administrative-timeline question.
They may refer to different reporting or record-creation events.
At present, there is insufficient public documentation to resolve the distinction.
THANKSGIVING 2016: THE EMPTY PLACE
For many families, Thanksgiving is a predictable gathering.
There are familiar conversations, meals, routines, and relatives who appear year after year.
For Michelle's family, William was supposed to be part of that holiday.
But he wasn't there.
The NewsOne reporting establishes that his absence from Thanksgiving was particularly alarming to Michelle.
William's disappearance was no longer an ordinary missed visit.
His family was confronting the possibility that something had happened to him.
Thanksgiving 2016 would become permanently associated with his absence.
And nearly ten years later, the questions remain.
TWO UNIDENTIFIED MEN: WHAT DO WE REALLY KNOW?
One of the most widely circulated details in William's disappearance concerns a reported sighting in Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania.
According to the Black and Missing Foundation and NewsOne, William was last reportedly seen walking along Sharon Avenue with two unidentified men.
A podcast episode published by Mysteriously Missing on March 31, 2019, offers a more specific geographical description.
Its episode summary places the reported encounter near a Dunkin' Donuts in Sharon Hill.
That additional detail could potentially help identify the area being discussed.
But it requires verification.
The public materials reviewed for this article do not establish who originally reported the sighting, exactly when it occurred, or whether investigators independently confirmed it.
And that distinction matters.
The two men have not been publicly established as suspects.
Simply being seen with a missing person does not establish criminal involvement.
Still, the reported sighting raises legitimate investigative questions.
Who were those men?
Were they friends?
Acquaintances?
People William had recently met?
Did investigators identify them?
Did anyone witness the group arriving somewhere or leaving the area?
Was there surveillance footage from nearby businesses?
Were any nearby residents interviewed?
And, perhaps most importantly, what evidence supports the conclusion that this was William's final known physical sighting?
Without answers to those questions, the encounter remains an important reported lead rather than a fully reconstructed event.
The truth may depend on details that have never been publicly released.
THE CELL PHONE: ONE OF THE CASE'S MOST TROUBLING QUESTIONS
William's cellphone has become another recurring element in the public discussion of his disappearance.
And it is another area where careful reporting matters.
The Pennsylvania Missing Persons Foundation flyer states that his telephone last registered near an abandoned property at 5114 Ranstead Street in West Philadelphia.
That flyer also references a search involving a K-9 team from New Jersey.
According to the flyer, the search produced no results.
However, the March 2024 News Journal reporting describes William's iPhone as last pinging near 52nd Street in West Philadelphia.
These reports establish that cellphone-location information was part of the public narrative.
They do not establish the precise technical nature of the location data.
A cellphone ping is not necessarily the same as a GPS coordinate.
Its precision depends on the technology, network conditions, and information available to investigators.
A reported phone location also does not automatically prove the missing person was physically holding the device at that moment.
There are several questions worth examining.
Was the phone's reported location derived from tower information or more precise device data?
Was the phone recovered?
Were investigators able to identify the final person who communicated with William?
Was the abandoned property searched because of location information, an investigative lead, or both?
What documentation exists concerning the reported K-9 deployment?
And did the search produce information that was never publicly disclosed?
The flyer describes a K-9 team from New Jersey assisting with a search. It does not say the search occurred in New Jersey.
That distinction is important.
As of this investigation, we have not independently located an official police report confirming the precise Ranstead Street location or detailing the K-9 operation.
These claims should remain attributed to the historical flyer until stronger documentation becomes available.
They are research leads.
Not independently established forensic findings.
THE IDENTIFYING FEATURE THAT COULD STILL MATTER
William was approximately six feet tall and weighed about 150 pounds when he disappeared.
He had black hair, brown eyes, and light facial hair.
One of his most distinctive identifying characteristics was a large tattoo on the right side of his chest.
The design resembles a shield, incorporating the letters “WP” in a style reminiscent of the Warner Bros. logo.
That tattoo is visible in one of William's personal photographs.
It is important because distinctive tattoos may help investigators evaluate possible identifications.
The East Lansdowne Police Department also published an updated clothing description.
According to the department, William was last reported wearing:
- A tan Polo hat with “POLO” written across the front.
- A navy-blue hooded sweatshirt.
- A white T-shirt.
- Black Adidas pants featuring three white stripes down the legs.
- Dark green sneakers.
The original Pennsylvania Missing Persons Foundation flyer also mentions a blue bookbag and identification in a brown wallet.
Those additional possessions are listed in the flyer but were not included in the official police clothing description reviewed for this article.
Anyone who remembers seeing William around the time of his disappearance should consider whether these details are familiar.
Even information that seems minor could help investigators assess an existing lead.
THE INVESTIGATORS: WHY IS WILLIAM'S CASE LABELED A DEATH INVESTIGATION?
There is a particularly important detail on the official East Lansdowne Police CRIMEWATCH listing.
The public page identifies William's case with the following categories:
Case Type: Missing Person
Incident Type: Death Investigation
Case Status: Cold
The listing was updated February 26, 2026.
These labels are significant.
But they must be interpreted carefully.
A death-investigation classification does not, by itself, establish that William is deceased.
It does not prove homicide.
It does not mean remains have been recovered.
And it does not establish that anyone has been arrested or charged in connection with his disappearance.
The department's public page does not explain why the death-investigation designation was applied.
It is therefore inappropriate to declare that the label represents a confirmed death, or to dismiss it as merely routine administrative coding.
The correct answer is that the reason has not been publicly established.
That is precisely the kind of distinction the Richie Standard 2.0 requires.
We do not fill gaps with assumptions.
We identify the gaps.
And we ask what evidence might resolve them.
WHAT POLICE SAID ABOUT WILLIAM
In the original December 2016 NewsOne interview, Sgt. James Cadden described William's disappearance as unusual.
He expressed doubts that William had simply chosen to abandon contact with his mother.
That early assessment is important because it reflects how investigators were evaluating the circumstances close to the time of the disappearance.
The public account did not depict a straightforward voluntary departure.
Years later, in the March 2024 News Journal article, Cadden suggested that William may have become involved with people or circumstances he was not prepared to navigate.
The article also reported that investigators had eventually told Michelle they believed William was probably deceased.
But the distinction between belief and proof is fundamental.
An investigator may have reasons to believe a particular outcome is likely.
That does not mean the outcome has been legally or forensically established.
Nor does an investigative theory justify accusing unnamed individuals.
The News Journal's reporting provides valuable insight into the direction investigators believed the case might have taken.
It does not provide a documented public resolution.
And so the question remains:
What evidence caused investigators to reach that assessment?
Until more information is released, the public cannot meaningfully evaluate its foundation.
THE MOTHER WHO NEVER STOPPED LOOKING
When Michelle Duncombe spoke with NewsOne in December 2016, William had been missing for only weeks.
She was frightened.
Confused.
Trying to understand why a son who regularly maintained contact had suddenly disappeared.
She was also determined to make sure people knew William mattered.
In a public comment preserved beneath a November 29, 2016, East Lansdowne Police Facebook appeal, an account identifying its author as Michelle described William as a loved son and older brother.
The comment also recalled a small moment from their last conversations.
According to that account, William had asked:
"Mom, do you want to watch Teen Wolf with me?"
That recollection has not been independently authenticated beyond the historical Facebook comment, but it is consistent with Michelle's separately reported memory of plans to watch television together.
And it captures something important.
Behind every missing-person case are ordinary moments that suddenly become extraordinary because of what happened afterward.
A canceled evening.
A familiar television show.
A son spending time with friends.
A mother expecting another conversation.
For most families, those details vanish into the countless little exchanges that make up everyday life.
For Michelle, they became part of the last period when she knew where her oldest son was.
The public comment also emphasized William's relationship with his younger brothers.
They looked up to him.
He was their big brother.
His disappearance affected more than one person.
It changed the lives of a family.
2024: THE BROTHER WHO GREW UP WITHOUT HIM
Perhaps one of the most revealing pieces of reporting on William's disappearance came years after the initial search.
On March 27, 2024, Brandon Holveck published a feature in The News Journal about Michelle and her youngest son, Justin Duncombe.
The article centered on basketball.
But beneath the story of athletic development was something far more painful.
Justin had been just 10 years old when William disappeared.
By 2024, he was completing his senior basketball season at MOT Charter School in Delaware.
He had grown from a child into a young man while his older brother remained missing.
The family had moved to Delaware several years earlier.
Michelle had become involved in coaching.
Justin had developed into an accomplished high-school basketball player.
But the article made clear that their involvement in basketball carried a deeper emotional significance.
It gave mother and son something constructive to share.
An outlet.
A routine.
A place where they could focus their attention on something other than the uncertainty surrounding William.
For Michelle, basketball became part of how the family endured.
But there was another detail in Holveck's reporting that deserves attention.
The family still found ways to acknowledge William's place in their lives.
A decorative sign in their home included the names of Michelle's three sons.
Justin.
KJ.
Will.
William was missing.
But he had not been erased.
And his family had not stopped carrying him forward.
That matters.
Because disappearance does not freeze life for everyone left behind.
Children grow up.
Families move.
Careers change.
People reach milestones they never expected to experience without someone they love.
The outside world continues moving.
But unanswered questions remain.
And for William's family, the question of what happened in November 2016 has followed them through all those changes.
A FAMILY'S GRIEF IS NOT EVIDENCE OF A CRIME, BUT IT DESERVES TO BE HEARD
There is an important distinction between emotional testimony and investigative evidence.
A family's belief that something terrible happened cannot independently establish how someone disappeared.
But family members may possess valuable firsthand knowledge of a missing person's habits, relationships, plans, and final communications.
Michelle's recollections are important for precisely that reason.
She knew William's routine.
She understood their relationship.
She remembered what he said.
She knew when his behavior no longer resembled the son she expected to hear from.
That context helps explain why his disappearance was alarming.
It does not tell us exactly what happened.
The job of responsible reporting is to preserve both truths.
Listen carefully to the family.
Test investigative claims against available evidence.
Neither responsibility cancels the other.
RICHIE STANDARD 2.0: THE CONTRADICTIONS THAT STILL NEED ANSWERS
After reviewing the available official records, contemporary reporting, historical awareness materials, and later interviews, several questions remain unresolved.
1. NOVEMBER 18 OR NOVEMBER 19?
Different sources identify different disappearance dates.
The distinction between a last sighting and a last communication needs clarification.
2. WHERE WAS WILLIAM LAST CONFIRMED TO BE?
The official police listing identifies the general Darby/Sharon Hill area.
Secondary reporting names Sharon Avenue.
A podcast description introduces a nearby Dunkin' Donuts.
These references may describe the same general area, but they are not equally verified.
3. WHO WERE THE TWO MEN?
The reported companions remain unidentified in the public sources examined.
No reliable information reviewed for this article establishes that they were suspects.
4. WHAT DID THE CELLPHONE RECORDS SHOW?
A foundation flyer describes a ping at 5114 Ranstead Street.
Later reporting refers to the 52nd Street area.
The precise records, technical meaning, and relationship between those descriptions remain unclear.
5. WHAT HAPPENED DURING THE REPORTED K-9 SEARCH?
A historical flyer says a team from New Jersey assisted with a search that produced no results.
The date, scope, and independent documentation of that operation remain unconfirmed.
6. WHY DOES CRIMEWATCH LIST THE CASE AS A DEATH INVESTIGATION?
The category appears on the official public record.
The department has not publicly explained its significance in this case.
7. WHAT EVIDENCE SUPPORTS THE INVESTIGATORS' ASSESSMENT?
The 2024 News Journal feature reports that investigators eventually believed William was likely deceased.
The evidence underlying that belief is not publicly detailed in the article.
8. HAVE THERE BEEN ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENTS SINCE 2024?
The police webpage was updated in February 2026.
A website update does not necessarily mean new evidence emerged.
The nature of that update remains unclear.
These are not minor editorial details.
They are part of what separates a properly investigated disappearance from a collection of claims repeated until they appear certain.
THE DANGER OF TURNING AN UNANSWERED QUESTION INTO A STORY WE WANT TO BELIEVE
Unsolved disappearances attract speculation.
Sometimes that speculation begins with a real fact.
A missing cellphone.
An unfamiliar location.
A witness account.
An investigator's cautious statement.
But then something happens.
A possibility becomes a theory.
A theory becomes a rumor.
And the rumor is repeated so frequently that readers begin treating it as established history.
That is how misinformation survives.
William's case deserves better.
There is no publicly substantiated basis in the material examined for naming a murderer.
There is no verified public account establishing that the two men reportedly seen with William harmed him.
And there is no publicly confirmed explanation for exactly how his disappearance occurred.
That uncertainty can be frustrating.
But frustration is not a license to invent answers.
Our responsibility is to distinguish what is documented from what remains unknown.
Treat every claim as guilty until it earns its way in.
That is the Richie Standard.
And William's story deserves nothing less.
IF YOU KNOW SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING
Nearly ten years have passed since William vanished.
Someone may remember seeing him.
Someone may have known who he was meeting.
Someone may recognize the circumstances described in the early reports.
Someone may have information they never considered important.
And someone who stayed silent in 2016 may be ready to speak in 2026.
Information should be provided directly to investigators.
Please do not publish sensitive witness information, unverified accusations, or potentially identifying details about private individuals in social-media comments.
You do not need to solve the case yourself.
You only need to share what you genuinely know.
EAST LANSDOWNE POLICE DEPARTMENT
Primary investigating agency
Phone: 610-259-2308
Police case reference: 20161115M9023
Official case information:
East Lansdowne Police official case listing
Submit an investigative tip:
East Lansdowne Police tip form
BLACK & MISSING FOUNDATION
Phone: 1-877-972-2634
Website:
Black & Missing Foundation
Sighting tip form:
Submit a sighting tip
NATIONAL MISSING AND UNIDENTIFIED PERSONS SYSTEM
NamUs reference appearing on historical flyer: MP37665
Website:
NamUs official website
THE SASSY GAZETTE
For editorial questions, source suggestions, corrections, or concerns about this reporting:
sassygazette@icloud.com
The Sassy Gazette is an independent publication and does not conduct official criminal investigations.
If someone is in immediate danger, call 911.
WILLIAM WOULD HAVE TURNED 30 THIS MONTH
On October 7, 2026, William Dorien Toney would have celebrated his 30th birthday.
Thirty.
It is one of those birthdays that often invites reflection.
A chance to consider what has changed since youth.
What someone has accomplished.
What plans they have made.
Who they have become.
For William's family, that birthday arrived with a terrible absence.
They have been denied the chance to see what the next decade of his life might have brought.
We cannot know what William would be doing today.
Perhaps he would have continued his education.
Perhaps his career would have taken a different direction.
Perhaps he would still be playing basketball.
Perhaps he would be teasing his brothers.
Perhaps he would still be asking his mother if she wanted to watch television.
Those are possibilities, not facts.
And we should not pretend to know the future he would have chosen.
But we can recognize what his disappearance has taken from his family.
Nearly ten years of ordinary moments.
Birthdays.
Holidays.
Conversations.
The everyday privilege of knowing someone you love is safe.
No investigation can restore those missing years.
But answers could still matter enormously.
A FINAL WORD FROM RICHIE: SOMEONE IS STILL MISSING
There is a temptation, when writing about disappearances that have remained unresolved for years, to focus entirely on the mystery.
The final phone call.
The unidentified companions.
The location investigators reportedly searched.
The questions that cannot yet be answered.
And those details matter.
But there is something I keep returning to while researching William Dorien Toney.
A young man asking his mother to watch television.
It is such a small thing.
So ordinary.
So easy to imagine being forgotten under different circumstances.
Yet here we are, nearly ten years later, reading about that moment because William never returned to share countless others.
I think about his younger brothers.
About the years they have lived without knowing what happened to their oldest sibling.
About Michelle's determination to make sure the world remembers she has three sons.
And about a family whose story did not end when the original missing-person alerts stopped circulating.
It continued.
Through school.
Through basketball.
Through holidays.
Through birthdays.
Through every year without answers.
William was 20 when he disappeared.
He should have had the opportunity to become 30 with his family knowing where he was.
Instead, they are still waiting.
And the public still has questions.
Who last saw William?
What happened after his final known communications?
Why did investigators come to believe he might be dead?
What evidence remains unavailable to the public?
And is there someone who knows something that could finally help his family understand?
We do not know what happened to William.
We cannot manufacture an ending simply because the story has remained unresolved for nearly a decade.
But we can keep his name visible.
We can share verified information.
We can challenge rumors.
We can ask responsible questions.
And we can remind the public that the passage of time does not make a missing person less important.
His name is William Dorien Toney.
He disappeared in November 2016.
His family deserves answers.
And if you know something, please say something.
Thanks for dicking around with Richie. Keep being a voice for the voiceless.
The Sassy Gazette 🦋
SOURCES & RESEARCH MATERIALS
1. East Lansdowne Police Department
Official missing-person case listing, police contact information, clothing description, and public classification.
Official East Lansdowne Police case listing
2. NewsOne
Philadelphia Man Last Seen Walking With Two Men Disappears, December 2016. Includes interviews with Michelle Duncombe and Sgt. James Cadden.
Read the NewsOne report
3. Brandon Holveck, The News Journal
How basketball bonded MOT Charter mother and son through family tragedy, March 27, 2024. Includes later interviews with Michelle Duncombe, Justin Duncombe, and Sgt. James Cadden.
Read the 2024 feature
4. Max Bennett, Patch
Delco Man Has Been Missing For Weeks, Reports Say, December 13, 2016. Contemporary missing-person reporting and clothing description.
Read the Patch report
5. Black & Missing Foundation
William Dorien Toney's missing-person information and awareness materials.
Black & Missing Foundation
6. East Lansdowne Police Department Facebook
Original November 29, 2016, missing-person appeal. Historical comments and police updates preserved in screenshots.
View original Facebook appeal
7. Mysteriously Missing Podcast
William Dorien Toney, March 31, 2019. Podcast description reviewed; full recording not independently transcribed.
Listen on YouTube Music
8. Pennsylvania Missing Persons Foundation
Historical flyer identifying William's physical description, distinctive tattoo, reported phone location, and reported K-9 search. Some claims remain unverified against primary police records.
EDITORIAL TRANSPARENCY NOTE
This article reflects publicly accessible information and historical materials reviewed through October 11, 2026.
Not every reported detail has been independently confirmed.
Police classifications, witness accounts, and historical reporting are distinguished from proven conclusions wherever possible.
No individual is accused of criminal wrongdoing in this article.
The Sassy Gazette welcomes factual corrections, additional credible documentation, and verified investigative updates.
Email: sassygazette@icloud.com
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