The Ferrysburg, Mich., woman wanted to phone her friend, Pam Williams, of Sarasota. The two women are not related but developed a kinship a few months ago. Both had gay sons who vanished in Tampa: Julie Williams' son, Bradley Williams, in 2001 and Pam Williams' son, Jason Galehouse, in 2003.

Julie Williams then e-mailed Pam Williams through www.findjasonnow.com, a Web site about the disappearance of Galehouse and other gay men.

The women then spoke by telephone. Pam Williams shared possible sightings of Jason, such as security footage from a clothing store where she thought she recognized him. They talked again when federal investigators served a search warrant in Seminole Heights.

The affidavit, released Friday, states that Galehouse, 26, never left that house at 213 W. Powhatan Ave., where he had gone with two men for sex in December 2003. According to the affidavit, Steven Lorenzo, placed him in a ``sleeper hold'' from which he never recovered. Then Lorenzo and a friend, Scott Schweickert, dismembered Galehouse's body in Lorenzo's garage and dumped his remains in trash bins, the affidavit states.

Because Pam Williams had been so certain her son was alive, Julie Williams knew those details would devastate her. She wanted to call her, but condolences seemed inadequate for such horrors.

``If I found out they did that to Bradley, every time I'd close my eyes, I would see it,'' Julie Williams said.

On Monday, she said she hoped the spotlight on Lorenzo and Schweickert would illuminate what happened to her son.

``This is my little bit of hope that maybe they'll find something,'' Julie Williams said. ``I just want this to be over.''

Bradley Williams, who was 31 when he disappeared, is one of at least five gay men to vanish in the Tampa area since 1995. That includes Galehouse and Michael Wachholtz, 26, of Tampa, whose suffocation is described in the affidavit.

Neither Lorenzo nor Schweickert is charged in Wachholtz's or Galehouse's deaths. Lorenzo, 46, was indicted in November on federal drug charges. Schweickert, 39, of Peru, Ill., and Orlando, was charged on Thursday with being an accessory after a violent crime facilitated by drugs.

During a search of Lorenzo's Powhatan Avenue home, investigators recovered restraints, rope, tape, photos of more than 20 men in various stages of bondage, and an envelope labeled ``Missing Guy Articles,'' the affidavit states. The envelope contained newspaper clippings about Galehouse, Wachholtz and ``other missing or dead individuals,'' the document states.

Tampa police said Monday they are looking at other cases of missing people to see if Lorenzo is linked to those disappearances but would not comment further.

Julie Williams said the activity has renewed interest in her son's case. This month, police asked her and her husband to provide samples of their DNA, she said. The request came a week after Pam Williams provided police a sample of her DNA.

The affidavit states that dried blood was found on cobblestone-type bricks on the floor of Lorenzo's garage.

Julie Williams reported her son missing in 2001 after he failed to send his father a card for Father's Day and did not return her phone calls.

Police later learned no one had seen the man since June 9, 2001, when he did not show up for work sorting mail at a Tampa post office.

His parakeet and two Persian cats had not been fed for weeks, his mother said. A car he had rented was abandoned in a Kennedy Boulevard parking lot near the Metropolis, a gay nightclub.

She long has felt certain her son is dead.

``Pam kind of hollered at me that I didn't have faith that Brad was alive,'' Julie Williams said. ``I said, `I'm sorry; I don't think Brad would be alive and not call me.' ''

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800.