She clung to hope Friday, even as federal agents asked for a sample of her DNA and continued searching the Tampa home of a man who authorities say drugged and raped seven gay men he met at bars and on the Internet since February 2000.

``They said they had to get DNA from me as a standard procedure just in case they should find something,'' Williams said Friday. ``Obviously they got something.''

Steven Lorenzo, who owns the home, is being held without bail at Orient Road Jail on federal drug charges related to the sexual assault of the seven men. He has pleaded not guilty.

On Thursday and Friday, Tampa police and federal drug agents searched Lorenzo's house at 213 W. Powhatan Ave., Seminole Heights. They also interviewed neighbors and used dogs to search the house.

Authorities have said they are investigating whether Lorenzo was connected to Galehouse's disappearance or to the killing of Michael Wachholtz, but they would not say whether the search had anything to do with the two men.

``We are aware of those two cases, one where an individual was found dead and one where an individual is missing,'' U.S. attorney's office spokesman Steve Cole said. ``However, at this time [Lorenzo] has not been charged in those cases.''

A federal judge sealed the search warrant, Cole said.

Lorenzo's attorney could not be reached for comment Friday.

In November, when Lorenzo was indicted in six reported assaults, the document said the assaults took place in February 2000 and November 2000, July 2001, December 2002 and March 2003. Authorities declined to release details. A seventh case later was added to the list.

The indictment said that Lorenzo gave the victims gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, also known as Gamma Hydroxy Butyrate, or GHB, a colorless, odorless liquid that is sometimes used as a date-rape drug.

Drinking as few as three drops can make people feel as though they have taken eight to 10 shots of whiskey, creating feelings of euphoria and drowsiness.

In higher doses, it can cause the taker to slip into a coma.

Wachholtz was reported missing Dec. 20, 2003, the same night Galehouse disappeared. Galehouse was seen that night leaving a Tampa bar with two men.

On Jan. 6, 2004, a passer-by found Wachholtz's body wrapped in a blanket in his Jeep outside a Town 'N Country apartment complex. A medical examiner's report later said that the cause of death was undetermined.

Galehouse's friends trekked around Sarasota and Tampa last year. They handed out fliers and talked to people at gay nightclubs - doing anything, they said, to find Galehouse alive.

It has been more than a year since the intense search ended.

Williams clings to the hope that her son is alive.

She said that she is sure he was at the Ross store at Gulf Gate shopping center in Sarasota nearly a year ago.

She persuaded Ross to give her a security video after a woman said she thought she saw Galehouse there.

Williams believes the man on the store's security camera video is her son, who was a florist and 1996 graduate of Sarasota High School.

``My son had a very distinct bracelet and ring, and I saw it in the video. The profile and build - I know it's him,'' Williams said Friday.

She dreads bad news from detectives.

``I'm going to be mortified,'' she said. ``He's the only child I had. We were very close.''

Information from Tampa Tribune archives was used in this report.