On Thursday in Mesa, Arizona, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office charged Michael Turney, stepfather of 17-year-old, Alissa Turney, with second-degree murder. It is nearly 20 years after the teen disappeared from her home in Phoenix, Arizona.
Allister Adel, Maricopa County Attorney, said that a grand jury issued the indictment but did not say what led to the arrest.
How the teen disappeared
On May 17, 2001, it was Alissa's last day as a Paradise Valley High School junior. In June, Sarah Turney, Alissa's sister, told Dateline that she remembers her sister had planned to attend a graduation party later that evening. However, she never got to attend the party.
Michael told authorities earlier that at around 11 AM, he picked up Alissa from school, and they ate lunch, Phoenix Police Department reported. They fought about the teen's desire for more freedom.
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The young girl was still angry when they reached home, so Michael left at around 1 PM to pick up Sarah from her field trip. Alissa was gone when the father and daughter returned home. The girl left a note saying she was running away to California.
A man confessed as the suspect
In 2006, a Florida man, Thomas Hymer, confessed that he killed Alissa. Later, they found out that his story was false, and his description of the teen was not viable. Hymer then admitted that he might have made a mistake.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Sarah Turney (@justiceforalissa) on Aug 20, 2020 at 2:32pm PDT
In 2008, the Phoenix Police Department Missing Persons Unit investigator, Sergeant Maggie Cox, opened Alissa's case. He declared that there was a foul play when she went missing. He told Dateline that there are allegations that Michael sexually abused the teen.
Videotapes found in their home
The police executed search warrants at Turney's house in December 2008. They found many videotapes of footages from around the house, but there was none on the day Alissa disappeared.
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Sergeant Cox also said they found a "Diary of a Madman Martyr," a 98-page manifesto. In it, Michael wrote of his complaints about workplace conditions while working as an electrician. He also accused the company of kidnapping and killing Alissa, then wrote that he would blow up the union hall.
Michael pleaded guilty in March 2010 after possessing 26 unregistered pipe bombs. He was sentenced in federal prison for a maximum of ten years, but he got released in 2017.
Do not give up
Sarah has never given up looking for justice for her sister's death. She started her podcast, "Voices For Justice" in 2019. It shared about their family's history and the events that happened up to Alissa's disappearance. It also included what has happened years after her sister went missing.
Sarah started making TikTok videos in May 2020 that focused on her sister's case. She said that it has become an essential outlet for Alissa's story. She wanted to be tough to fight for the justice that her sister deserves.
On August 20, 2020, Sarah's father got arrested, and she announced the good news on social media. She advised people to never lose hope to get justice because it took her 20 years but finally she received what she had been wanting.
