Suvechha Sarkar
Alissa Marie Turney was a cheerful teenager with her whole life ahead of her. However, everything came to a sudden halt when she disappeared from Phoenix, Arizona, in May 2001. It left behind a heart-wrenching mystery that haunted her family and held the community’s attention for over two decades. What initially appeared to be a runaway case unraveled into a chilling mystery, raising troubling questions. ABC’s ’20/20: Since You’ve Been Gone’ and NBC’s ‘Dateline: The Day Alissa Disappeared’ delve deep into the complex investigation and the shifting theories following her disappearance. It also features her loved ones and how they tirelessly fought for the truth in search of justice.
Alissa Turney Vanished on the Last Day of Her Junior Year of High School
Born on April 3, 1984, in Maricopa County in Phoenix, Arizona, Alissa Marie Turney arrived as a ray of sunshine in the lives of Barbara Lee Farner and Stephen Strahm. In the early years, she was surrounded by the love of her parents and older brother, John. When she was just 3 years old, Barbara and Stephen went their separate ways. The former moved on to find love with Michael Turney. He also had three children from his previous marriage, one of whom was James. After Barbara married Michael, their blended family grew even bigger as they welcomed their daughter, Sarah, into the world. However, tragedy struck Alissa’s life on February 28, 1993, when her mother passed away after a battle with cancer. In the aftermath of the devastating loss, Michael officially adopted Alissa and John.
Michael continued raising Alissa and Sarah while the older children had already left the household. Alissa was a cheerful and kind individual who loved drawing and writing. With a future full of promises, she approached the last day of her junior year at Paradise Valley High School on May 17, 2001. It was a lovely day as she bid her boyfriend, Jonathan Laakman, AKA Jon, goodbye, informing him she was going out for lunch with Michael. He picked her up from school, and following lunch, she had allegedly left while her stepfather ran some errands before going to pick up Sarah. However, when they returned home, they were shocked to find a note from Alissa reading that she was leaving for California and had taken $300 from her stepfather. The note prompted Michael to report the incident to the police around 11 pm.
Michael claimed that during lunch, he and Alissa had gotten into an argument when she expressed her wish to stay out late whenever she desired. He further alleged that she said she would like to move out, and ended up leaving. Officials initially considered it to be a runaway case. However, Alissa had left behind her clothes, mobile, car, and even the $1,800 she had saved. On May 24, Michael said he received a 29-second call from her in which she asked him to leave her alone. He began his own investigation and traced the call to California. He even went there to distribute flyers but came back with no leads. Even after multiple search attempts and a more than 2-decades-long investigation, Alissa has not been found. Her family and friends have continued to seek closure to this day.
A Shocking Confession Turned Alissa’s Case Into a Homicide Investigation
Since officials initially considered Alissa’s disappearance to be a runaway case, they did not treat it as a missing persons case at first. Furthermore, her note and her last phone call that Michael said he received further cemented their belief. However, a shocking confession came from a convicted murderer, Thomas A. Hymer, who asserted he was a serial killer and had killed over 20 women. He alleged that he had met Alissa at a bar, where they began a relationship. He claimed to have killed her and disposed of her remains at a recycling plant. However, when he was questioned with Alissa’s picture, he changed his story. A polygraph test further confirmed that Thomas was lying. During that time, the detectives began treating the case as a homicide investigation and started questioning Alissa’s family and friends.
Some of Alissa’s friends told police that she had allegedly said on many occasions that Michael was controlling. They further alleged she feared he would end up killing her. Her boyfriend, Jon, informed the officials that Alissa allegedly told him that her stepfather had taken her to a secluded location and tried to make advances towards her. Investigators further discovered that Michael had cameras set up both inside and outside the house. He also had a wire-tapping machine to record the calls made from his house. However, when he was asked to provide the videotape from the day of Alissa’s disappearance and the audio recording of the call, he could not provide them. Another of her friends claimed that Alissa allegedly told them she once woke up from sleep to find Michael gagging her. However, he has denied all these claims.
Insufficient Evidence Led to the Acquittal of the Primary Suspect
With multiple circumstantial pieces of evidence against him, officials executed a search warrant for Michael’s home on December 11, 2008. When he came out of his home, he was armed with a knife, guns, and ammunition. Detectives were shocked to discover the entire house in disarray, and guns lined up. They also found improvised explosive devices and manufactured bombs, which could blow up the whole block. They further uncovered a 71-page document in which he had stated his plan to attack a local union hall to kill at least 12 union members. The document stated that he believed these members were responsible for Alissa’s disappearance.
The document elaborately claimed that the assassin they hired to kill Alissa had confessed to Michael. However, investigators were unable to uncover any DNA evidence pointing toward a crime scene. Michael was arrested and charged with unlawful possession of unregistered destructive devices, manufacturing of explosive devices, and possession of unregistered silencers, which were serious offenses under federal law. On April 1, 2010, he pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful possession of unregistered destructive devices and accepted a plea agreement. As a result, all other charges against him were dropped. Michael was sentenced to 10 years in prison on June 21, 2010. He was released in 2017 after serving 7 years in prison.
Although Michael was living a quiet life, detectives uncovered some contracts that he allegedly had made Alissa sign, possibly in an attempt to control her life. He was formally charged with second-degree murder of Alissa on August 19, 2020. His trial began in July 2023, and by July 17, the court granted the defense a Rule 20 motion before the case went to the jury. The judge found that the prosecution had failed to present substantial evidence to prove Alissa’s death or even Michael’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Ultimately, the charge against him was dismissed without prejudice, and he was acquitted and released on July 18, 2023.
Read More: Barbara Farner and Stephen Strahm: What Happened to Alissa Turney’s Parents?
