It’s been seven years since 13-year-old Hailey Dunn disappeared without a trace after leaving her Colorado City home to spend the night with a friend.
Over three years later, investigators found her remains at Lake JB Thomas in Scurry County. Her murder remains unsolved to this day, and little information on the investigation has been revealed to the public.
Hailey was last seen alive on December 27, 2010. Her mother, Billie Dunn, reported her missing the next day after she failed to come home from a friend’s house she said she was staying at the night before.
The friend told detectives Hailey had never arrived as planned.
Colorado City community members searched the town for months before giving up hope that they would ever see Hailey alive again.
Her remains were finally found by someone rock hunting in March of 2013, but her killer is still at large.
Hailey wasn’t officially laid to rest until her remains were released to her mother in January of 2017.
No arrests have been made in connection to Hailey’s death. Her mother’s ex-boyfriend, Shawn Adkins, remains the only publicly identified suspect.
Adkins spoke out to KTAB and KRBC in 2011 before Hailey’s body was found, saying “I had nothing to do with Hailey’s disappearance, I love Hailey with all my heart and she means a lot to me.”
Investigators with the Texas Department of Public Safety told KTAB and KRBC they were still considering Adkins a suspect in 2015, though they are investigating other leads as well as tips of all kinds continue to come in from individuals claiming to know what really happened to Hailey.
In a 2016 interview, Billie Dunn told KTAB and KRBC, “I feel sadness over not having her home yet. I feel anger over not having an arrest yet. I feel anger over somebody not having any remorse to confess. It’s always in the back of my mind,” she continued. “I just try to keep very busy.”
Hailey’s case remains on the Texas Rangers Unsolved Homicides website over two years after it was first featured.
The FBI is offering a $15,000 cash reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspect responsible for Hailey’s murder.
(Story from BigCountryHomepage.com)