How Could You? Hall of Shame-Alissa Turney case-Missing
This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.
A 2001 case has come to light.
From Phoenix, Arizona, adoptive father Michael Turney, 72, was “arrested Thursday afternoon [August 20, 2020] in Mesa and charged with second-degree murder of his daughter, Alissa Turney, who was 17 when she went missing.
Police initially thought Alissa had run away to California. But Alissa’s sister, Sarah, became convinced that her father had something to do with Alissa’s disappearance.
Alissa Turney disappeared the day she finished her junior year at Paradise Valley High School.
Sarah and Michael found a note in her handwriting in her room in May 2001, saying she was going to California. They frantically tried to reach her and called police.
After months of traveling, handing out fliers and searching, the trail went cold.
Alissa’s case was brought into the spotlight again in 2006, when a Florida man confessed to her murder, according to the Arizona Republic. Phoenix Police told NBC Dateline that the man’s description of Alissa did not match.
That investigation led friends and family to come forward with more information about the relationship between Michael Turney and Alissa.
Then in 2008, Phoenix police said foul play was a factor in Alissa’s disappearance. Sgt. Maggie Cox with Phoenix police said that allegations of sexual abuse by Michael Turney changed the investigation’s focus.
“The totality of circumstances known to police prompted the focus on Michael Turney as the suspect,” Sgt. Cox told Dateline.
Michael Turney was accused of plotting to blow up an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union hall in 2010.
In a search of Michael Turney’s home, police found numerous weapons, including 26 explosive devices, and a manifesto, police said. Turney served 7 years of a 10-year federal prison sentence.
Sarah Turney has dedicated a lot of time and effort to finding answers and getting justice for her sister. She created a podcast and recently used the app TikTok to share her sister’s story.
Alissa would be 36 years old in 2020. Anyone with information on the case can call Phoenix Police at (602) 262-6141, Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS or email.”
Stepfather charged with murder in 2001 disappearance of Alissa Turney
[12 News 8/20/20 by William Pitts]
“Jury selection will start Monday morning for a man charged in the killing of his daughter who disappeared back in 2001.”
“Investigators said her father was the last person to see her before she vanished.
It was believed Alissa ran away after a handwritten note was found in her room saying she intended to go to California.
Alissa’s sister, Sarah Turney, became suspicious and thought that her father might know more than he was letting on.
Sarah spent years looking into what happened to Alissa, devoting herself to bringing justice to her sister.
She gathered evidence, put up billboards, created a podcast, and made Tiktok videos to bring attention to the case.
Finally, Michael Turney was arrested and charged in the case.
12News spoke to Sarah following her father’s 2020 arrest.
“I’ve been crying and trying not to cry but thank you because I couldn’t have done this without each and every one of you without you guys caring so much and sharing her story.”
Alissa’s body has never been found. The trial is set to get underway on July 6.”
More than two decades later, a father goes on trial for murdering his adopted daughter
[12 News 6/19/23]
REFORM Puzzle Piece
Update:“Earlier this month, nearly three years after his arrest, 75-year-old Michael Roy Turney went on trial for second-degree murder in Phoenix. Arizona. He was charged in connection to his 17-year-old stepdaughter Alissa Turney’s 2001 disappearance.”
“Jurors in that Phoenix courtroom heard five days of testimony from witnesses in the state’s case — including two Phoenix Police Department detectives, Stuart Somershoe and William Andersen, and Alissa’s boyfriend at the time of her disappearance, Jonathan Laakman.
The state rested their case on the sixth day of the trial — Monday, July 17 — after two days of testimony from Det. William Andersen. At that time Michael Turney’s defense attorneys, Jamie A. Jackson and Olivia Hicks, submitted a motion to the judge for an acquittal, citing Rule 20 of the Arizona Rules of Criminal procedure, which states that “the court must enter a judgment of acquittal… if there is no substantial evidence to support a conviction.”
Judge Sam Myers ruled in favor of the defense and the jurors were relieved of their duty. All charges in the case against Michael Turney have been dismissed and he was released from custody on Tuesday, July 18.”
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