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For Alissa Turney, concluding her junior year of high school heralded the beginning of an entirely new phase of life.
However, as Andrea Canning shared in Dateline: Unforgettable, the disappearance of 17-year-old Alissa sparked a perplexing mystery that remains unsolved to this day.
On May 17, 2001, Alissa’s stepfather, Michael Turney, who had been widowed, reported her disappearance, stating she ran away following an argument they had after lunch.
Alissa left behind a handwritten note signaling her departure and abandoned her money, phone, and other personal items in her room.
A week later, Michael informed the police that he received a brief phone call from her, which he traced to a payphone at a convenience store in Riverside, California. Determined, he embarked on a 320-mile journey from Arizona with Alissa’s younger sister, Sarah, to the location.
Seven days later, Michael told police he got a brief phone call from her that he managed to trace to a convenience store payphone in Riverside, California. He drove 320 miles from Arizona with Alissa’s younger sister, Sarah, to the site.
“I started going to the various police departments,” Michael said in the episode titled “The Day Alissa Disappeared,” airing Jan. 15, “giving out flyers.”
Though he worked with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and pressured police to keep looking, Alissa was not found.
Then, in 2008, inmate Thomas Hymer—serving a life sentence for murder—falsely claimed he was responsible for Alissa’s disappearance, prompting a more in-depth review of the case.
New detective takes on the case
That same year, Detective William Anderson joined Phoenix Police Department’s Missing Person’s Unit.
The fact that Alissa—who would have been 24 in 2008—had never reached out to family members, gotten an ID or copy of her birth certificate were red flags.
When the detective interviewed her friends and family, he learned Michael had strict rules and that he’d installed security cameras in the house and recorded all phone calls. He’d claimed the layers of surveillance were because he’d fallen out with his electrical workers union.
Though Michael shared names of people he wanted police to investigate, including Alissa’s boyfriend and a man who did wiring at her school, none of those leads panned out—and the focus eventually turned to him.
Michael claimed he had security video from May 17, 2001, and audio of her call from California. But, when asked by police for them, he couldn’t locate them.
Search of Michael Turney’s home leads to shocking discovery
At this point in the investigation, Michael became the key suspect—and authorities got search warrants for his home.
“We found hundreds of VHS tapes,” Anderson recounted, “and hundreds of audio tape cassette recordings.
Plus, they discovered a large stash of handguns and explosives, including homemade pipe bombs and a manifesto alleging a union conspiracy to kill Alissa.
“He had enough explosives there,” a woman who lived nearby shared with Dateline, “to take out our whole neighborhood.”
Michael pleaded guilty to illegally possessing the pipe bombs and was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.
What tapes showed about Michael and Alissa
When Michael was behind bars, investigators reviewed the multitude of video and audio tapes seized from his home, which showed how many of Alissa’s activities he recorded and his unhealthy relationship with her.
But detectives never found the audio recording of the phone call from California or video from the day Alissa disappeared.
Three sources—friends and family members—shared that Alissa had revealed an experience when her stepfather got physically too close to her during a drive.
Additionally, in a recorded call, Alissa’s maternal aunt was heard telling Alissa that she can come and visit her if needed. The detective believed that Michael was waking up to the fact that he was losing control of Alissa.
“You have a 17-year-old girl,” Anderson said. “Whatever issues are going on in that home, she’s not willing to tolerate anymore. She’s finally able to stand up and recognize she has some resources.”
Sarah Turney launches public campaign
By the time Michael was released from federal prison in 2017, Alissa’s younger sister, Sarah, had become convinced that he was involved in her sibling’s disappearance.
In 2019, she created Voices for Justice, a podcast aimed at turning a spotlight on cases that needed attention.
Sarah’s advocacy and viral social-media campaign renewed public focus on the case. In August 2020, a grand jury indicted Michael for second-degree murder.
What happened at Michael Turney’s trial?
Michael’s defense team knew that the prosecution had scant physical evidence, but prosecutors disagreed.
“We were convinced that we had sufficient evidence to show that he murdered her,” said Deputy County Attorney Vince Imbordino, “that he had a motive to kill her, and he had time to kill her.”
During the court proceedings, those close to Alissa testified, including Sarah, her brother and Alissa’s boyfriend.
In the end, the judge found insufficient evidence for conviction and Michael was acquitted. Alissa remains missing and her case is legally unresolved.
Dateline: Unforgettable airs Thursdays at 8/7c p.m. on Oxygen.
