Phoenix cold case: Stepdad arrested in 2001 disappearance of Alissa Turney
08/24/2020 3:40 pm PDT
By Courtland Jeffrey, KNXV
PHOENIX (KNXV) -- Officials have made an arrest in the cold case of Alissa Turney, a 17-year-old girl who went missing in 2001.
The Maricopa County Attorney's Office announced a second-degree murder charge against Alissa's stepfather, Michael Roy Turney, according to a press conference Thursday.
Alissa went missing at the end of the school year in 2001 and was first reported as a runaway by Michael Turney, who called in a runaway report, telling authorities Alissa had left a note saying she was going to California.
On the day she went missing, Alissa told her boyfriend at Paradise Valley High School that her stepfather was taking her out of school early, according to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office. She has never been seen or heard from again.
In 2008, officials began a criminal investigation into Alissa's disappearance, and officials conducted 200 interviews with coworkers, friends, and family. Authorities conducting a search warrant on Michael Turney's residence discovered a bombing plot. Turney admitted that he illegally possessed 26 pipe bombs. Turney took a plea deal and served 10 years in prison in the bombing plot, unrelated to Alissa's disappearance.
Turney was arrested Thursday afternoon by police in Mesa in connection to her presumed death. Police did not release further details in the case. Alissa's missing person case remains open until "recovery is made," according to officials.
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