Hailey Dunn: Law Enforcement, Key Players Keeping Quiet
By: Tiffany Tatro
Updated: April 28, 2011
This week marks four months since 13-year-old Hailey Dunn vanished. She was last seen at her home in Colorado City on Dec. 27, and hundreds of leads have turned up empty.
Day after day, KTAB News get calls and emails asking for updates on the investigation. But the truth is, updates are hard to come by these days.
Hailey's father, Clint Dunn, her mother, Billie Dunn, and her mother's boyfriend and only named suspect, Shawn Adkins, all declined our interview requests.
Colorado City City Manager Pete Kampfer, who has been a spokesman for the investigation since the beginning, as well as Mitchell County Sheriff Patrick Toombs and Mitchell County District Attorney Ann Reed all refused an on camera interview to discuss where the investigation sits today.
Even with the major players in the case remaining tight lipped, we wanted to try and answer the question so many people still have – is their hope for Hailey?
There was a time when Hailey Dunn wasn't a household name. But now, her name is associated with Elizabeth Smart, Jaycee Dugard, Caylee Anthony and Amber Dubois – all girls around her age who disappeared. Some were found alive. Others were not.
Volunteer searchers like Kristy Lloyd have devoted countless hours looking for the missing 13-year-old.
"We look under, look over, climb over, climb under," she said. "We're not giving up hope."
Lloyd, and the other people who have been out searching since early on in the case, say they know the odds are against then after four months.
"We're still hoping that she's hiding somewhere and is afraid to come forward and let us know where she's at," Lloyd said.
Nationally renowned child advocate Mark Klaas agrees that there is still hope.
"Until there's proof one way or the other, I think we still have to keep in mind Hailey may very well still be alive and out there," Klass said, using the case of Elizabeth Smart as an example.
The 14-year-old was abducted from her Salt Lake City home in 2002. Nine months later, she was found alive about 18 miles from her home.
"Elizabeth was taken by a local crazed handyman that decided he needed a child bride, and the best way to get that child bride was at knife point," Klaas described. "As difficult as it is to put your arms around such a concept, it is always a possibility something similar happened to Hailey."
Lloyd says knowing Hailey could still be out there alive keeps searchers from giving up.
"With Elizabeth Smart being found in nine months still alive, we're still hoping. That's why we're still going strong, because Hailey needs to be home."
Jaycee Dugard is another example of a missing pre-teen who vanished and was later found alive. Dugard was kidnapped in 1991 when she was only 11 years old. It was 18 years later that she was discovered living in a tent behind her alleged abductor's home.
Dugard's case may have ended well, but Klaas says it wasn't all good news
"The bad news is that in Jaycee's case and with so many other children who were recovered long after the fact, they were all stolen or kidnapped for purposes of sexual exploitation," he said.
But not all cases end with children coming home. Caylee Anthony, only two years old, was missing for months before her remains were found not far from her home. Amber Dubois, 14, was missing for more than a year before her body was found in a rural San Diego County area.
"The longer the child is missing the greater the chance the child will not be alive," Klaas said. "Seventy four percent children who are murdered as a result of an abduction are dead within the first three hours."
No matter how long it takes to find an answer, searchers like Lloyd say they're in it for the long run.
"There's always been a 50/50 chance from the beginning that she's either deceased or alive," Lloyd said. "We just don't want to stop until she's brought home, and we'll go to the end until she's here."
Day after day, KTAB News get calls and emails asking for updates on the investigation. But the truth is, updates are hard to come by these days.
Hailey's father, Clint Dunn, her mother, Billie Dunn, and her mother's boyfriend and only named suspect, Shawn Adkins, all declined our interview requests.
Colorado City City Manager Pete Kampfer, who has been a spokesman for the investigation since the beginning, as well as Mitchell County Sheriff Patrick Toombs and Mitchell County District Attorney Ann Reed all refused an on camera interview to discuss where the investigation sits today.
Even with the major players in the case remaining tight lipped, we wanted to try and answer the question so many people still have – is their hope for Hailey?
There was a time when Hailey Dunn wasn't a household name. But now, her name is associated with Elizabeth Smart, Jaycee Dugard, Caylee Anthony and Amber Dubois – all girls around her age who disappeared. Some were found alive. Others were not.
Volunteer searchers like Kristy Lloyd have devoted countless hours looking for the missing 13-year-old.
"We look under, look over, climb over, climb under," she said. "We're not giving up hope."
Lloyd, and the other people who have been out searching since early on in the case, say they know the odds are against then after four months.
"We're still hoping that she's hiding somewhere and is afraid to come forward and let us know where she's at," Lloyd said.
Nationally renowned child advocate Mark Klaas agrees that there is still hope.
"Until there's proof one way or the other, I think we still have to keep in mind Hailey may very well still be alive and out there," Klass said, using the case of Elizabeth Smart as an example.
The 14-year-old was abducted from her Salt Lake City home in 2002. Nine months later, she was found alive about 18 miles from her home.
"Elizabeth was taken by a local crazed handyman that decided he needed a child bride, and the best way to get that child bride was at knife point," Klaas described. "As difficult as it is to put your arms around such a concept, it is always a possibility something similar happened to Hailey."
Lloyd says knowing Hailey could still be out there alive keeps searchers from giving up.
"With Elizabeth Smart being found in nine months still alive, we're still hoping. That's why we're still going strong, because Hailey needs to be home."
Jaycee Dugard is another example of a missing pre-teen who vanished and was later found alive. Dugard was kidnapped in 1991 when she was only 11 years old. It was 18 years later that she was discovered living in a tent behind her alleged abductor's home.
Dugard's case may have ended well, but Klaas says it wasn't all good news
"The bad news is that in Jaycee's case and with so many other children who were recovered long after the fact, they were all stolen or kidnapped for purposes of sexual exploitation," he said.
But not all cases end with children coming home. Caylee Anthony, only two years old, was missing for months before her remains were found not far from her home. Amber Dubois, 14, was missing for more than a year before her body was found in a rural San Diego County area.
"The longer the child is missing the greater the chance the child will not be alive," Klaas said. "Seventy four percent children who are murdered as a result of an abduction are dead within the first three hours."
No matter how long it takes to find an answer, searchers like Lloyd say they're in it for the long run.
"There's always been a 50/50 chance from the beginning that she's either deceased or alive," Lloyd said. "We just don't want to stop until she's brought home, and we'll go to the end until she's here."
