Hailey Dunn: Six Months Later
By: Jessica Reyes
Updated: June 27, 2011
For the last six months, the Hailey Dunn saga has plagued the west Texas town of Colorado City.
Sordid details have emerged about her mother's personal life and family's legal troubles, but a half-year later, what happened to Hailey still remains a mystery.
"I'm still hanging onto hope. There's no reason why I can't be hopeful," said Hailey's mother, Billie Dunn at a vigil for her daughter on Saturday.
Dunn recently moved to south Texas after she said she couldn't handle speculation from the community about her role in Hailey's disappearance.
"Employment reasons, and to be closer to family, and just away from all the hatred," she said.
Dunn is currently serving a year-long probation sentence after she pleaded no contest to a charge of making a false report to a police officer. When law enforcement came to her Colorado City home March 17 looking for her former live-in boyfriend, Shawn Adkins, she lied and said he wasn't there.
The same day Dunn was arrested, investigators removed electronics from Adkins' grandmother's home in Dunn containing images of child pornography. Affidavits released in February revealed child pornography was also found on devices at Billie Dunn's house in Colorado City and at Adkins' mother's home in Big Spring.
The child porn case is still under investigation. No arrests have been made, much to the frustration of the public.
"You have to show a direct link between the user and the operator of the machine. It's kind of a difficult aspect to prove," said City Manager for Colorado City, Pete Kampfer.
Adkins was the last person to see Hailey. He remains the only named suspect regarding her disappearance.
Volunteer searchers have devoted countless hours looking for the missing 13-year-old. Groups continue meeting on Saturdays to look for any clues as to where she could be.
"I promised Hailey and her friends and her family in January that I wouldn't give up, and I'm not going to," said Holly Jenkins, a search volunteer.
Investigators remain tight-lipped about details of the missing person investigation, but Mitchell County Sheriff Patrick Toombs said it's unlikely any arrests will be made until a body is located or Hailey is found alive.
"Until we find her, alive or not, then we go on to that part of the case. Whether it's kidnapping, or something else," he said.
Hailey's family and the public have become frustrated with investigators seemingly not any getting closer to finding her.
Colorado City Manager Pete Kampfer insists law enforcement is actively working the investigation and stresses it has not become a cold case.
"It's an open, ongoing investigation that is being pursued aggressively," he said.
After six months of searching and no sign of the missing girl, the same nagging question still remains: where is Hailey Dunn?
Sordid details have emerged about her mother's personal life and family's legal troubles, but a half-year later, what happened to Hailey still remains a mystery.
"I'm still hanging onto hope. There's no reason why I can't be hopeful," said Hailey's mother, Billie Dunn at a vigil for her daughter on Saturday.
Dunn recently moved to south Texas after she said she couldn't handle speculation from the community about her role in Hailey's disappearance.
"Employment reasons, and to be closer to family, and just away from all the hatred," she said.
Dunn is currently serving a year-long probation sentence after she pleaded no contest to a charge of making a false report to a police officer. When law enforcement came to her Colorado City home March 17 looking for her former live-in boyfriend, Shawn Adkins, she lied and said he wasn't there.
The same day Dunn was arrested, investigators removed electronics from Adkins' grandmother's home in Dunn containing images of child pornography. Affidavits released in February revealed child pornography was also found on devices at Billie Dunn's house in Colorado City and at Adkins' mother's home in Big Spring.
The child porn case is still under investigation. No arrests have been made, much to the frustration of the public.
"You have to show a direct link between the user and the operator of the machine. It's kind of a difficult aspect to prove," said City Manager for Colorado City, Pete Kampfer.
Adkins was the last person to see Hailey. He remains the only named suspect regarding her disappearance.
Volunteer searchers have devoted countless hours looking for the missing 13-year-old. Groups continue meeting on Saturdays to look for any clues as to where she could be.
"I promised Hailey and her friends and her family in January that I wouldn't give up, and I'm not going to," said Holly Jenkins, a search volunteer.
Investigators remain tight-lipped about details of the missing person investigation, but Mitchell County Sheriff Patrick Toombs said it's unlikely any arrests will be made until a body is located or Hailey is found alive.
"Until we find her, alive or not, then we go on to that part of the case. Whether it's kidnapping, or something else," he said.
Hailey's family and the public have become frustrated with investigators seemingly not any getting closer to finding her.
Colorado City Manager Pete Kampfer insists law enforcement is actively working the investigation and stresses it has not become a cold case.
"It's an open, ongoing investigation that is being pursued aggressively," he said.
After six months of searching and no sign of the missing girl, the same nagging question still remains: where is Hailey Dunn?
