Why Sarah Turney Wanted Dad Charged With Her Missing Sister's Murder

As a seasoned investigator of cold cases and a relentless advocate for justice, I find myself deeply moved by Sarah Turney‘s story. Her unwavering determination to seek answers about her sister Alissa’s disappearance is nothing short of inspiring.

Sarah Turney continues to strongly believe that her father, Michael Turney, was responsible for the death of her sister Alissa Turney in the year 2001.

In the podcast “Voices for Justice,” it’s not just the host who holds this belief; several close friends of Alissa, as depicted in Oxygen’s new documentary titled “Family Secrets: The Disappearance of Alissa Turney,”, also share this view. This documentary is set to premiere on October 13th.

Michael, however, has repeatedly denied killing Alissa and was acquitted of murder in July 2023.

He stated last December on NBC’s Dateline and later in a 2024 interview with Sarah for Family Secrets, “I have absolutely no clue about Alissa’s whereabouts. Whether she’s alive or deceased, I don’t know.

In fact, no trace of Alissa has ever been found.

However, Detective William Andersen from the Phoenix Police Department’s Missing Persons Unit, who solved a cold case in 2008, is not convinced that Alissa left voluntarily, contrary to what her father claimed when he reported her disappearance to the police on May 17, 2001.

In the documentary on Oxygen, the detective noted, “It’s unusual for someone to completely sever ties with everyone they’ve ever known. This implies a profound psychological issue or some hidden event that transpired. My role is to uncover what may have led to such circumstances.

But Sarah, who firmly believed in her father’s innocence when Andersen first interviewed her in 2008 (“I was in complete denial,” she said in the Oxygen doc), doesn’t buy it.

After she was certain he could potentially hurt Alissa, she dedicated herself to sharing her sister’s tale instead.

Jesse Sweet, director of the film “Family Secrets” along with Ricki Stern, explained to Oxygen.com that the story essentially revolves around victims empowering themselves by actively participating in the investigation rather than passively accepting their circumstances.

Who are Sarah Turney and Alissa Turney?

Michael, who used to be a deputy sheriff but now works as an electrician, was the father of three sons – Rhett, James, and Michael Jr. – when he tied the knot with mortgage loan officer Barbara Strahm. Barbara already had Alissa and her elder brother Jon from a prior relationship. Later on, Michael and Barbara welcomed Sarah into their family together.

In “Family Secrets”, Sarah stated that the term “step” or “half” wasn’t permitted, instead they were instructed to consider one another solely as brothers and sisters.

In 1992, when Sarah was approximately three years old and Alissa eight, Barbara received a terminal lung cancer diagnosis. Sadly, she passed away the following year, leaving Michael to adopt Alissa. One of the home videos filmed by Michael (as seen in the documentary) from March 3, 1993, captures Barbara during a viewing at an open casket.

Sarah mentioned that since their older brothers had left, it was mostly Alissa who took care of household chores due to her father seemingly lacking direction. Furthermore, Sarah noted that Alissa started exploring alcohol consumption. On occasion, she would report on her older sibling’s actions, and they would argue as a result, according to Sarah’s account.

But, Sarah said, she never wanted Alissa to leave.

What happened to Alissa Turney?

On May 17th, 2001, which was the final day of her junior year, Alissa disappeared from Paradise Valley High School. Meanwhile, Sarah was wrapping up her seventh grade studies.

As a diligent follower sharing events from my perspective, I shared with the authorities that I had picked up a 17-year-old from school early and treated her to lunch. Later, we clashed over her yearning for more independence, leading me to drop her off at home. Subsequently, I went to retrieve Sarah from a field trip.

According to the document, Sarah remembered her father mentioning that Alissa hadn’t responded to her calls. Upon returning home, Sarah added, Alissa’s mobile phone and school bag were found in her room, together with a written note.

The document contained a note indicating that Alissa had withdrawn $300 from her stepfather and was planning a trip to California. When Michael phoned the police that evening to inform them about his daughter apparently running away, Sarah mentioned in “Family Secrets” that the officers didn’t promptly visit their house for an investigation.

Detective Anderson clarified in the report that cases where individuals had run away were typically not given the same level of focus as other missing person incidents, particularly those involving a note or an apparent phone call suggesting some form of life.

Back in that time, there were no indications of any suspicious circumstances or emergencies since Alissa was a healthy 17-year-old without any known mental or physical health issues. This is what Phoenix Police Sgt. Maggie Cox shared with NBC’s Dateline in 2020. As soon as the report was filed, Alissa’s details were logged into the National Crime Information Center. In 2008, the Missing Persons Unit Detectives started delving deeper into the case based on additional information that came up later.

As a lifestyle expert, I can share with you an insight from Sarah’s book, “Family Secrets”. In this narrative, Sarah expresses her belief, shared by other family members at the time, that Alissa had indeed left willingly, under the assumption she had run away.

In 2020, I, James Turney – Michael’s second-born son – shared with Dateline that my most recent conversation with Alissa occurred a few months prior to her disappearance. She was ten years younger than me.

James shared that she expressed fear of their father and wished to depart. He responded by offering her a place to stay at his place. Later, when they learned she was gone, they were completely convinced she had fled on her own.

Still, Alissa had “so many options of places to go,” James added. “But she just vanished.”

A week following her sister’s disappearance, Sarah mentioned in an Oxygen documentary that their father entered her room at 5 a.m., claiming Alissa was on the phone, swearing and demanding him to stay away. After this, the call abruptly ended. Michael then contacted the telephone company, and they discovered the call originated from a convenience store in Riverside, California.

As a diligent follower, I personally embarked on a journey to California and even ventured into a local store. However, the unfortunate reality was that there were no security cameras capturing our visit, and it seemed impossible to track down the individual who placed the mysterious call. Following this setback, I took the initiative and created my very first missing poster. My father generously agreed to distribute them throughout our town.

When did Alissa Turney’s case turn into more than a search for a runaway?

In 2008, when Andersen received the case, there were several aspects of Alissa’s sudden disappearance that troubled him about the given theory.

One point worth noting is that Alissa forgot her phone, according to Andersen, which is unusual for children who run away, based on his experiences.

According to what he outlined in the Oxygen document, Alissa did not attempt to reach out to any relatives, acquaintances, or her boyfriend Jon Laackman – whom Michael asserted was prone to physical violence. However, Jon contested this claim, and the detective found the teenager’s allegations implausible.

In a recorded conversation with the detective, Jon additionally revealed that Alissa disclosed to him that her stepfather had taken her to an empty location, possibly the desert, and attempted to behave inappropriately towards her. Jon stated that she needed to become confrontational in order to repel him.

According to Andersen, two friends and a stepbrother of Alissa claimed they had heard a similar tale from her, separately to the police.

Michael consistently asserts that he never molested Alissa under any circumstances. In an interview with Dateline in 2023, he stated, “I’ve never done such a thing, and I would never engage in any behavior of that nature.

Apart from family videos, the documentary, titled ‘Family Secrets’, includes snippets of audio and visual footage that were secretly recorded by Michael, who had set up cameras both inside and outside his house to monitor Alissa’s phone calls as well.

Michael countered to police that Alissa was troubled and he had to keep a close eye on her.

Jessica Lang, a friend of Alissa’s, remarked that Michael was remarkably overbearing in the book “Family Secrets”. Another friend, Charity Behrend, characterized Alissa as extremely sociable, humorous and full of curiosity about the world. She also mentioned they spent most of their time together at her place since Alissa disliked staying at home – that is, until Michael prohibited Alissa from meeting with Charity, labeling her as a negative influence.

In a home video from the documentary, Alissa is seen preparing for her prom, accompanied by her friends. Her father, capturing the moment on camera, informs her that she can’t attend. Alissa expresses surprise as he reiterates his words, asserting they are serious. The documentary later reveals that she was permitted to go, but her father had strict instructions for her not to leave the building once she arrived at the prom.

In 2008, Michael declined an in-person interview as stated in the documentation, yet demonstrated a moderate level of cooperation over the phone. However, when the detective requested Michael to hand over the recording from the day Alissa went missing, the detective noted that Michael was hesitant and evasive.

Why was Michael Turney arrested?

In 2020, Sarah shared with Dateline that the accusations of abuse ultimately led the police to re-examine her sister’s case. At that time, she would have denied any involvement by her father in the matter. However, as years passed, he presented so many conflicting accounts of what happened that day, which left her feeling uneasy.

According to Sgt. Cox, the information available to the police led them to concentrate their investigation on Michael Turney as the possible culprit.

On December 11, 2008, the Phoenix police conducted a search at the Turney residence as part of the investigation into Alissa’s disappearance.

The primary focus of investigators was on locating papers, tapes (both cassette and videotape), but unexpectedly, items such as guns, ammunition, and 26 self-made pipe bombs were discovered instead, as reported by the FBI’s Phoenix division.

Additionally, they discovered a vehicle on the premises laden with propane tanks, bleach containers, and nails concealed within the wheel arches, as Andersen explained in “Family Secrets.” In this documentary, he further revealed that multiple envelopes were found in a secure box, each addressed to various media outlets and containing a USB drive. The contents of the drive included a manifesto, which was presented in the documentary, where Michael implicated the electricians’ union in Alissa’s abduction and murder, and detailed his intention to retaliate by detonating a homemade bomb in a van at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers’ union hall.

The document was titled “Diary of a Madman Martyr.”

On the very day Michael was apprehended, Detective Stuart Somershoe stated to ABC News in 2009 that “Michael was carrying two handguns. He had seven loaded gun magazines. He had a knife. He also had a recording device.

On March 30, 2010, Michael admitted his guilt in a federal court regarding one charge of illegally holding explosive devices that were not registered, which is classified as a serious crime, as stated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona.

Due to this legal action, a potentially harmful individual has been removed from our neighborhoods. In his own making, he had a stockpile of explosives that could have led to disastrous results, as stated by U.S. Attorney Dennis K. Burke.

Michael was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.

During the time when Andersen spoke in Family Secrets, it was never discovered any CCTV footage on the day Alissa vanished, nor any recordings of the call her father claimed she made a week afterwards.

How did Sarah Turney end up suspecting her dad Michael Turney of killing her sister Alissa Turney?

In the book “Family Secrets”, Sarah expressed her firm conviction that her father, Michael Turney, was wrongfully imprisoned and had been set up by the authorities. In response, she launched a campaign titled “Free Michael Turney” and actively worked towards securing his freedom.

Nor was she fazed by suspicion that he’d harmed Alissa.

Sarah assured ABC 15 that the man in question had no involvement in her sister’s disappearance, following his arrest. She praised him as an exceptional father.

But as the years went by, she came to the opposite conclusion.

She reviewed the accusations of sexual misconduct within her sister’s case documents, and subsequently revisited old home videos featuring their father. This detail was shared in the documentary. A video clip from a 1997 family camping trip, which was part of the film, captured Alissa shouting, “Dad is perverted!” Sarah mentioned that at the time, she didn’t find it noteworthy.

As I once perceived my father as an invincible hero, the epitome of fatherhood, Sarah shared in ‘Family Secrets’, it appears now that he was more of a beast.

She went on to say, “I believe that on the day she vanished, he transported her to the desert, attempted another assault, maybe she resisted, something malfunctioned, leading him to conclude that he needed to end her life.

By the year 2017, when Michael was freed from prison prematurely, I, Sarah, was convinced of his wrongdoing and had pledged my support to the authorities in ensuring he faced justice. During a conversation at a coffee shop with my father, I captured our discussion on tape, where he vehemently denied any involvement in Alissa’s death or abuse. However, I perceived one of his remarks—questioning me to visit him when he was near death and listen to what he had to say at that point—as an admission of guilt.

However, according to Andersen in Family Secrets, there was neither any tangible proof nor a crime scene, making it impossible for the police to construct their argument from mere fragments of dialogue.

What Michael said, he added, was “not a confession to a homicide.”

Eager to share her sister’s tale, Sarah initiated a blog and made appearances on diverse true crime podcasts. In July 2019, she debuted her own podcast, Voices for Justice, where she interviewed Alissa’s acquaintances, scrutinized the case documents, retold her father’s explosives case, and expressed her doubts about Michael’s involvement in Alissa’s disappearance.

Sarah declared in June 2020 to Dateline that she would persistently keep searching, expressing, “Alissa is the essence of my existence. Uncovering what befell her has become my purpose.

Moreover, Sarah added, “She deserves her day in court. And I’m determined to give her that.”

In addition, she found a large number of people interested in true crime on TikTok. On August 20, 2020, she informed her followers via the platform that Michael was taken into custody for the murder of Alissa.

What happened at Michael Turney’s murder trial?

In simpler terms, Michael, who was accused of second-degree murder, denied the charges against him. During his court hearing in July 2023, the 75-year-old appeared weak and was seated in a wheelchair.

In court, defense attorney Jamie A. Jackson stated that the entire argument relies on circumstantial evidence, conjecture, and assumption. According to him, there is no actual evidence available to support the case.

In a different wording, the defense was able to exclude accusations of sexual abuse from the trial, so those who informed the police about Alissa’s claims against her father being inappropriately touched were unable to testify about this matter during the court proceedings.

On July 17, 2023, after the prosecution presented its case over five days, Lawyer Olivia Hicks requested a not-guilty verdict from the judge. She claimed that the evidence provided by the state did not support a “logical assumption” that Michael was the one who murdered Alissa.

Judge Sam J. Myers agreed and ordered Michael’s release from custody.

Afterward, as reported by NBC News, Jackson expressed joy that the judge ruled in his favor. He’s thrilled about being released from custody. Clearly, he remains worried about the case and continues to search for answers regarding who was responsible for killing Alissa.

On July 18, 2023, Michael was granted freedom, with a condition known as jeopardy being imposed. This implies that he cannot be charged again for the same offense.

Where is Sarah Turney now?

Despite feeling disheartened, Sarah persisted in questioning her father further. In a discussion recorded for an Oxygen documentary in February 2024, she sat down with him to discuss the allegations against him regarding Alissa. Once more, he denied any wrongdoing, specifically molestation or murder, and instead accused Sarah of being the one who was tearing their family apart.

In the documentary, she stated, “No one needs to confirm what we already understand; I’ve come to terms with my actions on behalf of Alissa.

Starting from early 2021, she has been exploring additional cases of missing persons and homicides on her podcast, stating that a significant aspect of her current purpose is to aid other families in their often challenging pursuit of resolution.

However, Sarah mentioned during the October 3rd episode of Voices for Justice that a fresh season focusing on Alissa’s case is being actively worked on.

Debuting this coming Sunday, October 13th, at 8 PM on Oxygen, is the gripping series titled “Family Secrets: The Vanishing of Alissa Turney.” An expanded version will be available starting October 15th exclusively on Peacock.

2024-10-13 15:20

Why Sarah Turney Wanted Dad Charged With Her Missing Sister’s Murder