♪ tell me about that day, may 17th, 2021. >> on the surface, it looks a runaway case. >> what teenager planning to run away would ever leave their cell phone behind? >> but obviously there's more to this story. >> she just broke down crying. i just remember her saying she was scared.

>> the last place alissa turney was seen was here at paradise valley high school. >> my dad obviously being a cop, he knows what happens to teenage girl whos who go out alone. he was really scared. >> he seemed very driven by the situation. i'm calling this person, i'm calling that person. >> you begin to think she's not around, she's dead? >> yes. i began to fear the worst. >> 20/20 has talked to michael turney about his missing stepdaughter over the course of decades now. >> my last memory with someone you love, stomping down the hallway. >> then you get a confession out of nowhere. >> i'm going to make you famous. i'm a serial killer. >> stop! ♪

♪ ♪ the last time i stepped foot on this dusty desert road between phoenix and los angeles it was 2009. i was reporting on a vibrant teenage girl named alissa turney who disappeared in 2001. and to this day, some wonder if this unforgiving and lonely landscape might holds secrets of her fate. >> 17-year-old alissa turney. >> the disappearance and presumed death of alissa turney. >> alissa turney hasn't been seen in more than seven years. >> just a bombshell arrest tonight almost 20 years after phoenix teen alissa turney vanished. >> my report on her case went on to have a life of its own.

>> this is the story of alissa turney. >> alissa turney. >> raise awareness. >> showing up in countless stories about alissa on the internet. in podcasts, and recently, it was even at the center of a trial, aimed at answering once and for all what really happened to alissa. >> but before we tell you about that, let's go back to the place where it all started. >> may 17th, 2001 was alissa's last day of her junior year in high school. >> for a teenager, the last day of school is the best day ever. and in this case, it's a half day. everyone is just saying goodbye and getting ready for the summer. >> alissa at some point pokes her head into her then boyfriend, jon laakman's classroom and she says, "my step dad is picking me up early today from school." >> she says, "bye, i'll see you later." and then she gets in the car with her stepfather, mike turney.

>> the home videos, family photos and recorded video from the turney home that you're about to see were obtained by abc news from police in 2009. they show alissa as a seemingly typical kid. >> my name is cris ridenour, and i worked with alissa at jack in the box for a couple of months, and we were also friends. >> what were your impressions of alissa? >> she's kind of a free spirit. she is very genuine, very honest. really, really cool. >> alissa was working as a cashier. she was a very reliable employee. she never missed a shift. she was well liked by everybody there. two of alissa's closest friends sat down with abc back in 2009. >> alissa was very carefree and just, she just, you never knew what was going to happen with her. she was very spontaneous. she would always think of something new to do, and it was never a boring moment. never a boring moment with alissa.

>> for a little perspective, it's 2001. people are emailing each other using aol. people have flip phones. "trl" is huge. alissa was spirited and fun and she loved to party. had a lot of friends. she had a boyfriend. life for her was as typical as it could get for a 17-year-old. >> alissa was incredibly social and just wanted to hang out with other people and other friends. she loved to draw. she liked to write. >> yeah. she liked to write? >> yeah. she liked to just write out little notes and things like that. >> we have a little paragraph that she wrote. would you read it to us? >> sure. i have many streaks of shade of color of hair, from blonde to dark brown. i like to go to the mall at metro center. in the mall, my favorite store is hot topic. of course. i love to hang out with my best friends, katie and stacy. i like boys. i listen to heavy metal bands

like deftones, korn, marilyn manson, limp bizkit, school is okay. i love kids. i want to have a lot of them. i like to go paint balling. i like my pants. i like candles. i have a lot of friends. i have very few enemies. >> sound like her? >> yeah, definitely. >> by all accounts, she was a very happy and radiant kid. she had a very bubbly personality, but was also really playful and mischievous. >> tell me about that day, may 17th, 2001. an important day for you? >> oh yeah, i was graduating. that was my graduation day. she expressed interest in wanting to come to the graduation, and that was the last i heard from her. >> michael turney raised alissa after her mother passed away. when i spoke to him he said he picked her up early from school and had lunch. their conversation turned into an argument, but he says, just typical parent-child friction. >> that morning. she was in a -- in good spirits. >> oh, she was. we were arguing that she only had one more year to go.

very proud of what we accomplished. and we got lunch and came back. we were arguing over me scrutinizin' her too much. she didn't like that. >> what did you talk about at lunch? >> oh, how -- what we were gonna do that summer, uh, some of the problems that we were concerned with. she wanted to be able to stay out later at night, and -- and go run, uh - - with her friends, wherever she wanted to, and, uh, not be accountable to where she was at. and i told her, that's just not gonna happen with this. uh, you know, as long as you're under my roof, we're gonna have to, uh -- check in with daddy, 'cause daddy's a nervous wreck if you don't. >> how did she respond? >> she said, for the last year or so, that she, uh, was ready to leave home. she wanted to go live somewhere else. i didn't think she was ready. i didn't want her to. i wanted her to stay. >> so she stormed away from you? went to her bedroom? >> yeah, basically that was it. >> that was the last you saw of her? >> yeah, walking down the hallway mad, like with her hair flying behind her. >> michael says he runs errands. later he picks up alissa's younger sister, sarah. she told abc what she found when she got home that night. >> my dad picked me up and said, "your sister's not answering her cellphone. will you try to call her?"

and so we were just in the car calling, calling, calling. got home, she wasn't there. you know, my dad was running through the house, seeing, you know, if she was there. and then i found the note on top of the dresser. >> a handwritten note left for both of them, and in this note, alissa says, "dad and sarah, when you dropped me off at school today i decided that i really am going to california. sarah, you said you didn't want me around. look you got it. i'm gone! that's why i saved my money. dad i took $300 from you. alissa. >> when we read the note, i just -- my heart just completely stopped. >> it must have been terrifying for you. >> yeah. i started, uh -- you know, calling everybody i could call. tellin' them, look, we got a problem. we need to get everybody together now, and we gotta find alissa. >> it didn't really appear like any of her belongings were missing. her favorite clothes were still there. her jewelry, her makeup, her

hairbrush, and most importantly, her cell phone. >> what teenager planning to run away would ever leave her cell phone behind? >> did you call the police? >> eventually i did, later on that night. 'cause she coulda just gone somewhere, and then we would find her real quick. >> if she ran away, why wouldn't she take her cell phone? >> that was the questions that we had. she didn't take her cell phone. she took limited amount of her clothing. uh, it's as though she left in a hurry. >> it was scary, i didn't know where she was. she was always like, "i don't want to live here." like i never thought she would do it. >> there is no way, no way that she would not have contacted any of her friends. >> there was some concern just you were thinking, "what if something could have happened?" >> cops probably get calls like that frequently, and sometimes it's just that, the kid got po'ed at the parent and they took off. but obviously there was more to this story. ♪ ♪ wake up, gotta go! c'mon, c'mon. -gracie, c'mon.

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just about 11:00pm at night, michael turney called to let the police department know that his

17-year-old daughter had runaway from home. >> when there's a call from a parent saying, she's talking about california, and i've got a note. this is a run-of-the-mill textbook example of a teenage kid who's run away. 99 times out of a hundred, that kid turns up within a couple of days. >> we deal with runaways all the time, in the missing persons you get thousands of them every year. >> there's like 10,000 runaways in phoenix every year? >> yeah. thousands and thousands. >> if i had been that detective and i saw a 17-year old who ran away on the last day of school, i'm assuming she's going to parties. i'm not going to be alarmed by that. when you present it as a 17-year-old runaway, that's how it's going to be handled. >> the last place alissa turney was seen that day was here at paradise valley high school. just a few steps away, the fast food joint where alissa held a steady job. she didn't turn up the next day for her shift or to pick up her paycheck.

concerning? absolutely. but people closest to alissa told us life in the turney home wasn't always paradise. >> alissa turney was born on april 3rd, 1984. her mom was barbara farner. her father was stephen strahm. >> she was just a wonderful little kid. a lot of fun too. very energetic. >> sissy. that's what i called her. i just remember she had the cutest little smile and she was a happy baby. she really was a happy baby. >> when alissa was three years old, barbara met michael turney. and she divorced stephen strahm, and mike and barbara got married. >> it was a blended family. at times, they have been described as kind of a brady bunch. >> it's mine, yours and ours. michael had three children from previous relationships. barbara has two children, alissa and her brother.

and then, they have a daughter, sarah. >> we as a group, coalesced pretty quickly. we didn't treat anybody differently. my siblings are my siblings. i don't have a step, i don't have a half. >> and then to everyone's shock, barbara is diagnosed with cancer and passes away pretty quickly thereafter. alissa was nine years old, and that was obviously devastating. >> alissa was aware. she was very upset and she needed a lot of consoling. >> you played a special role for the girls. >> i like to call it the substitute role. i put off college to go up and be with them. i took care of the girls in the day when my dad was at work. >> what did you know about alissa's life as she entered her teen years? >> as she got older, she seemed to be relaxing, coming more into a space of her own. she definitely had a very unpleasant relationship with my father and a very tense one.

>> stop! you're not welcome here. >> michael turney is a former sheriff's deputy. he looks at the world with a different perspective. and he says he wants to protect his children. so he is very controlling of the home environment, where they go, who they see. you were a strict dad. >> very strict. she was just very naive, uh, to many things. didn't comprehend the repercussions of what she did. it, uh, made it more of a task for an -- a parent to protect alissa, as a -- and keepin' her in school. >> i thought i had strict parents, but my gosh. he's very protective of her. he would hardly let her go out and do normal things. >> there would be times when she would vent about things that he was doing. he was very, very strict. >> i do remember her talking about, "i can't wait to turn 18 and get out of here," and stuff like that. but i think every teenager

complains about that at some point. >> in these recorded phone calls from 2001 and later released by police, you can hear alissa talking to her boyfriend, jon laakman. >> when are you going to get your tongue pierced? >> never. why, why do you want me to? >> no, but your dad would kill you. >> well, yeah he would. he'd would kill me once i was 18 if i did it. >> why? >> cause he likes to control my life. >> there are records that indicate that alissa had been thinking about going to california for some time. in fact, for her driver's ed essay, she calculated how long and how far it would be to drive to california. california was on alissa's mind. >> i love you. >> i love you. >> would your parents let you to go to california with me? >> yeah, no. i mean, i don't know. probably. they might.

>> alissa still had nine months to go until her 18th birthday, but friends and family wondered if maybe she had had enough of dad's rules. >> you have this letter saying that she just sort of had enough, talking to both michael and little sister sarah, and saying i'm going to california. and i've taken some money and sayonara. we're outta here. that's a fascinating piece of the puzzle. >> her brother, james, says he noticed a shift in her in the weeks before she disappeared. >> she said, "james, can we go for a walk?" and once we got to the light post, she just broke down crying. and i just remember her saying she was scared, and that she wanted to come and live with me. >> she was having a lot of trouble getting along with her stepdad, we know that alissa had been talking to her maternal aunt in california, may be going to live with her.

>> i have no clue why he called you. >> why is he freaking out all of a sudden just -- >> it's my dad, what do you expect? >> huh? >> what do you expect? he's always like that. >> mike called me and said he could not control alissa anymore, and if, i could take her if she could come and stay with me for the summer. i told him, sure, i'll take her. >> you know what, alissa? >> yeah. >> ever want to come out and visit me, i'm right here. >> okay. >> okay? >> uh-huh. >> i love you. >> i love you. >> he called me right after she ran away. and you know, i wanted to believe she ran away. you know? they were having problems. >> but alissa's aunt never hears from her, and as more time passes, alissa's closest friends and family say they believe something is terribly wrong. >> so the hours turn into days. no sign of her. >> no. >> what are you thinking? >> mostly panic.

>> he seemed just completely absorbed by the situation. very driven, "i got to do this. i have to do this. i'm searching for this. i'm calling this person. i'm calling that person. he was, at times, frantic in his behavior. >> staying hidden for a prolonged period of time is very difficult. very few people are able to do that. this is a teenager, a very typical american teenager. she had a wide variety of people that she interacted with on a regular basis. and all of that was cut off abruptly. >> and finally there's a phone call. >> could this be news of alissa? >> but this call makes things so much more mysterious. my active psoriatic arthritis can make me feel like i'm losing my rhythm. with skyrizi to treat my skin and joints, i'm getting into my groove. ♪(uplifting music)♪ along with significantly clearer skin... skyrizi helps me move with less joint pain, stiffness, swelling, and fatigue. and is just 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses.

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what did she say? >> well, it -- the conversation was sort of scrambled. i said, uh, you know, is -- "is this you, alissa?" and then, she, um -- and said, uh, a few cuss words and stuff, about, "leave me alone," and then the phone went dead. >> they had this really short conversation, after which she hung up. and he says that he was panicked and he jumped into his truck and started driving around the neighborhood thinking that maybe she placed the phone call from one of the payphones in the area. >> so he calls the police and he tells the police, "i just got a call from alissa." and he says that they don't offer or agree to do anything. he asked them to please try and trace this call and the police don't. >> it looks like a runaway case, and that's how phoenix police treated it this was a 17-year-old girl who ran away, who wanted to live her own life. >> what's the phoenix police

department doing? >> nothing. >> nothing. >> no. >> then he contacts the national center for missing and exploited children. >> we've been around since 1984 with the focus on helping find missing children and prevent child victimization. >> and since nobody has any idea of where alissa is, people begin to fear the worst. >> there are many endangerments out there that we are concerned with things like child sex trafficking, gang violence, drugs and alcohol abuse. >> in a hostile environment like arizona somebody wandering off into the desert and surviving for any extended period of time, really at any time of year is not very likely. >> michael turney is determined to obtain a record of that phone call, and he actually sues the phone company. he sues quest. and eventually they release the raw data.

>> records reveal the 29-second call came from a payphone in riverside, california. remember, alissa's aunt who lives just an hour from that payphone had offered to take her in. was alissa trying to make her way there? >> michael turney goes to california, goes to the location of that phone booth and he starts handing out these flyers with alissa's picture on it, trying to get information, but he doesn't find anyone who recalls seeing her at any point. so it's like another dead end. >> all i thought was, you know, she went to california for the summer, went with some friends, whatever, she'll be back. you know, that's exactly what i thought. >> i hope that she made it to california. i hope that she made it to california in good circumstances. and, is happy, and -- but, in my heart, i, i don't think she did.

>> i think that at some point once we knew she was 18, that if alissa were able to, that she would have made some kind of contact with someone in our family. and we held onto that, we held onto that for that whole year, hoping that that's just what was going to happen. >> the days turn to months, months turn into years. her friends graduate. some of them move out of state. some people start to think that maybe she really did get away. >> my dad obviously being a cop, he knows what happens to teenage girls who go out alone or whatever. so that's all that was going through his head, you know, he was really, really scared. >> so you were basically handling the disappearance of your daughter alone. >> oh yeah. i -- >> yeah. >> with my background, i did, uh, most of the investigation.

'cause it's too expensive, you know, i went through close to $20,000 lookin' for alissa, and wore out several vehicles. >> michael wants national attention on alissa's situation. so instead of a milk carton, michael turney convinces a nascar driver to put a photo of alissa's face on the hood of a race car. >> we all thought it was good attention. we thought, "dad's doing what he said he was going to do. he's reaching all out as far as he possibly can." >> after a few years, did you begin to think, she's not around? she's dead? >> yes, i began to fear the worst. >> even while allowing his worst fears to creep in, michael turney says he was still holding out hope that alissa could be alive and so was the national center for missing and exploited children. >> a photograph is one of the most powerful tools that we have to engage with the public. below the age of 18, we do an

age progression about once every two years, and then over the age of 18, we do an age progression about once every five years. that just gives us another opportunity every couple of years to reengage with the media and remind the media, more importantly, that a child's still missing. >> in 2006, in the usa today newspaper, there was a portion that was dedicated to the national center for missing and exploited children, and there was a time when alissa's picture was run with a blurb of information, basically about when she disappeared. >> someone out there knows something. >> then, a stunning admission from thousands of miles away gets the attention of phoenix police. >> an inmate in florida, who was a convicted murderer, writes a letter. >> and then, things started to develop in a different direction than we expected. >> are you the person who killed alissa?

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it's been years now that alissa turney is missing. and then in 2006, there is a convicted killer who says he knows what happened to alissa turney. >> in 2003, thomas hymer was found guilty of killing his travel companion in florida. that case was pretty easy to solve, and he gets a life sentence. in 2006, thomas hymer starts

reaching out to law enforcement agencies and saying, "i'm gonna make you famous. i am a serial killer." >> he goes on to claim to have killed 20 or so different women throughout the united states. and one of them is alissa turney. >> he had a nickname. >> yes. he gave himself the nickname of psycho. >> so the fbi, interview thomas hymer. why would you not try and talk to this person who claims that he's a serial killer? maybe we can solve other cases here. >> he had the age progression clipping from usa today, and that's how he identified alissa turney. >> thomas hymer tells detectives that he was traveling across the country and that when he stopped in phoenix at a biker bar, he met alissa turney. he said at the time, she was a junkie, the two of them start a sexual relationship. and that he says at one point they're in a motel room, they're

having violent sex, and that he kills her during the act. so he says he chops up her body, and then he takes the parts and disposes of them in a recycling plant. >> there was some evidence that maybe thomas hymer was being genuine. some of the things that he said weren't things that were nationally known, like her shoes, some jewelry, stuff like that. >> the fbi handed over that information over to the phoenix police department, and two detectives were assigned from the missing persons division. they were detective stuart somershoe and detective william andersen. >> so seven years after alissa went missing, this case goes from a presumed runaway to a possible homicide investigation. >> you decided to go to florida to interview hymer. >> yes. >> so once we had his confession, i and a polygrapher flew down to florida where he was in prison and interviewed him. we first did a polygraph on him.

>> and how many times have you been arrested, total? >> maybe 10 times, eight times, 10 times. >> what charges? >> everything. grand theft, criminal mischief, trespassing, murder, of course. >> are you the person who killed alissa? yes. >> thomas hymer takes a polygraph exam. it shows deception. >> i'm going to stop the test. again, just relax a little bit. >> and so, then i came into the room. he had a picture of alissa's age progression. he didn't have a picture of her actual picture. so i showed him some actual pictures of her and then started confronting him. and that's when he changed his story. >> she looks a lot younger. >> so based on that other picture, what do you think? >> on that one there? >> yeah. >> i wouldn't have picked her out. i wouldn't have said it was her. >> almost immediately his story falls apart concerning alissa turney.

>> detectives would also come to learn that one of the other women heimer confessed to killing was jaycee dugard. >> she's been found, held captive, living in deplorable conditions. >> jaycee was famously found alive in 2009 after being held captive for 18 years. >> so, thomas hymer's credibility, fell apart regarding alissa turney and continue to fall apart regarding the other women he confessed to. >> in this weird way, this false confession about what happened to alissa turney actually changes the direction of this case. >> detectives somershoe and andersen realize this was never investigated, and they have a lot of questions that they want answers to. >> you start seeing all these red flags, about the unlikelihood of alissa running away. >> when kids run away, they typically run away to a friend's house, a distant relative's house. they have a place they they're going to. they don't just wander onto the street. >> she had saved $1,800, which was a good sum of money for a teenager in 2001. and she didn't use any of it.

>> and when people run away, they don't leave a note to say where they're going because they don't want to be found. >> detective william andersen, and detective stuart somershoe. they start doing things that police had never done interviewing family, interviewing friends. >> how did she like school? did she enjoy school or was it just something she had to do? >> i think it was just something that you had to do. i think her dad was like really strict on her about her grades. >> mm-hmm. >> so she had to, the thing with her dad, she was like, she was afraid of him, but it wasn't like she wanted to get away. like she was used to it. okay. and he would scare her sometimes and she would get really upset. >> and they talked to her boyfriend, jon laakman. >> just very friendly, a happy person around me and my friends, or with her close friends. obviously, things were different at home.

she wasn't, you know, very close with her, i believe it was her stepdad. i don't think she liked him at all. >> and as you start to dig deeper, what do you find out about mike turney. >> so finally, we are coming in. we have a team of detectives who are working on this case. you think a parent would be very happy about that. his reaction was anger. >> they'd show up at the door. three detectives telling me, "we're here to canvas the neighborhood and hand out flyers on alissa." i said, "well that's not gonna do a whole lot of good now, gentlemen. but if you want to go ahead and canvas, thank you, i appreciate the assistance, but what are you searching for?" >> but detectives learn that, in addition to being a strict parent, there appears to be a much darker side of michael turney's relationship with his daughter alissa. >> she did make comments a few times of being scared of him and made comments that she thought like he was going to kill her. >> did she literally say that? >> she literally said, i feel like he's going to kill me. >> what did you think happened to her? >> i think her stupid stepdad

did something ridiculously terrible to her. >> the friends, when we ask "is there anything negative in her life," they continually point out her relationship with her stepfather. >> one video that mike turns over, it's dated very close to when she disappeared. >> why would you have these cameras in? especially inside your home, that seems incredibly odd. >> so from the detective's point of view they're like, "hold on a second."

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so you saw cameras inside the house? >> yeah. >> do you remember where they were at? >> in interviews with alissa turney's friends, detectives discover something they find unusual about the turney home. michael turney, it turns out,

had several cameras installed that appear to record just about everything that went on there. >> can you remember where they were at? >> well, there was one in the carport. >> mm-hm. >> and there was one on the outside of the house. and then there's the vent to go down the hall, there was one in there. >> you have to remember in 2001, when alissa disappears, this is not the age of ring doorbell cameras, of having a puppy cam in your house. this is a time that no one really has surveillance or security footage at their home. >> uh, just like the way he had control over her and watching everything she would do, and that type of things, like, what he said was a security camera, but she knew he was watching her like that. >> why did you record so much? >> the videos i recorded because i love my family. those are home videos, that i've recorded since i can remember. >> but weren't these surveillance cameras in the

house? >> yeah, there's very few of those. >> those aren't home videos. >> no. those aren't home videos. those are for protection of my house. >> so, for security. >> if -- if someone tries to -- yeah, most of it's for security. >> mm-hm. >> why? because i wanna spy on everybody? [ laughter ] >> your father said these cameras were for security, for safety. looking back now, do you think that was the case? >> i don't think the one inside the house was for safety. that doesn't seem to -- i don't know how many people breaking into a home would just sit down on a couch or hang out in that area. and when you look at the videotapes, especially from the past in our home movies, the focus on one individual as the years got later was disturbing. >> and the focus was alissa? >> was alissa. >> while detectives continue their investigation, michael turney decides to send them two videos that he tells them they absolutely need to see. >> the video that michael turney gives to the phoenix police department, one of them is an argument between alissa and jon laakman.

the other is of alissa kind of fooling around with a guy at the turney family home. >> so the two tapes that he presents us portrays her as being promiscuous, and having a violent boyfriend. >> it's not a violent interaction. it doesn't show me that this boy, jon laakman, is a danger. >> so from michael turney's perspective, he feels like he's assisting in the investigation by handing over some of these tapes. but from the detective's point of view, they're like, "hold on a second. if you have this videotape, do you have any videotapes of the day that alissa went missing?" and michael turney says to police, "no, i don't have it." >> but why didn't you hang onto the surveillance video from the day alissa disappeared? >> there was nothing on the tape. they were told that. i saved it, and said, do you want me to give you this tape? a detective told me, said, "no, man, this is just a runaway, i don't need all that stuff." >> having it would've been hugely important in a missing person's case.

what she was wearing, what time she left, all those things are important. but the fact that it was missing, was in the minds of detectives even more important. >> police say they learn that michael turney also records many, if not most, of all the outgoing and incoming phone calls. >> since pretty much the 1970s he had a wire-tapping device. it's unclear why. but he also used that as a way to control his daughter. he listened in on her phone calls. >> in these audio recordings, which police have released, they reveal these conversations between alissa and her boyfriend. >> hey, for prom, let's go to the cheesecake factory to eat. >> what? >> yeah. i love you.

>> i'll call you in ten minutes. >> i love you. >> bye-bye. i love you. >> i love you. bye. >> she was talkin' about runnin' away. so, monitor phone calls, which is not really, uh invading her privacy. she was very upset over that. but, uh, i didn't know what else to do. i'm a single parent. her mother's dead, uh -- >> so now police are asking, "is it possible that you have a recording of that phone call that you say alissa made to you early that morning?" >> no. it was -- when alissa called, it was like, 4:00, 5:00 in the morning. and, you know, if i don't reset the tape, then i have to do it that morning, and reset it. turn the tape over. >> would a been great to have that tape. seven years had already passed when detectives finally sat down with alissa's friends for the first time and they learned about some disturbing incidents she told them occurred with her stepfather. >> the most ominous story that's come out, and it involved alissa going for a drive with her stepfather. he's teaching her how to drive.

that story was told by alissa to her boyfriend, jon laakman. >> and what did she say happened? >> i think the story was pulled over somewhere. and, you know, and i know that area. something like the desert area. tried fooling around with her and she got, you know, aggressive fighting about it. and i guess he ended it and went home. >> and then some of the stories are even darker still. alissa disclosing waking up with somebody trying to gag her, identifying her stepfather as trying to do that. >> she described waking up to him, gagging and suffocating or strangling her. when she came to and realized what was going on, that he stopped. and then he threatened to, for her basically not to tell anybody, because nobody would believe her over him. >> a lot of those stories, it seemed like they're now saying this for the first time. if they knew about that information in 2001, why

wouldn't they come forward? >> some of alissa's friends say that she came to them in tears, that she said that one day she woke up and you were on top of her, gagging her. and then, that you tried to do something in the car to her. are those things true? >> absolutely not. >> did you ever do anything sexual with your stepdaughter? >> no. why would i do that? they have no proof whatsoever. all they got is rumors, innuendos and lies. >> if they have no proof, that doesn't mean you -- you didn't do it. >> well, it's, again, there's only two people that can confirm whether i did it. and one is me and the other is alissa. alissa's not here, and i'm sitting here. and all i can say, until hell freezes over, i didn't do a damn thing to my daughter. >> the detectives from the phoenix police department say they also find it very curious

that michael turney refuses to sit down for a police interview. >> you should be coming down for an interview to talk to us, and you aren't doing that. why aren't you? we want to find out what happened to your stepdaughter. >> why not talk to the police? >> i've never refused to talk to the phoenix police department. i told them to stop calling me every day, okay, with petty stuff that had nothing to do with alissa other than just to try and to keep me agitated. >> he said multiple times that he'd be more than happy to sit down with them, but he wasn't going to do it at the police station. he would've done it at his house. he wanted a recording of it. >> detective somershoe and andersen, they begin to accumulate enough evidence to establish probable cause that she's dead, and michael turney was the last person to see her. >> you decide to search his house. why was that important? >> we're looking specifically to recover that eight hour tape from the last day she was living, the audio tape from the day she called. the original runaway note, we want to have that. >> so detectives get a search warrant, determined to find

evidence connected to alissa's disappearance. >> when they went up to investigate, boy, did they find all kinds of other stuff inside that home. >> a sleepless night for 100 neighbors. it was pretty -- pretty scary, you know. >> he was going to -- to kill as many people as he could. so a very lethal plan. holy cannoli. look at this. it's like a science project. ordering lunch -- easy for you and me but can be so difficult for a young homeowner turning into their parents. are those all different lettuces? uh, yes, sir. brown rice, white rice, or quinoa? -[ groans ] -we're gonna need a minute. do you have any food allergies? -well, my teeth are sensitive to cold. progressive can't protect you from becoming your parents, but we can protect your home and auto when you bundle with us. that'll be $19.45. oh, i'm just paying for my own salad.

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it's been years now that alissa turney is missing. we don't have a body. there's no crime scene. >> do you think she might still be alive? >> i do hope she's still alive. of course i do. >> as the years go by, this is a mystery, not just about a missing teenager, but about her stepfather, whom we talked to then and now.

>> what if you asked a simple question? did you do, it mike turney? why don't you ask me that? no. i love my daughter. >> mike portrays himself as a good family man. he's crafting 26 pipe bombs in his house. >> some disturbing things start to surface. >> there was a decades-long investigation, all this national news media. >> and a brand new courtroom shocker. >> thawas a jaw-drop moment. is this happening? >> i still have love for my daughter. she's probably in some foreign country somewhere. ♪ eight years after 17 year old alissa turney vanished, i came to phoenix to speak with

investigators, with family, trying to understand what might have happened. by that point, a cloud of suspicion hung over one person her stepfather, michael turney. >> what kind of person are you dealing with? >> it was unique. we really didn't understand the reactions we were getting from him. >> i contacted him by phone, contacted him by email, tried to get him more involved. >> you're the last one to see her. if your daughter went missing, what wouldn't you do to help find her? >> detectives have enough to establish probable cause that she's dead, so they execute a search warrant on michael turney's home. >> what were you hoping to find? >> we wanted to recover the vhs tape from the day she called. we wanted to recover the tape from the day she called. >> remember, michael turney had cameras both outside and inside the house and detectives hope the tape from may 17th might offer a clue about alissa's last moments.

>> the phoenix police department requested that i consult with them in advance of a search warrant. michael turney had an extensive history of perceived injustice feeling like he was being put upon or the world was out to get him. and very importantly, i was concerned that he might harm law enforcement officers. alissa turney's younger sister sarah, was called to a meeting about alissa so that she would not be in the home. i had no idea what we were about to discover. >> detectives arrived at the turney home, search warrant in hand, a psych team advising, and a swat team at the ready. when michael turney emerged and made his way to his mailbox, the team approached. it turns out turney was armed, two guns, seven magazines of ammunition, a knife, and he was also carrying a recording device.

inside the home, even more surprises. >> upon entering the house, it was immediately noteworthy for the disarray. there were piles everywhere, there were guns lined up all along the hallway and in just about every room. >> a sleepless night for 100 neighbors -- >> it was pretty, pretty scary. >> while you're searching the house, you find -- >> improvised explosive devices, a number of manufactured pipe bombs, we had to evacuate not just that house, but that entire block. >> we were told that there was homemade explosives inside the house and that we had to evacuate. >> this must have been stunning to you guys. >> mike's portrayal of himself as a good family man. yet he's crafting 26 pipe bombs in his house. >> the one that was two foot long and had 20 pounds of nails in it, that is going to kill you, maim you, possibly destabilize your home. >> and it's not just the bombs.

there was a detailed plot to use these bombs. during their search in that home, detectives found this video of a local union hall filmed by michael turney and a 71-page document, with his signature. they describe it as a kind of manifesto with, what detectives say, sounds like a plan to attack the building. >> michael turney claims that he was a whistleblower and that he had a beef with the union. >> he talks about blowing up a union hall. he talks about killing at least 12 union members. there's also a to-do list of going step by step of what he's going to do that day. >> our search warrant was executed on december 11th. on his calendar he had an x mark for the union hall meeting. that was december 15th. >> you guys saved a lot of lives that day, potentially. in a way, alissa prevented that. by us investigating her disappearance, we saved lives. she saved lives.

>> i think phoenix police said it was the largest cache of ieds that they had ever encountered. that'll get a headline. if they didn't know about this missing girl prior to that, suddenly phoenix was onto this story. >> what about alissa? how did this turn affect her case? >> this actually complicated it because we go from speaking to the concerned father to now he's a suspect in the bombing plot. so it's a problem. >> we now have information that her stepfather is planning a mass murder. does that make him even more of a suspect? yeah. >> yes. >> because if you're planning to kill random strangers, it's very possible that you have killed your stepdaughter. >> did you look for forensic evidence and did you find that? >> the home that they had been living in when she disappeared, yes, we did an in-depth forensic review of that home. we did luminol. we're looking for blood. we're looking for body fluids. we checked through the backyard

but no violent crime scene is identified. >> the terribly perplexing thing about this drama is you got this guy that seems to fit all the profile. can you put him at the scene of the crime? >> this is a collection of evidence taken from the turney home. >> i it's a huge amount of evidence and information we have to go through and document we have a duty to go through it all, cause that one thing we ignore, we don't pay attention to might be vital to the case. >> one detail that caught the eye of detectives was found in this document in michael turney's home. turney says he believes the union is responsible for alissa's disappearance, that assassins he believed were hired by the union confessed to her murder and to dumping her body in a place called desert center. >> desert center, it's a stop off the freeway. it's just a vast desert area. there's nothing there. you wouldn't even know where to

begin to search for a body there. >> it just doesn't make sense. somehow this 17-year-old made it to the convenience store, dropped a few dollars worth of change to make that phone call back to her dad, and at that very moment she's abducted by two union assassins who kill her and then transport her to desert center. >> the names he provides were traced back to two people that actually existed, that had lived and that had died well before the timeline that he gave. >> everybody else has been vetted. even ibew members, we've interviewed them, and they are clean. we didn't choose mike turney. the investigation pointed toward mike turney. >> it just seems like the boxes started to get checked off of mike being a weird cat neighbors say he had a beef with the government and odd surveillance habits. one time i was coming outta my house and he was filming the whole neighborhood.

>> the community told abc15 michael turney was maybe an odd neighbor, but i never thought that this is what they would discover. >> you have the right to remain silent. >> mike, we had detained. detective somershoe stepped in and advised him of his miranda rights. >> do you understand these rights? >> yeah, can i have an attorney? >> and he refused to talk to me. >> turney is arrested for unlawful possession of unregistered explosive devices. he had four counts, possession of the bombs being the most important, an attempt to blow up a building used in federal commerce. they also found two silencers so, now he's in federal custody. michael turney wouldn't talk to the fbi, he wouldn't talk to the phoenix police department, but there is one person he did speak with. >> i'm john quinones. >> oh, yeah. >> and they find some pretty disturbing things. >> yeah, isn't that amazing? i know what it's like to perform through pain. if you're like me, one of the millions suffering from pain caused by migraine nurtec odt may help.

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for years michael turney refused to do an interview with phoenix police detectives about his missing step-daughter alissa. but in 2009, 8 years after her disappearance, he decided he would do an interview, not for police, but for millions of television viewers." >> a lively, popular teenager, gone without a trace. but do the clues point much closer to home? reporting tonight, john quinones. >> mr. turney, how are you? i'm john quinones. >> it's a good day. i really appreciate what you're doing. been waiting seven, eight years for this opportunity to talk about my daughter. i've been tryin' to bring, uh, some large-scale, or, uh, national news to my missing daughter alissa. >> you think she might still be alive? >> there is a hope in the back of my mind. it's very bleak, but i do hope that she's still alive. 'course i do. >> he sat down with me. what struck you about that decision of his? >> it's theater.

>> he enjoys the attention. so being on national tv was kind of a thrill for him. why else? if you were facing bomb charges, if you're facing serious jail time and you haven't had your trial yet, it's not really the smartest thing in the world to go on national tv and give a two-hour interview. >> you had a lot of writings. >> tremendous amount of writings. >> police call them almost a manifesto. in one of your writings, you actually said, and i quote here, that you had to kill at least a dozen union members. >> i don't remember that. >> were you going to take innocent lives? >> nope. >> then why write that? >> i don't know. i don't remember even writing that. >> the phoenix police department's bomb squad uncovers improvised explosive devices inside the home of 60-year-old michael turney. >> police say you were going to bomb the local union hall. you weren't going to do that? >> not in the least bit. why? i'm going to murder a bunch of innocent people? that sounds insane. >> what did you have in your house? >> firecrackers, a few things to make some noise, uh, start a fire, so when i blew my head

off, at least it would make some kind of noise, and maybe the national news will pick it up. i wanted attention brought to alissa. >> investigators arrested michael turney after pipe bombs and numerous guns were found inside the home. >> these things weren't in there. they were not in that house. >> the discovery of these bombs changed the entire focus of the investigation. they filed charges against michael turney for possession of these bombs. >> we're looking at thousands of hours of man power time going through all of this. >> phoenix police had many people that were working on this trying to figure out, do we have that final piece of video that showed them what happened to alissa? >> as the detectives start interviewing friends of alissa's -- >> mm-hm. >> -- some disturbing things start to surface. >> o >> you're not welcomed here. [ laughter ] >> that you were very controlling. >> yes. >> that, and very strict. uh, that you had her sign contracts. >> one of the contracts gave extensive detail about what she

agreed to do or not to do until she was 18. it included all kinds of specifics about sexual conduct. and another document was a statement indicating that she agreed he had never physically or sexually abused her >> she would have to initial that and sign it in front of a notary and have it stamped. >> they were incredibly disturbing, and way outside the bounds of even a protective parent-child contract. >> do you feel that went more -- far beyond what a normal parent would do? >> oh, it depends on who you talk to. if it would have avoided anything happen to my daughter, yes. i don't think it was far beyond. at the time, i look back at it, because she ran away as a result of that? yeah. 'course i feel bad about it. >> my name is lisa fontes. my areas of specialty are child

abuse and intimate partner violence. i have not spoken with anybody in the family, but i have reviewed interviews with mike turney, some of the trial transcripts, and i've reviewed some of the police interviews. the contracts mike turney had alissa sign, and even got one notarized, included things like, "my father isn't sexually abusing me." those are completely bizarre. a contract is an agreement of future conduct. that's not what this is. the only reason i can think of for someone to do that would be so if the child later came forward and said, "yes, x happened," he could say, "no, but you signed this thing saying it didn't happen." >> and detectives kept coming back to that note that was found the day alissa disappeared. for them, something about it

just didn't make sense. >> the note, it didn't perfectly match the situation. >> it's been characterized as a runaway note, and we always push against that, because nowhere in a note does she says she's running away. we know that the handwriting was hers. we don't know when it was written, or the circumstances of how it was written. so it could have been written long before, and he just held onto it. >> i don't know when she wrote it. there was no date on it. she could have written it any time, for all i know. i don't know. >> but it was definitely her writing. >> i knew it was her handwriting. i had concerns. maybe somebody had, uh, forced her to go or something. >> michael turney eventually pled guilty to unlawful possession of unregistered destructive devices -- those pipe bombs. the other charges were dismissed as part of his plea deal. >> he was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison. >> this case received more media attention than any other case i investigated. your show was watched by millions of people. it was everywhere.

>> and there was one person who saw that show, and just couldn't let it go. >> i watched an abc news special about alissa turney. i just started reading everything i could get my hands on. it really seemed like the solution to the case was very much within reach. this is "missing alissa," a podcast documentary series. >> and this reporter was ready to do some investigating of her own. >> i called him, my heart was pounding. that was one of the most sinister interviews that i've ever done. >> hi, mr. turney? >> yes? member the things you loved... ...before asthma got in the way? fasenra is an add-on treatment for asthma driven by eosinophils. it's designed to target and remove them and helps prevent asthma attacks. fasenra is not for sudden breathing problems or other eosinophilic conditions. allergic reactions may occur. don't stop your asthma treatments without talking with your doctor. tell your doctor if your asthma worsens. headache and sore throat may occur.

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side effects may not appear for several weeks. ask about vraylar and learn how abbvie could help you save. it's been 15 years since alissa turney went missing. detectives are still investigating, but they've never had enough solid evidence to charge her step-father michael turney, or anyone else, in the case.

but someone new was about to start asking questions. >> my name's ottavia mchenry. i'm an investigative journalist. >> in 2016, i watched an abc news special about alissa turney. that's how i learned about it. i couldn't understand why it hadn't been solved yet. i thought about it becoming a podcast right away. >> this is "missing alissa," a podcast documentary series about the unsolved case of a missing girl. >> she kind of did the same investigative work that police were doing. she interviewed friends, she interviewed family of alissa, and she went through whatever records were available. >> ottavia was scouring the police reports, looking for anything unusual, and she found a 2009 interview that police had conducted with michael turney's nephew. a man named david.

>> that was one of the things that i read in the reports that made me jump in my seat. i'm like, "oh, how come this hasn't been covered before?" and i was curious to talk to him immediately. >> i feel guilty -- a lot of ways. cause i didn't do anything to help that girl. >> this is mike's nephew, david. >> he was very forthcoming, and told me this story about when he crashed at his uncle's house for a little bit following a divorce. and he says he put in a vhs tape, and that he saw this weird footage of a woman laying down nude from the waist up with a newspaper partially covering her face. and he said he could have sworn that he recognized her, alissa. >> and the tape i saw, had alissa, laying down on the couch. with just her shorts on, but no bra, no shirt on, her breasts were exposed.

>> so detective somershoe interviews him. >> i knew it was her, and it had to be because you could see the profile of her face, her nose, her mouth. the color of her hair. >> and she was just laying on that couch. >> by the time ottavia's podcast was released michael turney was a free man after having served about ten years for that federal weapons charge. what do you know about his life post-release? >> he was, living quietly, haven't heard from him. no follow up with us as far as the investigation. no inquiries about alissa. i mean a completely low profile. >> i knew it was very unlikely that he would speak to me, however, i did end up making that phone call, and to my surprise, he picked up. >> hello? >> "hi, uh mr. turney?" i asked him.

yeah, he said that he saw a video tape in which alissa was naked, and also another girl. just two teenage girls laying on the couch naked. >> really? >> yeah. he said that was the reason why he left. >> he didn't leave, ma'am, i told him. he asked him to leave. >> yeah but what do you think? >> are you nuts? oh come on. this is why i don't want to talk to you because you're full of [ bleep ]. this is all [ bleep ]. >> although david's claim is disturbing, phoenix detectives say that in all of their searching of the turney home they never found the video that david said he saw. and recently michael sat down with us again. >> never existed. he was delusional on things. did this stuff happen? did he see a film like that? if he did, it certainly wasn't one of mine. >> for years michael turney's other daughter sarah stood by her father, but by the time

ottavia had tracked her down for her podcast. sarah's feelings had changed. >> it was a little bit after the "20/20" show. i had seen some footage on there. they had given some information through the show that i had never heard before. things like he took her out of school early that day, and the molestation. i had never heard those things before. >> i wasn't totally on board with it at first but slowly, it just made more and more sense to me that it was probably him. >> and she keeps putting pressure on the phoenix police to do something, and the detectives say to sarah, "look, if you want attention for this case and this investigation, the best thing you can do is to make the public aware. >> let me tell you why i'm even here. >> she takes to social media. she starts putting up videos on tiktok. and people start following her. so she makes this decision to meet with her father. she decides to record their conversation secretly.

>> i hope that i don't have to live through any of my children dying or anybody else disappearing, okay? that's enough for one lifetime. >> sarah shares the audio with the police and they found one of michael turney's responses curious. >> be there at the deathbed, sarah and i'll give you all the honest answers that you want to hear. >> telling someone that you're going to give them answers on your deathbed, that makes people feel, like, "why? why won't you answer this question? why does it have to wait?" >> quite simply, the answers that you've gotten from day one until the day i'm on a deathbed and die are going to be the same. it's not going to change i didn't do these things. >> but sarah turney kept the public pressure on, she even started her own podcast.

>> my name is sarah turney, and this is "voices for justice." >> she starts being even more vocal about alissa's case. and she wants charges against her father. >> it presses the maricopa county attorney's office into, look, this is not a missing kid. something happened. >> everybody's waiting for that smoking gun, piece of evidence, something that actually puts michael turney as the responsible party in the murder of alissa. >> after nearly two decades will prosecutors find the evidence they need to charge michael turney? >> good afternoon, everyone. ♪i'm hearing different ways for me to screen for colon cancer.♪ ♪it's time to use my voice,♪ ♪i've got a choice, more than one answer.♪ ♪i sat down with my doc.♪ we had a talk. ♪knew just what to say.♪ ♪i asked for cologuard and did it my way.♪ cologuard is a one-of-a kind way to screen for colon cancer

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a bombshell arrest tonight almost 20 years after phoenix teen vanished. >> alissa's life was just beginning. today i am announcing the grand jury indictment for second degree murder of michael roy turney. >> thursday, maricopa county attorney allister adel announcing michael turney's arrest nearly 20 years later. >> mr. turney has maintained his

innocence since 2000, and his intention is to see that through in court. >> michael turney pleaded not guilty to the second degree murder charge. >> when prosecutors filed charges, most people were wondering what's the smoking gun evidence that finally moved the case forward. turns out there wasn't really anything new. >> it was a fresh set of eyes looking at the same old evidence that the detectives had been working on for years. >> they have a lot of circumstantial evidence. is it the critical mass they need to overlook the one glaring deficiency? no crime scene, no body. >> the challenge in no body cases is you have to actually establish that the person is dead. that is an uphill battle. >> they say the wheels of justice grind slowly. 22 years after alissa went missing, michael turney's day in

court arrived. the media, local and national, showed up here too, wondering if after all these years there would be an answer to what really happened to alissa. >> the 75-year-old is on trial for second degree murder in this case. i really wanted to hear what evidence the state was going to present, because this is a really, really hard case. >> the evidence you will hear is that on that may 17th, 2001, shortly before noon, the defendant came to alissa's school and picked her up and took her out early. she never showed up again. >> let's bring in court tv legal correspondent julia jenae is joining us live tonight. >> you could feel the anticipation in the courtroom. there were several things that were not coming in in this trial. the defense wanted to keep certain evidence out. >> it was frustrating for a over two decade investigation.

thousands of pieces of evidence, and some evidence can't get in. >> some of the things that alissa's friends told investigators that alissa told to them, which was hearsay and it was inadmissible. >> they weren't going to hear about the bombs, they weren't going to hear about "diary of a madman," authored by michael turney. >> sometimes what someone's charged with in the past could be so prejudicial to the jury that they would use that against the defendant. so the judge is looking at that. and that just doesn't come in. >> the prosecution believed his interview with abc news was actually very compelling, and they really wanted to introduce that to the jury. >> abc news decided to do a -- a show about alissa. i've taken a couple of clips from this. this was broadcast nationally. >> did you ever do anything sexual with your stepdaughter? . >> no. why would i do that? they have no proof whatsoever. anything other than rumors?

innuendo and lies. >> the sexual abuse allegations, we felt that it was hearsay. we felt that there was no corroborating evidence to support that, just someone saying, "oh, this happened." ultimately the judge agreed with us. he had some rules for her because she'd be kind of getting in trouble doing some stuff that she shouldn't have done. she didn't like those rules. she, uh, liked to have fun. she liked to party. um, she would drink. now, these rules were set because of that. she wasn't happy. she did not want to live under these rules. >> michael turney's defense team painted alissa as a rebel, as someone who did drugs, as a partier, as someone who would run away and not look back. maybe she didn't like the life she had here in phoenix. and michael was doing the best he could to parent two young girls. >> the defense tried to keep out his strange parenting style, but the judge allowed it to come in. he had these contracts with her

where she had to swear that she wasn't doing things. >> at first glance, they obviously sound really bad. and we had, you know, years of conversations with michael about these contracts, about why he did them. in his mind, these contracts are something that could be good. >> this was a document with 16 bullet points? >> i believe so, yes. >> the majority of bullet points referred to drugs and sex. >> yes. >> alissa's boyfriend back in 2001, jon laakman, also took the stand. >> and you guys, did you spend every weekend together? >> yes. >> are you aware of an incident in may or april where she had a boy over at the house and they were making out? >> no. >> did she ever admit to you that she was cheating? >> she did not. >> did you think she was cheating on you? >> no. >> i think anytime you bring up bad characteristics about a victim, i think that it can come across as victim shaming. but at the end of the day, we're

defense attorneys. we have to do our job. >> and prior to her cheating -- >> while it may have seemed to some that the defense was attempting to put alissa turney's reputation on trial, the prosecution was determined to keep the focus squarely on michael turney. they played a disturbing audio recording that they claim showed him disparaging alissa. >> any day today is a bad day. i've given her basically an alternative -- cops, or she can bond back with me and the family and stop being such a [ bleep ] >> that was a gut punch inside of the courtroom to hear him talk about his stepdaughter in that manner. >> you gotta keep [ bleep ] video cameras on all your children all the time, and every conversation has to be taped. this is the insanity of this [ bleep ] state. >> that phone call was something that, even talking to him, he was embarrassed about. people say things all the time that they don't mean, you're frustrated with your child. now, this was to the extreme,

i'll admit that, but i don't think anybody can look and say, "i've never said something negative about someone i loved." >> the prosecution's about to rest, and then it goes to the defense. and the big question, "is michael turney going to testify?" >> but before that question could be answered, a sudden twist from the judge leaves the courtroom stunned. >> that was the jaw drop moment. >> everyone is looking confused. did this happen? is this really happening? she found it. the feeling of finding the psoriasis treatment she's been looking for. sotyktu is the first-of-its-kind, once-daily pill for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis for the chance at clear or almost clear skin. it's like the feeling of finding your back... is back. or finding psoriasis can't deny the splendor of these thighs. once-daily sotyktu is proven to get more people

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here in phoenix, we are expecting the state to rest their case. >> i wake up july 17th. it's a regular trial day. the biggest thing i'm looking for is whether or not the defendant is going to testify in his own defense. we figure that's going to be run-of-the-mill. >> we knew the prosecution was gonna rest, and we had heard that michael turney might take the stand. i had a feeling something big was gonna happen.

>> how would the state like to proceed? >> at this time, your honor, the state rests. >> at that point in time, the defendant would normally have the opportunity to present his defense. >> your honor, defense has a rule 20 motion. would the court like us to address that first? >> the defense can ask the judge to enter a judgment of acquittal under what we call rule 20. >> in arizona, it's a rule 20 motion. the court has to make a finding that no reasonable juror, based on this evidence, could find that michael turney murdered alissa. >> the defense is saying that the state hasn't proven their case. they're saying that there's not even enough evidence for a jury to even go back into the deliberation room. >> this is a standard procedure that happens after the state rests its case. 9 times out of 10, this is denied. >> we argue those motions in every trial that we do, but obviously the stakes are a lot higher in this one. >> olivia hicks starting with the first point, the state has

not presented any substantial evidence that alissa is deceased and that mike caused her death. the state's case rests entirely on speculation, character evidence, and rumors. there has not been a shred of physical evidence in this case. no body, no crime scene, no evidence to suggest that a murder took place. we don't have to prove how he killed her. we don't have to prove whether he strangled her, whether he beat her, whether he, um, struck her. all we have to prove is that he killed her. and there is circumstantial evidence that he did. >> and then you sit there, and i could feel it building. >> the court is deciding whether a reasonable inference can be made that the defendant, caused, or the defendant engaged in conduct that resulted in alissa's death. the court is unable to make that finding. >> there's a difference between knowing you're confident in your arguments, and you know that this is the right thing and it

actually happening. >> the court has considered the evidence and finds that, uh, substantial evidence does not exist to warrant a conviction. it's ordered granting defendant's motion for a rule 20 judgment of acquittal. i will order the defendant released. >> he actually threw the case out and acquitted michael turney. >> that was the jaw drop moment. we thought there was a possibility of a not guilty, had no idea that the judge was going to be the judge and the jury in this case. >> it is exceedingly unusual that a judge makes a finding like this. all of a sudden, the case is over. >> michael cried when we told him that he was acquitted and that he was going home. >> i think the first thing he said is he couldn't hear, and so i had to go on the -- >> yeah, that's true. >> i had to go around the other

side and tell him in the other ear, and then he said that. >> he was like, "what just happened? "you're going home. the judge acquitted you." >> i was shocked. i really was. i just sit back in total disbelief, and i went on and on. i'm looking around thinking to myself, "is this real? this can't be real. it's going to end here now?" what was going through your minds? >> abject failure. again, it's disappointment. i've always known that a nobody homicide is so significantly difficult to prove that i may not convince all those jurors. i could have had -- >> the lack of a body. >> yes, i could have had a hung jury. i could have gotten not guilty. but for it to be cut off before ever going to a jury, i didn't see that coming. that was especially painful. >> it was a gut punch. our goals in this case were to find alissa and to get justice for her, and we've failed in both those goals.

>> i turn to the turney family. sarah turney is there. everyone is looking confused. did this happen? is this really happening? is this just done? >> what was that moment like for you? >> it was an incredibly long period. it felt like everything slowed down. most of the time i spent my time comforting others around me. it was the first time where other people near me were reaching out to me to comfort me because i was shaking, and i don't shake. >> it's unfortunate and emotional for me. >> if an individual said, "well, he was acquitted, so that means he didn't kill alissa, right?" no. that means there wasn't enough evidence to convict him. >> michael did not do this. >> i believe what happened was that she ran away and something bad happened to her. >> we believed that the judge did the right thing. that legally that was the correct decision. >> did it exonerate me from what my children were thinking, the negative stuff that they were fed?

no, that damage is done and never can be -- it might someday recover itself, but that's only going to happen if we find alissa. >> turney released from jail, acquitted in the death of his stepdaughter, alissa turney. >> we were a bit surprised at how michael turney exited the jail. >> this is a man who was walking out of jail for the first time in three years. >> how does it feel to be released today? >> it doesn't feel good, because i lost my family. >> and michael turney tells us he can now return to his mission. >> i've still got to look for my daughter. she's probably in some foreign country somewhere. we should be looking at that. ♪ generals gather in their masses ♪

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michael turney acquitted. a judge threw out that murder case, allowing turney to go free. ashley holden has been following this trial from the beginning. >> every day that i went to court, i was very aware that we were talking about alissa turney, her life, and her family's life. even after this trial was done, as we pack up the cameras, they still deal with it every single day, and they're waking up without answers. >> two days after michael turney was acquitted, his children released an emotional and pointed family statement through sarah's podcast. >> to alissa, i love you, and i'm sorry you moved mountains to protect me from the reality of our lives. >> sarah did an incredible job. i think without her, it would never have even gotten to the trial stage. >> in his part of the recorded statement, alissa's brother,

james, left no room for doubt about whether he believes justice was served. >> we would like to specifically thank detective somershoe and detective andersen for doing an amazing job. they did all they could have done. unfortunately, that is where our praise for the system ends. >> you felt that the way your sister was treated in court was like victim blaming. >> yes, definitely. >> reductive. >> to see your sister talked about in such a way is just unreal. it was watching somebody get punched, and not being able to stop it over and over again. >> and the result was that there was no justice in your mind, in your opinion? >> there was no justice in this case. >> how do you keep going? how do you hold onto hope for answers? and that is what the family has said that they'll do. >> i've still got to look for my daughter. she's most likely not here. she's probably in some foreign country somewhere, if she was caught up in this human trafficking sex trade.

we should be looking at that, not running around persecuting a father that they know damn well they have no evidence on. it's insane. alissa's gone. no proof that i had murdered her. never was. >> the saddest part of this entire case is that to this day, we don't know anything more about what happened to alissa turney. despite charges, trials, podcasts, interviews, we still do not know what happened to alissa. >> it's one of those cases that will, till the day i die, i'll probably think about, and second guess myself -- was there something else i could have done, some other place i could have looked? it haunts me. >> stays with you. >> yeah, it stays with you. >> since 2001, we've been looking for alissa. we're not done yet. and we're not going to stop trying to find her.

>> how do you want alissa to be remembered? >> i want her to be remembered as having an incredible smile, her being able to have a blast out of almost anything. she was famous for sticking her tongue out at you in a way of saying, "hey, i'm here." because michael turney was formally acquitted by the judge in this case, double jeopardy prevents him from ever facting charges against for the death of his stepdaughter alissa. good night.

it happened that much anticipated night market was a success, bringing out a huge crowd tonight in the sunset. >> good evening. thanks for joining us here at 11. i'm julianne glover. >> and i'm ahmad daetz, parts of san francisco are literally trying to build a better bay area by bringing the community together. we've seen it with the bhangra and beats market, the carnival at civic center plaza and now in the sunset from addressing concerns about safety to pumping life into small businesses, trying to get back on their feet, these festivals have energy ized ig