![]() ![]() ![]() Alissa then dared the much-younger Sarah to jump off the roof while she was still on the trampoline. One of Sarah’s favorite memories is when Alissa jumped off the roof of their house onto their new trampoline, causing her to bounce into the family’s above-ground pool. She also said Alissa left behind all her makeup, her Nokia cell phone and money, which Sarah believes she would have taken with her had she been running away. Sarah said there was $1,800 left untouched in her sister’s bank account. Alissa Turney Contributed by the Turney family Over the next year, the Turney siblings, each at different times, began to question their sister’s disappearance. But she just vanished.”Īccording to Sarah, Alissa was close to her family, her friends and her boyfriend, and although she dreamed of living a new life, she never mentioned running away. She got away from him and that’s what she wanted. And then when I found out she was missing, we 100 percent believed she had run away. “She told me she was afraid of our father and wanted to leave,” James told Dateline. James, who is 10 years older than Alissa, spoke to her just a couple of months before she disappeared. Something was not right with him,” James said. “I did not like the way he was raising the girls. He said he believed his father was not treating the girls right and was afraid for their safety. James Turney, one of Michael Turney’s sons, told Dateline he had hoped to give both Alissa and Sarah a place to stay after the death of their mother. Sarah told Dateline that Alissa wanted her freedom from her father who she believed was too strict. At the time, her family also believed Alissa had run away. At the time, Phoenix police did not suspect foul play and classified Alissa as a runaway. Michael Turney had reported Alissa missing on May 17 to the Phoenix Police Department. “Always had to know where she was and what she was doing. “He was always frantic about her,” Sarah said. He went from house to house looking for her, he passed out fliers and traveled to California multiple times throughout the year, telling everyone he was looking for her. Sarah told Dateline she remembers her father being frantic about finding Alissa. The family later learned that Alissa did not go to their aunt’s house. Sarah said they had an aunt in California and the girls had talked about going to see her. “She even wanted a white Jeep to drive around -just like Cher in the movie ‘Clueless.’” “California was this beautiful dream that many people here wanted,” Sarah said, including Alissa. Sarah told Dateline that it wasn’t unusual for kids who lived in their area to want to head to California. Alissa Turney and her younger sister, Sarah. The note stated that Alissa was running away to California. The phone was on the dresser, along with a note in Alissa’s loopy handwriting, Sarah said. When they tried to call her phone again, they heard it vibrate in the room. Sarah said they found Alissa’s usually tidy room a mess. When they returned home, Alissa was gone. He was frantically trying to call Alissa, Sarah told Dateline. But she said he didn’t even seem to notice. Sarah said she remembered getting into her father’s truck worried about smelling like the cigarettes she had just smoked. to run errands and to pick Sarah up from her field trip to the water park. When they returned home, Turney said Alissa was still angry and went to her room. He said they got into an argument over Alissa’s desire for more freedom. Contributed photo by Turney familyĪccording to the Phoenix Police Department, Michael Turney told authorities that he picked Alissa up from her last day of school around 11 a.m. Alissa and her stepfather, Michael Turney. Michael Turney also had three sons, who were already out of the house by that time. The girls’ mother, Barbara Strahm, died of cancer when Alissa was just eight years old and Michael legally adopted her. ![]() Sarah and her older half-sister Alissa lived with Sarah’s father, Michael Turney, in Phoenix, Arizona. Finding out what happened to her has become my life.”īut as Sarah played at the water park with her classmates on that hot Arizona day back in 2001, she had no idea that her family’s life was about to change forever. “I’m never going to give up,” Sarah told Dateline. Nineteen years later, Sarah, now in her 30s, spends most of her time searching for answers about what happened to her sister and advocating for justice in her case. ![]()
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