24. Call to Action
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This is Jessica Knoll, host of the new series Back in Crime. If you're a follower of true crime, you're probably familiar with some of the most shocking stories from our history. Horrific tragedies like the Columbine Massacre. He turned the gun straight at us and shot. Oh my God, the window went out. And the kid standing there with me, I think he got hit. Okay. Oh God. And notorious criminals like cult leader Charles Manson.

In a scene described by one investigator as reminiscent of a weird religious rite, five persons, including actress Sharon Tate, were found dead at the home of Miss Tate and her husband, screen director Roman Poliansky. But what if we were to turn back the hands of time and relive these events as they unfolded? Follow along each week as we take a fresh look at crimes from the past. Back in Crime is available now.

Voices for Justice is a podcast that uses adult language and discusses sensitive and potentially triggering topics, including violence, abuse, and murder. This podcast may not be appropriate for younger audiences. All parties are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Some names have been changed or omitted per their request or for safety purposes. Listener discretion is advised. My name is Sarah Turney, and this is Voices for Justice.

In the last episode of Voices for Justice, we discussed my 2017 meeting with police, where they told me that they were not going to prosecute my father, and that my best chance of getting justice for Alyssa was by getting media exposure. We went through some emails of me pushing for movement in the case that ultimately resulted in me getting ignored for so long that I asked the chief of police for help.

In this episode, you will hear the audio from that meeting that was set up because of that call to the chief of police. We will also discuss the latest case update and the future of this podcast. This episode of Voices for Justice is sponsored by Ibotta. Are you planning your dream vacation but dreading the cost?

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This meeting with police was unlike any other. After speaking with the county attorney's office who informed me that they wanted Alyssa's case, that they had asked for the Phoenix police to present it, I was confused, upset, and determined to get answers. This was not going to be another meeting where I would be caught off guard.

or where I would just fall to pieces when they told me they couldn't help me. I refused to spend another meeting crying in their office.

So, I prepared a list of questions and I was ready to fight for Alyssa's case in a way that I had never done before. Here is the audio of my meeting with the Phoenix Police Department from January 16th, 2018. That's probably the quickest they got out of a room in a long time. Sure. I do events, so I understand meeting space issues. Yeah.

All right. So, you know, I'm the new commander over family investigations. Dave Safran. Dave Safran, the lieutenant over sex crimes, missing persons, and sex offender notification. Oh, wonderful. Nice to meet you. Thank you. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you, too. So, basically...

The floor is yours. Yeah, I mean, right now it's been, I believe, 47 days since Brian Corris has responded to my email. It was a very concerning email. So obviously I'm concerned and I'm wondering what the status is. I also have the district attorney saying that he's requested things from you that you guys haven't provided. But I can't get a statement from anybody, so I'd like to know what's going on.

Okay, so let's address the email issue. When you send that email, I let Sergeant Corris know that I would be reaching out to you to set up this meeting. So...

He understood that and that's why we're meeting is so that I can address whatever concerns they may have. Okay, because I mean I thought this meeting was brought on because I had actually asked for a meeting with the chief of police. It's a combination. And that's when they referred me to you. It's a combination of the fact that you had asked for the meeting with the chief and the fact that you had been reaching out for a status update.

Okay. So I wanted to make sure that you and I had contact. Yeah. And Lieutenant Saffler. Yeah, I mean, obviously I'm concerned because Brian Corse has been the detective on the case for a while now, and when I asked him, you know, what are my options for pressing sexual abuse charges, he says he was told that there were no sexual abuse charges when it was, in fact, your department that released these allegations to ABC News in 2008, 2007. So he wasn't aware of allegations that are on tape that you guys released to the news, so...

Obviously that put up a big red flag for me. So as far as the sexual abuse or any sexual abuse charges or anything like that, we don't have any enough evidence that we would be able to file any charges. One of the biggest issues is that we don't have a list.

Sure, but you have 25 people stating that he did this and that she told them about it, including family members, friends, teachers. What we have is some allegations that something occurred based on some statements that Alyssa had made. Right. But we don't have any specifics of what occurred, when they occurred, what the, you know, what exactly occurred on those allegations. And in order to get those, we need Alyssa.

Well, we're not going to have Alyssa. So basically right now, Sarah, we cannot move forward with any sexual abuse or sexual assault charges. Okay. And of course, that's just an afterthought. Of course, my main goal is prosecution for the murder. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So as far as those charges are concerned, we don't have enough. Sure. So as far as the DA, who in the DA's office are you referring to? Detective, he's been there 14 years.

He's spoken to me. He's also spoken to Alyssa's biological father, Stephen Strom, and he told us the same information as well as a slew of other people that called. It was a part of our 12 Days of Alyssa campaign that was put on by a social media intern for me.

and the DA was flooded with calls. When I called them later in the afternoon, he said that he'd been getting calls all day and that they were not aware of the case, but when he looked it up, there was a request to the Phoenix Police Department to present this case for prosecution. He also told me that when he connected with the Phoenix Police Department, you guys said that he was a suspect, my father, Michael Roy Turney, as of 2018. So, I don't know who... I don't know him either. But I will tell you that we have informally...

allowed the county attorney's office. We actually go through the county attorney in Arizona. Right, Bill Montgomery. Yeah. So we don't have a DA's office. I just wanted to make sure that you were... We want to make sure we're talking about the same thing. Sure. I mean, the district attorney's office, Bill Montgomery. That was the office that I called. Okay. It's not a district. I just want to make sure that we are talking about the same thing. It's the county attorney's office. Okay. We don't have a district attorney's office. Okay. Either way. But I don't know who

But I know that we have informally asked the county attorney's office to review the case. And at the point that we're at right now, we do not have enough to formally charge it or to formally file it. We have more than the Jamie Laity case that Maricopa County prosecuted. So let me finish. I don't know what that case is. But I will tell you that we do not want to prematurely file anything

Because we will lose the opportunity to formally file it when we have that one more piece of evidence that we are looking for in order to move forward with this case. At the point where we're at right now, we do not have enough. So what are you doing to get that evidence?

Well, right now we have to wait to see if anything new comes in. Which won't because the silent witness campaign never ran. It was one spot on their website. I was told that there'd be a billboard on every freeway in Phoenix. And had my expectations not been so high, I wouldn't be so upset about it. So who told you that this was going to happen with the silent witness? It was when I was pulled in with Somershu and the other gentleman, I forget his name. You were told there was going to be a silent witness campaign? When was this?

The last time I came in and talked to you guys. So last year before October, I believe. That would have been 2017? Yeah.

Because I've been here all of 2018. Yeah, 2017. I met with Summer Hsu. It was Kimberly Cooper, who was another detective that was not properly briefed on the case, and then another gentleman. So I would also love to know, like, who's my point of contact going forward? Can I please have a detective that's actually clued in on the case? Because it's pretty obvious. So right now, your point of contact is going to be Sergeant Corpse.

So is he ever going to respond to my emails? Well, I believe he has been responding to your emails. Well, the last one that you sent, he did not respond to because I did respond to it. Okay. So that's why he did not respond to it.

But every other email he has responded because he is ceasing his lieutenant. Great. Yes, he has been responsive in the past, but he has stopped being responsive. And why is he not in this meeting? Because I have made the decision, Sarah, that I wanted to talk to you personally. Lieutenant Saffler and I were going to discuss things that I believe have already been told to you, but I want to make sure that we are on the same page. Yes, I believe that we are on the same page. Okay.

you need a body but you won't look for the body and that you need a witness but you won't look for the witnesses. We... I don't... I think there's a little misunderstanding of of the what we've done so far and what we can do at this point. So I want to make sure that you really understand that when

Officer Anderson or Detective Anderson to Detective Summershoot got this case. They worked it hard. Oh, I acknowledge that. Everything that they could possibly do with what they had. Yes. Okay. So we are now at a point where

We no longer have any new clues or new information that we can work on. But you do and you're not investigating the leads like the party that she was supposed to be at. We do not have any new clues. We have not received any new clues. If you have new additional information that we have not yet received, we will take that and we will look into that.

My understanding at this point is we do not have any new information that we have not looked into. So the party's been researched? Which party are you talking about? I emailed Detective Corse about it a few months ago. Okay, what was the party? It was a party that she was expected at the night that she went missing. And what significance does this party have? That she was expected that night, so we can definitely...

like clue out or run away if she was expected at a party she had plans that night i think that it definitely adds to the overall investigation but yes i do have new clues and i would love to submit that i mean she was supposed to be at work the next days and she wasn't there as well so we know that she went missing prior to that party but you can run away from work and not tell them but you're not going to tell your best friend you're going to be at a party and then not go i feel like those situations are a little different we'll look into the party but i don't it's not going to give us anything new

Okay. The fact that she wasn't there, I get it. Yeah, she wasn't there. It says she's not there, but that's all it tells us, really.

Right. Well, and there's five other people that have come forward and said, oh, your dad told me this story that she ran away with a motorcycle guy. Like there's all sorts of new things. And I would love to be able to have a constant line of communication with Brian Horace. But I feel like if I don't get a response, what am I supposed to do? There's also new documents that came out that allege that my father helped kill my mother with a morphine overdose, which is a whole different thing. But if we're putting together a case for the prosecution, it's strong.

And maybe you should look into the Jamie Levy case. It was prosecuted in Maricopa County without a body, and it was a murder case. Okay, I think I do remember that. So we're not setting a precedent here. No, I think I do remember that. Yeah. Yeah. But at this point, like I said, we have been formally allowed or asked the county attorney's office to review the case. It's actually been staffed a couple of times. Yeah. Great. Can we formally present it?

If we do, it really, essentially, we will submit the case. They turn it down or they further it, that case will be done. We won't get another shot. Well, if we're not looking for a body, then what are we waiting for? Nothing's going to fall in your laps. Well, you'd be surprised what information comes out.

He's also 70 years old. Are we waiting for him to die? I mean, this is the thing. We don't have time. The case is still open. Of course, it's always going to be open. I know the frustration that you're going through. I know that it's frustrating. But at this point, we need new information. We need to know where to look if we're going to look for a body. Or we need additional information that we can actively use

start looking into. Yes, so how are you actively getting that information? What are we doing to try to get that? Well, we keep putting it out on Nicknick's, I'm sorry, Nicknick keeps putting it out. There's the missing persons bulletins. Everything.

Everything is still active. We're still hoping and everything we have. Everything's been closed. Right. You have to understand from my point of view, at 19 years old, I was sat down and told some pretty traumatic things about my father in an attempt to get me to believe that he killed my sister. And then for years after that, I was given documents. I was given emails persuading me that my father was guilty. And I finally come around and I'm told, you know, what we're going to do is prosecute when he gets out. That way he can't combine sentences.

What happens two weeks before he's released from prison, I'm told that the detectives are reassigned, that there's no cold case unit, that they're not working on missing persons cases, when in fact, Somershu still works on Brandy Meyer's case, which is super interesting to me. So I've sat down at 19, traumatized, told to believe this, and I finally come around, and you guys say you're not going to prosecute. Then you tell me to get media attention. I have five million impressions. I have a YouTube video with a million subscribers to it, and I have a media deal with who's the president of the H1N1.

I have 90,000 signatures on a petition to get him tried. What more is it going to take? Evidence. That's what we can prove. It's what we can prove. We're not there. The case is not there. We have more than cases that have been tried in the past, so I disagree with you. Well, the county attorney that would be charging it doesn't.

And that's where we're at. They're the ones that would turn it down. And they said, if you give this to us now as it is, we turn it down and it's done. Well, the DA is telling me something different, so I'm confused. Well, you're talking to a detective over there, and I don't know him, but I can tell you that the charging supervisor for that unit would turn it down. We need solid. We have a lot of circumstantial, but we need some solid evidence that we can prove in a court of law. Right, and his two confessions weren't enough.

He hasn't confessed to us. He told me he'd tell you on his deathbed. Well, he hasn't confessed to us and he's continued to refuse to talk to us. Yeah, I mean, how am I supposed to help with that? He will interview for this No Name podcast and for ABC, but you guys can't get an interview? I feel like it's on me.

So I will continue to get media pressure. I will go through with this deal. And when it gets on Netflix, it'll be really exciting to see what you guys have to say about it. It's my understanding, and correct me if I'm wrong, that you attempted to get an interview from him covertly or maybe otherwise. I don't know. Arizona is a one-party consent state. I recorded him. I sat down at Starbucks for two hours. He never admitted to anything.

He said, "Darling, come to my deathbed and I'll give you all the honest answers you want to hear." He also said, "I will confess if the state agrees to give me lethal injection within 10 days. Your department has that full recording." Okay. However, he still refuses to talk to us. So again, we need evidence that we can prove in court of law. And that's what we're unable to obtain right now. We haven't been able to obtain that. Right. You're not able to obtain it, but you're also not searching for it.

Where would you like us to search? I would like my billboards, I was promised. I would like an actual search of the body. Otherwise, I will go fund me, raise that myself. When I asked your department about resources for that, I was told, good luck. We don't have anything for you. Where are you going to look? There's three different areas I'd like to look. One is Desert Center, California, which I believe the least. The other is underneath Desert Ridge. That's a large area. Yes, it is. And I have thousands of people who are willing to help me.

We don't. We don't have thousands of people that are going to just... No, I don't have a single person in the department willing to help me. No, we are completely willing to help, but it's got to get narrowed down. We cannot just willy-nilly go into a desert area and search when we have no evidence that she's there. There's nothing telling us that she's in a specific location. If your father or somebody would say...

I know that she is in that area right there, that would be totally different. Well, then there would be no search because then you would know where the body is. So when Somershu talks to the media and says that Desert Center is the place you'd like to search for a body...

What does that mean if you're saying that you don't know where you need to search? Because I'm getting conflicting statements. I don't know the desert center. The desert center is where the bone fragments were found. Oh, okay. The bone fragments in Riverside? Yes. Okay. Which I'm currently finding to get retested. I'm talking to the coroner right now. And hopefully we can find whoever it is. It's doubtful that it's Alyssa, but maybe we can find out whoever that person is. So, yeah, we were told that the...

What is it? People that look at the bones I'm drawing, anthropologists, thank you, believe that it was someone who had been there longer than Alyssa had been gone and that it was possibly a male. I'm not sure about the male part, but this was also 10 years ago, so I hope that technology advanced just a little bit. So that's what we were told with that. So, yeah, that's the only thing I know about now.

But the bottom line is, Sarah, is that we need some hard evidence. And that's on me to get. In order to charge it. Understandable. No, it's not on you to get it. But you're not doing it, so it is on me. We will actively look into some... Keep it open and accept leads. No, yeah, we will accept leads. Definitely accept leads. And if we get something that's fresh and new...

We are going to jump on it. Because I tell you what, I spoke with Detective Summershoe at length, and this is bothering him. Of course, it was 10 years of his life. He did an amazing job, and then he was pulled off of it last minute for whatever reason, while he still gets to present his bike at rallies. Because it makes you guys look good. I'm just, I'm really sick of it, because I'm not getting straightforward answers. Detective Summershoe is not looking for any kind of...

Notoriety. No, I don't think that. He's not trying to look good in anybody's eyes. He could care less about that. No, it's not him. I think if it were up to Somershu and Anderson, they would have stayed on the case. But for whatever reason, they were reassigned specifically from my case. Okay. So just so that you know...

Detective Anderson is in sexual crimes online. Right, so he's transferred. Yeah, but Somershu is still in cases. When I was lied to, and that's not what I was told. So that's... I don't know who to believe. So, Sarah, let me finish. Okay. Detective Somershu is still assigned this case. I was told I'm not allowed to speak to him about it. Okay.

What I'm asking you right now, or what I'm telling you right now is Detective Sommershue is still assigned this case. Whatever you were told in the past, I can't speak to. Okay? So he works for me. He works for Lieutenant Sattler. He is assigned this case. This is his case because he's the one that knows it the best. Absolutely. Okay? However, that being said, any communications will go through Sommershue.

Sergeant Corse. Okay. Okay? Now, there's a reason for that because I want Sergeant Corse to know what's going on. I want him to be very involved in what's going on within the unit as well as with this case. I would like that because it appears that he doesn't have much knowledge of the case. So, I think he does.

He would not have written that email had he had any knowledge of that case. He wouldn't have written what email? That he was told that he was specifically informed that there were no sexual abuse allegations against our father. There isn't any sexual abuse cases against your father. No allegations. Okay. And you have at least three people that you aired on ABC 2020 in 2008 stating these sexual abuse allegations. So you've got to understand what we work with in law enforcement, okay? We work with us.

Yes. Okay. So we cannot go by hearsay. I'm not asking you to charge him. I'm saying that Brian Gores was aware of the allegations. Let me finish that. We cannot go by hearsay. So what we have to do is if you tell me I heard something from somebody else, I can't take that and take it to a court. I have to talk to the person who's actually the victim of the crime

In order to be able to file that or at least charge it. Yes. Okay. So without that, we can't move forward on that. I'm not asking you to move forward on it. I'm asking you to acknowledge that he wasn't briefed on the case, which you're not going to do. And I understand, but he wasn't. He said that he was aware that there were no sexual allegations, which is completely crazy to me because there's over 25 people in your documents that allege this.

So when he says that, I don't know what he's talking about. Well, the information that I was reading was that the allegations, as you say, were people saying Alyssa said something had happened. You know, he tried something, but there weren't any specific acts. So that may have been what Sergeant Corris was referring to. There were no specific acts that anybody was aware of.

Okay, whatever you'd like to say. I'm not going to go round and round. It's all email is public record and I'm happy with that. So at this point, like I said, we don't have enough to file. But we will take any new information, and we call it actionable intelligence. That's the term that we use. If there's anything that's actionable that we can take it and run with it, we are more than happy to do that.

But at this point we don't have, we haven't received any of that. And you're not pursuing it, so we're never going to get there. So what you're telling me is to please be quiet and go away. I understand. This is the same meeting we had two years ago. No, I'm not telling you that at all. Oh, because you're not allowed to tell me that. I know how this works. Let me see if I have any remaining questions while I have you here. So you said that you weren't aware of a silent witness campaign. Does that mean that it's actually not running right now? Because I was told that it was. I'll check with our silent witness people and see what's going on with that.

Um, I will send you over the documents from my aunts. Okay. Like I said, 90,000 signatures, 5 million impressions, media deal with former president of MTV. So I will continue on getting ridiculous amounts of media exposure and once it becomes making a murderer, it'll be really fun to see what happens then. Um, plan going forward. You will keep your eyes and ears open. Sounds about right. Okay, so we're in the same exact spot before this meeting. I don't want to waste anyone's time.

I'm not happy I don't agree with your guys' determination based on historical cases that have been tried. I do believe he's going to hurt somebody again. I will state that for the record. He is a free man right now, and if, God forbid, we try him and he doesn't get convicted and we're in a double jeopardy situation, we'll be in the same exact spot. So I don't know if the family counts for anything since we are the victims. We would love to see him tried. Every person in the family believes it. We'd love to see him tried.

We would love to see him tried as well. And I'd like to put that out on record. So I would love a formal presentation. We need to have evidence. We need to have strong evidence. So this detective at the DA's office said, this is definitely a case we would take. We don't understand why this wasn't presented to us. I don't know who this is. And I don't know everybody in USA Today, but I can certainly speak for my own company and my own procedures. He's not ours. He's not ours.

If he's a detective and you guys work closely, do you not have a close relationship with the DA? Not necessarily. No, you can't. They're in charge of agency. Yeah, we work with the charging bureau chief who's in charge of it. I don't know who this is. So charge it. Is it going to take me to get 750,000 signatures to get you guys to listen, half the population of Phoenix? Because I have 90,000 right now. Sarah, I...

It doesn't matter how many people believe it. We need evidence. That's what we're talking about. Because we're in like an OJ Simpson, Casey Anthony type of situation right now. And the whole world is pissed off about it. Well, I can't speak for the... I'll be going to CrimeCon, the True Crime Podcast Convention. Sarah, I cannot speak for the whole world. Okay? I'm not asking you to. I can only speak for Phoenix Police Department. And we do not have enough evidence to charge Mike at this time.

I disagree. Okay. Okay, so I will continue my social media campaign. I will continue my media coverage. And just so that you're aware, my division chief and the chief police is also aware that I was meeting with you. And it's in my hands, my shop, my hands. So I will let them know that we met. And if you have any other questions...

Feel free, and if you have my contact information in the general spectrum, if you have questions about the case, feel free to continue emailing Sergeant Corse. I mean, I'll be taking a different route now. I don't think you'll be hearing through me directly any longer, but that's okay. Okay. That's fair enough. Okay. Well, sorry it was a waste of everyone's time. I don't think it was. Oh, it definitely was. It was a waste of my time. Thank you.

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I knew I was getting the runaround. I knew that they were never going to run the silent witness campaign they promised me in 2017. And I knew that I needed to get more media attention than ever before. So, I organized a protest to be held on May 17th, 2019, the 18th anniversary of Alyssa's disappearance.

And I shared it on social media. It was to be held outside of the Phoenix police station that housed the family investigations unit, the unit that oversaw Alyssa's case. And I was ready to call in every favor from every creator I had ever worked with.

I was ready to rally each and every person I could to make this happen. So I began organizing, putting aside funds, looking at which permits to pull, and asking creators to join the protest. And soon, I received a call from the Phoenix Police Department. The call came from a gentleman who said he was in charge of contacting all parties who want to create a protest against the police.

He stated that he saw that I created the event on Facebook and he wanted to ensure that I would be keeping the public safe.

and to warn me that I may need to file for permits and could risk breaking the law if my event wasn't planned accordingly. However, at this time, I had been doing large-scale events professionally for several years, so I informed the gentleman that I was well aware of the permitting process and event organization. And to be fair, he was very kind,

He even kind of laughed when I told him about my experience. And he said something to the effect of, it sounds like you know what you're doing. And he wished me luck. But that meeting just wasn't sitting well with me. And after speaking to some professionals about it, I was swiftly informed that the information I was given in relation to there only being one chance to present Alyssa's case to the county attorney for prosecution was incorrect."

So I called the county attorney to ask the question for myself. And this is what they said. For now, I'm not naming any of the names of those I've spoken with at the county attorney's office in this podcast. Okay, well, so basically right now, you just need the police to present it. Is that correct? Correct.

Hello? Oh, I just thought there was a pause or maybe the phone dropped. Oh, sorry about that. Yeah, I'm driving, so it's a little wonky. Oh, I'm sorry. I apologize to catch you. Oh, no. I'm happy to catch you. So, I mean, so right now, basically, you just need the Phoenix police to present it. Is that correct? Yeah. What our office has to have is for the Phoenix to submit the case.

the investigation and the charges and have our prosecutor then review the information and evidence. Sure. I mean, and if they present it and you guys say no, is there an opportunity to present it again? What does that process look like? I can't tell you in this case specifically, but I can tell you that it's routine for a case to be submitted for criminal charges and to be refused or turned down, but then also an explanation is given.

such as if you have additional evidence or additional witnesses or something, the prosecutor gives them a latitude of being able to correct that issue and resubmit it. Okay. Okay. Well, that's really good to know. So it's not an open-time, closed door. The option is always available if something changes. That's actually happened with the...

Bob Crane murder case that went on for a few decades. It was resubmitted four times before they went to trial on it. Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah, I mean, I guess I'm just so confused. Like, when I met with them yesterday, they said, we don't know a detective. Nobody's talked to us. Okay. Yeah, and I actually went to my house. I didn't go through Phoenix. I actually went up to the Cheating Command here. So there's some homicide guys here that they know that may have been spoken to. I don't know.

Okay. Well, I really appreciate this information and you calling me back. I will just continue to try to get them to present it to you. I think that's probably my best course of action right now. From what I'm being told, that's the only course of action we have available to it. Okay. All right. Well, thank you very much, Judge Issa. Thank you for your patience. Of course. All right. Bye. When I got this conflicting statement from the representative at the county attorney's office, I was at a loss.

Who do you go to when the police seem so unwilling to help you, when you feel that you are being lied to? I had already filed a complaint with the Phoenix Police Department in the past, and nothing came from it. So, I called the local FBI, who directed me to the federal FBI, and here is that call.

Thank you for calling the FBI. Can I get your first and last name, please? Yeah, my first name is Sarah, and my last name is Turney, T-U-R-N-E-Y. Okay, Sarah, S-A-R-A? With an A to the end, S-A-R-A-H. Thank you, ma'am. Yeah. And then last name, T-U-R-N-E-Y? Yes, sir. Okay, and can I get a phone number? Okay, just to confirm, that was

Yes, sir. Okay. Thank you. And then lastly, can I give a date of birth? Yeah, 10/15/1988. All right. Thank you, ma'am. I appreciate your patience with all of that. And what crime are you calling to report tonight?

So I don't know if I'm in the right spot. I called my local FBI and they directed me to this line. So I'm having an issue with the Phoenix police in regards to my sister's missing persons case. We had a meeting earlier this week and they just lied through their teeth. Like I have audio to back it up. I have emails to back it up. Like they're just lying about some really crazy things. So I don't know if you're the right person to speak to about it, but I don't know who to go to if I can't go to the police.

Okay. And your sister, can you give me her name? Yeah. Her name is Alyssa Turney, A-L-I-S-S-A, same spelling as my last name. Okay. And just to collect a little bit of background information, how long has she been missing now? Since 2001, May 17, 2001. Okay. And when did you first report her missing? My father reported her missing that day. I was 12 years old at the time. She was 17.

Okay. Okay, and you say that they're not taking the information or they're not... Or you said they're lying about it. How are they lying about it, man?

I mean, to be honest, it's a very, very long story. But essentially, in our latest meeting, they told me that they can't present this case for prosecution because the district attorney would only take it one time. And if they said that, you know, if they presented it and the DA said no, that they could never present it again, which is an outright lie. I have a detective from the DA on recording saying no, like, and if they did it, we would give them notes for them to resubmit if it wasn't correct.

I mean, there are other things that are smaller and a little less significant, but just, I mean, just outright lies telling me that there were no allegations of sexual abuse in the case when their department released three interviews to ABC News in 2008 with these exact allegations. And their paperwork has a dozen or more other people coming forward, like family, teachers, friends. And they say that there are no allegations when I have paperwork. When ABC 2020 aired

these exact allegations from their interrogation room. Do you know whether there was an investigation done back in 2001? No, there was no investigation done in 2001. I wasn't even spoken to until 2007.

And that's the thing is, you know, there's a lot going on here. Like I said, it's a very long story. But yeah, essentially in 2001, they did absolutely nothing. My father reported her as a runaway and they didn't look any further into it when there were some pretty obvious things. Had they even just come to our house or spoken to one friend or family member, they would have had the information they need now to prosecute. Yeah.

So, I mean, to keep it short, in 2008, I was called down to the police station and told, you know, we have some news about your sister. I was the family contact at this point. We have some news about your sister. Can you come down to the station and talk to us about it? You know, yeah, of course. Then I go down there and...

They sit me down and they say, we don't have any news. We think that your father killed her and sexually abused her and some other really horrible traumatic information. And I didn't believe it at first. That day in December of 2008, my father was convicted of the largest bomb and gun bust in Phoenix history. And he went to prison for 10 years. So the detectives told me when he gets out, we're going to prosecute. We just don't want to combine sentences. This is something we do. We wait for him to come out.

And then we prosecute again so he can serve the full terms. And then a few days before he was released, the two detectives that had been on the case for about 10 years were reassigned. And I was told that there was no cold case unit, that they weren't working on missing persons cases when, in fact, Detective Stuart Somershu continued to work on his missing persons cases, just not Alyssa's.

So I was told, we're not going to prosecute. We're going to do a silent witness campaign for you. We're going to get you a billboard in every freeway in Phoenix. That never happened. They told me to get media pressure. So I went to them this week and I said, listen, I have 5 million impressions. I have a media deal with the former president of BH1. I have 90,000 signatures on this petition. I have a million views on this YouTube video about it. Like, what more is it going to take? And they said, basically, they won't prosecute without a body.

And this morning, Alyssa's biological father, Stephen Strom, called Detective Brian or Sergeant Brian Corris, who is the main contact on the case. And Sergeant Corris said that he thinks that he'd like to prosecute. And now I can't get a call back. So I don't know what's going on. Someone is lying. The D.A. told me, Detective Corris.

who's been with the District Attorney's Office in Maricopa County for 14 years, said that he looked it up and that they had requested that the Phoenix City present this for prosecution. They never responded. Do they give a reason why other than the TA wouldn't take the case? Or could I work the case once?

They said that they did a mock presentation and they didn't think it would go through with what we had and that they could only present it once and it could never be presented again. I mean, she lied about the reason for the meeting. When I emailed Sergeant Brian Corris about sexual abuse allegations and he had

he had nothing to say. I didn't get contacted for 47 days. I had to contact the chief of police's office who then said I could have a meeting with the commander of the unit, Christina Gonzalez. And in our meeting, she goes, well, he didn't respond to the email because that's why we're having this meeting today. And I

And I said, no, we're having this meeting today because I had to contact the chief of police to get this meeting. And she goes, oh, well, it's a combination, isn't it? And again, it just directly conflicts with all their paperwork and emails and other statements they've made. Okay, well, ma'am, what I'm going to say, I'm going to go ahead and get this information documented and get it into our system. Do you have the name of the two detectives?

Yes. They are no longer assigned to the case, but the two detectives that worked on it for 10 years, is that who you'd like? Yes. I have for Brian Kors. So the two detectives that worked on the case for 10 years were Detective William Anderson and Detective Stuart Sommershue. And for the record, I tell everyone they did a great job. And then it was reassigned to a Detective Kimberly Cooper, who was not properly briefed on the case, wouldn't even meet with me in person. And then it was later reassigned to

Sergeant Brian Corris. But the meeting I had was with Commander Christina Gonzalez, who said that Corris didn't need to be in the meeting. So I don't really know who's taking point on this. I think right now, probably no one.

Okay. Well, ma'am, what I'll do is I'll get that information documented to our system so it's available to us. At this time though, what I'm going to say, this sounds like something that's going to have to be handled at the state and local level. What I'm going to recommend is that you can contact, if you feel that there's been improper conduct within the police department or with specific detectives or sergeants, you can contact either their internal affairs department in Phoenix.

who are going to have jurisdiction over proper police conduct, or you can contact the state police and speak to them to make sure that there are other law enforcement officers on that level aware of what's going on. Okay. Thank you very much. Yeah, I don't know who to go to. You could also contact an attorney if you feel that you would like to take this into a civil court and find out what your legal rights are in that case.

But as far as right now, this is really going to be something that has to be handled at the state and local level. We will keep this information on file. And if anything escalates or anything becomes more, you can certainly call us back and we can get that added to our record. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you, ma'am. You have a good evening. You as well. Bye-bye. After this call, I took their advice and I called the state police.

But they told me they couldn't help me and sent me right back to the Phoenix Police Department.

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Again, I was at a loss. At this point, I felt as if I had tried every avenue possible to get justice for Alyssa through traditional legal routes. It felt as if there really was nothing else I could do other than sticking with my mission to get media and doing the protest. But then…

On January 23, 2019, I received the following email from Sgt. Brian Corris of the Phoenix Police Department. Quote,

We will be in touch once we hear from their office. Thanks. Brian Corris, Sgt. End quote. I was stunned. As far as I knew and know today, there has been no new evidence presented in Alyssa's case to change their minds. And I will never forget the moment I read this email for the first time.

I was stopped in rush hour traffic on my way home from work, and I checked my email. Tears began pouring from my eyes, my heart began to race, and my hands were shaking. It was finally happening. All of the years of hard work, sacrificing my career, relationships, and pretty much all of my free time had finally paid off.

I called the county attorney's office to confirm the news and they did. I asked them when I might know their decision and I was told it would be about two weeks. So, I went to social media and said that I was so excited that I would be able to tell everyone about an amazing case update very soon and I canceled the protest.

After all, the police had finally done what they said they would so many years ago. They agreed to present the case for prosecution, and I really felt it wasn't appropriate to go forward with the protest. At this point, I was terrified and insanely distracted.

I could not think of anything else. I spent most of those two weeks refreshing websites that displayed new court cases and fresh Phoenix mugshots. I barely slept, ate, or did much of anything except wait in anticipation and terror that it was finally happening. But those two weeks came and went, and there was still no news. I followed up and was told it would probably be another two weeks.

And again, those weeks came and went, and then turned into months. I was becoming terrified that the news would get back to my father. I am still terrified. So although I wanted to scream to the world that Alyssa's case was finally being presented, I only told those closest to me, those I felt I could trust.

At first, I didn't even tell my brothers. Eventually, I would beg the police to not release the news until my father was arrested, but that request was not honored.

I began to lose hope, and I regretted my decision to cancel that protest. I was afraid that I did exactly what they hoped I would, which was lose steam, to stop fighting so hard for the case, to shut up and go away. I had been led to believe that action would be taken in this case before, and I knew that I could not stop advocating for Alyssa's case in the media. But...

I felt like I needed to step it up a notch from what I had been doing for so many years. I was ready to take the media coverage in my own hands and begin making my own content. I am so grateful for all creators that have covered Alyssa's case. But I didn't want to be at the mercy of news outlets and content creators anymore. So at the suggestion of so many amazing friends and those creators...

I started Voices for Justice and put out a trailer in June of 2019 promising the excruciating detail that you've heard thus far in the podcast. I have thought about how this series would end so many times. And as much as I wish I could say that Alyssa has her justice, and as much as I wish I could give you a satisfying ending, I can't do that right now.

because that is not the current reality of her case.

This episode is the last episode I will make covering the official timeline of Alyssa's case at this time. Right now, justice for Alyssa hangs in the balance and is in the hands of the Maricopa County Prosecutor's Office. These last 18 months have been insane to say the least. There have been promises made, a lot of scary incidents, and some very sad ones as well.

But this podcast was designed to help Alyssa's case move forward, not hinder it. While they are deciding whether or not to take Alyssa's case, just does not feel like the appropriate time to discuss those issues, as I feel it could hurt Alyssa's chances of getting justice. However...

Rest assured that once we have a decision, and once I feel it is appropriate and will not harm Alyssa's case, you will hear the rest of this story. Because just like what you've already heard, it really is stranger than fiction. And more importantly, I feel that it could be very helpful to other families fighting for justice for their loved one.

All of that being said, there are still topics in Alyssa's case that I will be digging deeper into in this podcast that just didn't make sense to put into the official timeline of these past 24 episodes.

You will hear from experts, another family member still dealing with the Phoenix Police Department for their sister's missing persons case. I will be discussing theories, including those that don't include my father as the perpetrator, and so much more. And after that, I will cover other cases that are still in need of justice. So although this is the end of the timeline of Alyssa's case for now...

There is still so much more to be discussed on this podcast. This episode of Voices for Justice is sponsored by June's Journey. June's Journey is a hidden object mystery game, and you step into the role of June Parker and search for hidden clues to uncover the mystery of her sister's murder. Basically, you engage your observation skills to quickly uncover key pieces of information that lead to chapters of mystery, danger, and romance.

Throughout your investigation, you also customize your very own luxurious estate island. You collect scraps of information to fill your photo album and learn more about each character. But my favorite part is chatting and playing with or against other players by joining a detective club and putting my skills to the test in a detective league.

So, there's kind of two times that I find myself playing June's Journey. One is kind of throughout the day when I just need like a little decompression break, I play a few scenes and get back to work. Or more often than not, when I'm laying down for the night, I tend to play then too. For me, it's a nice way to unwind, decompress, and get lost in a mystery. Discover your inner detective when you download June's Journey for free today on iOS and Android.

Before I close out this episode, I want to thank you all for going on this insane journey with me. This podcast has been absolute hell at times, but I know I wouldn't have made it through without all of you.

without your messages of support, without you sharing her story to help me get the media attention the Phoenix police advised I get. Because until Alyssa has her day in court, I will not stop fighting for her. I will not go away, and I will not be silenced. So, like I promised when I first started this podcast a year ago,

I am leaving you with a call to action. Please share Alyssa's story. Please join me in being loud about this case. Justice for Alyssa literally hangs in the balance right now, and I need your help more than ever. We are so close to having a resolution for Alyssa, and we cannot give up now.

So share this podcast. Share your favorite podcast covering Alyssa's episode. Share an article. Share the petition. Just please keep sharing Alyssa's story because I truly believe that this is how we will get justice for Alyssa. So again, thank you. I love you. And I'll talk to you soon.

Voices for Justice is hosted, produced, and edited by me, Sarah Turney. If you want to learn more about Alyssa's story and how you can help with the case, visit justiceforalyssa.com. And if you love the show, it would really help if you gave me a rating and review in your podcast player. Thank you so much, and I'll talk to you next time.

Hey guys, this episode was exceptionally emotional for me. I went back and forth on what to do pretty much until I finished it, because I want to tell you guys everything, everything, and I will, but in due time. And I really hope that you can understand why I had to make the decision that I did. As much as I want to tell my side of everything,

It's not about me. But when the time is right, I will go on that journey and tell you what it was really like from my point of view. Because I truly do want to help other families. And I think that the lessons I've learned along the way can really do that. Which actually leads me in to this episode's question.

Hi Sarah, my name is Christina and I live in Oxford, Ohio. I learned about Alyssa's case on the episode of Crime Junkies that you were talking about and I just wanted to start by saying that I think you're amazing and so brave and you're an inspiration. My question is how do you keep your composure and your patience with the Phoenix Police Department when they obviously don't want to help with Alyssa's case?

I lost my mother when I was young and I've pretty much raised my brother since I was 10 years old. And if something happened to one of them, like what has happened to Alyssa, and my local police department was just so obviously unwilling to help, I think I would burn my entire city down. I don't know how you keep your composure and your patience with them.

especially when they just blatantly ignore you and your questions and your concerns about the case. They just act like you're not there. So how do you keep that patience with them? How do you keep so calm and so collected? Because I don't think that I would be capable of that. And it's just like you are such an inspiration and I don't know how you do it. So that is my question for you. Thank you so much for listening.

Hey Christina, first, I'm so sorry to hear about your mother, and I commend you for raising your brothers. I'm sure it isn't easy, and I imagine that you're a pretty badass woman. But to answer your question…

I learned the hard way that the police can only care so much about your emotions in their professional capacity. Not to say that they're terrible human beings who don't care, because I really don't believe that. Even with some recent disappointing revelations with Detective Somershu and Anderson, call me way too hopeful and trusting, but I still believe that deep down somewhere...

They care for Alyssa and for this case. But like any other professionals, the police have a job to do that doesn't include taking your feelings and emotions into account. That's why they outsource that to counselors and victim advocates. And in my experience, when you act with emotion as opposed to logic, they and others will use those emotions against you.

I'm not saying it's not valid to have those emotions. I'm just speaking to my experience. And I'm not going to say that it's easy.

There have been so many times I wanted to scream that I wanted to run to social media and discuss all of my feelings about all of the things that I think are wrong. But when you do that, you enable them and enable others to paint you as an over-emotional family member that has lost all sense of reason and logic. Someone that cannot be reasoned with. Someone that will not listen to the facts.

For me, it became a defense mechanism. I learned that crying got me nowhere, but presenting them with records is something that ultimately cannot be refuted. For example, when Sergeant Corris told me that there were no allegations of sexual abuse in Alyssa's case, I could have called him every name in the book and said awful things to him, and I'm sure people would have understood. But...

That isn't how you get through to the police, in my opinion. So I presented him with the fact that the department believes so strongly in these accusations that they presented their own interrogation videos to a national news outlet with these allegations. Because that can't be refuted. That can't be argued. So in short, how I stay so calm with the police...

is because I have to. Because I don't have a choice to be a normal human being with them. I don't have a choice to be emotional with them because it doesn't work. Again, this is in no way to say that family members' emotions are not valid because they are. In my opinion, you're allowed to feel however you want to feel about your family member's case. But at a certain point,

You have to think about what the smartest course of action is to get your optimal resolution for that case. And like I said, years of breaking down crying in their offices and telling my opinions didn't work. So I became very logical and very fact-based, and I saw results with that. I can't guarantee that's the outcome for every case out there if you take my advice. All I can tell you is that is what worked for me.

But this case is still open. So who knows? Maybe it didn't work. Maybe I should have tried something different. I won't know until we really have justice for Alyssa. But until then, I'm just doing the best I can. While I have you guys in our secret after show moment that we've created here to probably nobody that's really listening to this, again, I just want to say thank you.

Having all of you as my support system through this was unexpected, but I think it's exactly what I needed to give me the strength to keep going. I'm literally sitting in my closet slash recording studio, and it's filled with my father's letters, Thomas Heimer's letters, police reports...

And it's crazy to think that the timeline has finally ended. There are times where I screamed in this closet, more times than I can count that I cried.

It has been the most heartbreaking, exhausting nightmare of an experience to relive all of this and to learn the things that I have. To experience the backlash I have for creating this podcast. I have been accused of doing this for fame and for money. I have been told I have no business in the podcast space.

Creators have turned their backs on me. I have gone to court to defend myself over this podcast, and so much more. There were times where I sat in this closet that acts as my recording studio at three in the morning just crying that I even had to make this thing.

I have had countless conversations with those closest to me where I swore I was going to quit, that I was over it, that I could not do it anymore. For 18 months, I have been on high alert about Alyssa's case. Each and every day, I wonder if today is the day my father will be arrested, and if that's my fault.

And every bump in the night that I hear, I worry that it could be him coming for me. I don't say this for sympathy. I say this to set the record straight. I don't want any family member of a victim to think this process doesn't hurt like hell. Because it does. I don't want any family member to believe that they won't receive backlash for telling their story.

because they most likely will. But with that being said...

It has also been extremely healing for me to make this podcast. I learned more about Alyssa and her case than I ever would have relying on other creators to investigate the story for me. The sense of peace I have knowing that I have done almost everything in my power to get justice for Alyssa is something that I can't fully explain.

So do I regret making the podcast? Absolutely not. But was it easy? Hell no. But I don't think I would have changed it for the world. I mean, of course, if we could go back and just get justice for Alyssa right away, I would change it. But other than that...

I have grown so much through all of this pain. I have learned so much about the industry, about true crime, about these types of cases and the legal system. Doing this for myself made me grow as a person. And it gave me all of you. It gave Alyssa all of you. Nothing has picked up momentum in this case like this podcast. I would have never expected it.

Me, again, sitting in this closet with a $70 microphone and the worst laptop I've ever had in my life. I still can't believe that I made it to this point. 24 episodes. A full year of being completely enveloped in this case. I'm literally sitting here just shaking my head. No matter what happens in Alyssa's case, thank you for listening to it and giving her a chance.

which is more than she had for so many years. And so many of you have done more for Alyssa than those who knew her in real life. And I will never forget that. So just know that you just listening to this podcast has helped her case. And hopefully in the future, I can help some other cases and some other families.

And I hope that you'll show them the same love that you showed Alyssa. Because there are so many amazing people that have been lost. So many cases that need justice. And as far as I'm concerned, this is my new mission in life. If I can prevent one family from going through one terrible thing that I've experienced, it will be worth it. If I can offer any guidance...

that results in progress. It will be worth it. If we can get one new tip on one of these cases, it will be worth it. I could go on forever and ever, and I'm sorry, I'm definitely rambling. I think part of me doesn't want this episode to end because it's just too real. But with all that being said, I really hope I did Alyssa's story justice. And again, thank you for listening and being here with me through all of this.

Thank you, I love you, and I'll talk to you soon.