Teenager Hailey Buzbee’s body was found dismembered in Hocking County, Ohio, nearly a month after she was reported missing.
On Jan. 5, 17-year-old Buzbee went missing from her home in Fishers, Indiana. Her parents reported her missing on Jan. 6, and an unknown vehicle, later identified as owned by the main suspect, was seen in her neighborhood that night.
“Hailey left her house willingly and with a plan, which categorized her as a runaway. We do not believe she acted alone in leaving,” Fishers Police Department said, according to Facebook.com.
On Jan. 16, Fishers police left the case. The case was transferred to the FBI and later turned over to the Columbus Police Department. Buzbee was declared an endangered missing juvenile on Jan. 20. Police identified a short-term rental in Hocking County, Ohio as the place of her death, but her remains were not found until investigators searched Perry County, which is 40 miles away from Hocking County.
The main suspect, Tyler Thomas, a 39-year-old man, was connected to Buzbee through an online gaming site. Thomas admitted that he picked up Buzbee from her home on the night of Jan. 5 and said he dropped her off on the side of the road in western Ohio.
“However, through continued investigations, his initial story was determined to be untrue,” Fishers Police Chief Ed Gebhart said, according to People.com.
Thomas appeared remotely in an Ohio courtroom on Feb. 2 and faced two felony charges: pandering obscenity and tampering with evidence. His bond was set at $1.5 million, though he has not been charged in Buzbee’s death.
After the hearing, Thomas’s attorney, Sam Shamansky, said his client helped investigators locate Buzbee’s remains.
“At our client’s insistence, we assisted law enforcement on Saturday afternoon and later Sunday, and that goal has now been met with bringing complete closure, at least with respect to this stage of the investigation, for everybody involved, but most important, the family of Miss Buzbee,” Shamansky said.
Buzbee’s case has prompted calls for changes to missing-person alert systems. Since neither an AMBER Alert nor a Silver Alert was issued, her disappearance received limited public attention. An online petition circulated to establish a “Pink Alert,” which would be activated in cases with a credible risk, even if the AMBER Alert criteria are not met. Unless a victim has been proved abducted, an AMBER Alert cannot be issued. Buzbee was categorized as a runaway, with police saying she left her house on her own terms, therefore not qualifying for an AMBER alert. Supporters say it could help protect missing persons, particularly children, under suspicious circumstances.
“As a parent, it’s hard to understand why our children aren’t treated as the highest priority when the laws meant to protect them are far behind the times,” Buzbee’s father, Beau Buzbee, said, according to Newsweek.com.
