Alissa Turney — school photo — Credit: National Center for Missing & Exploited Children · Law-enforcement release (NCMEC missing-child photo)
Alissa Marie Turney, of Phoenix, Arizona, was born on April 3, 1984, to Barbara Farner and Stephen Strahm. After her parents divorced, her mother married Michael Turney, who adopted Alissa and her older brother John and later had a daughter, Sarah, with Barbara. Barbara died of cancer when Alissa was nine, and Michael raised all six children alone. By 2001, Alissa was 17, worked at the fast-food restaurant Jack in the Box, had a boyfriend, and lived with Michael and her half-sister Sarah in Phoenix.
May 17, 2001, was the last day of Alissa's junior year at Paradise Valley High School. According to Michael Turney, he dropped her off that morning and picked her up around lunchtime, when the two argued and she stormed off. He and Sarah later found a note in Alissa's bedroom stating she was running away to California, but she had left behind her cell phone and other personal items, and she did not attend a party she had been planning to go to that night. Turney filed a missing person's report the same day. On May 24, 2001, Michael Turney said he received a phone call from a California number during which Alissa swore at him before hanging up. In 2008, he stated that Alissa had been killed by two people connected to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and buried in Desert Center, California.
In the days after Alissa vanished, police did not suspect foul play and no investigation opened. In 2006, a man already imprisoned for an unrelated killing told a prison guard that he had killed Alissa; Phoenix police investigated and concluded he had no contact with her, and he later said he might have confused her with a different victim. The case was reopened in 2008. That December, detectives told Sarah that her father was their primary suspect, and investigators raided the Turney home, seizing more than two dozen improvised explosive devices, 19 firearms, two homemade silencers, a van of gasoline, and a manifesto describing a planned attack on a Phoenix building belonging to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Michael Turney was arrested, prosecuted, and sentenced to 10 years in jail on charges related to those seized items; he was released in August 2017.
Public attention around the case grew after Sarah Turney began the podcast Voices for Justice in June 2019, drawing on more than 3,000 pages of Phoenix Police Department case documents, and later posted about the case on TikTok. In August 2020, Michael Turney was arrested in Mesa, Arizona, and indicted and charged by a Maricopa County grand jury with second-degree murder in Alissa's death. He has consistently denied any involvement in her disappearance. All charges against him were dismissed in July 2023. As of 2026, Alissa's body has not been found and no one has been convicted in connection with her disappearance.
Alissa Turney is born to Barbara Farner and Stephen Strahm; the family is later associated with Phoenix, Arizona.
2001-05-17
Alissa Turney is last seen after the last day of her junior year at Paradise Valley High School in Phoenix; her stepfather, Michael Turney, files a missing person's report the same day after the two allegedly argue and she leaves a note saying she is running away to California, leaving her cell phone and other belongings behind.
2001-05-24
Michael Turney says he received a phone call from a California phone number during which Alissa swore at him before hanging up.
2006
A man already imprisoned for an unrelated killing tells a prison guard that he had killed Alissa; Phoenix police investigate and determine he had no contact with her.
2008
The police investigation into Alissa's disappearance is reopened.
2008
Michael Turney states that Alissa was killed by two people connected to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and buried in Desert Center, California.
2008-12
Detectives tell Sarah Turney that her father is the primary suspect in Alissa's disappearance, and investigators raid the Turney home, seizing more than two dozen improvised explosive devices, 19 firearms, two homemade silencers, a van of gasoline, and a manifesto describing a planned attack on the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers building in Phoenix.
2017-08
Michael Turney is released from jail after serving a sentence on charges stemming from the explosives and weapons seized during the 2008 raid.
2019-06
Alissa's half-sister Sarah Turney begins the podcast Voices for Justice, drawing on more than 3,000 pages of Phoenix Police Department case documents.
2020-08
Michael Turney is arrested in Mesa, Arizona, and indicted and charged by a Maricopa County grand jury with second-degree murder in Alissa's death.
2023-07
All charges against Michael Turney are dismissed.
Best coverage
Titles and descriptions are the creators’ own and may not reflect current legal status; see the dossier above for sourced case facts.
VIDEO
Kendall Rae / 1 min
Alissa Turney Didn’t Deserve This
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WHERE IS Alissa Turney?! + Featuring Her SISTER
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Stephanie Harlowe / 1 hr 4 min
What Happened To Alissa Turney? PART TWO
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Stephanie Harlowe / 1 hr 3 min
What Happened To Alissa Turney?
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Kendall Rae / 1 min
The Disappearance of Alissa Turney
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Coffeehouse Crime / 20 min
The Case of Alissa Turney (2021 NEW Update)
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Dateline NBC / 2 min
Cold Case Spotlight: Alissa Turney | Dateline NBC
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Dr. Todd Grande / 16 min
Missing Teenager Mystery Deepens After Stepfather Is Caught with Bombs | Alissa Turney Case Analysis
People
Alissa Turney
VICTIM
Alissa Turney was 17 years old and had just finished her junior year at Paradise Valley High School in Phoenix, Arizona, when she was last seen on May 17, 2001.
Michael Turney
CHARGED
Alissa's adoptive father. He was arrested in August 2020 and indicted and charged by a Maricopa County grand jury with second-degree murder in Alissa's death; those charges were dismissed in July 2023. He was separately sentenced to 10 years in jail in connection with explosives and firearms seized from his home in December 2008 during the reopened investigation, and was released in August 2017.
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
Archival records
portrait victim
Alissa Turney — school photo
Credit: National Center for Missing & Exploited Children · Law-enforcement release (NCMEC missing-child photo) · Source
