3 Sick Family Secrets That Ended in Horror | True Crime Documentary

13-year-old Hailey Dunn was growing up in the tiny town of Colorado City, Texas, a place with fewer than 4,000 residents, where like everybody pretty much knew everybody else. It was one of those close-knit communities where neighbors watched out for each other, and families had deep roots in town. Hailey’s dad, Clint, always described her as a tomboy who still loved sparkly, pretty things.

Her mom, Billie Jean Dunn, said the thing she remembered most was Hailey’s laugh loud, contagious, impossible to forget. She was energetic, funny, and had this huge personality that naturally pulled people toward her. Friends said Hailey never held back what she thought. She loved joking around, had a sharp sense of humor, and wasn’t afraid to speak her mind.

She cheered, played the saxophone, and was seriously competitive when it came to sports. By the eighth grade, she was already involved in volleyball, basketball, and softball, and she genuinely loved school, her teachers, and her friends. After her parents split up when she was around 10 years old, Hailey and her older brother, David, moved in with their mother and her boyfriend, Shawn Adkins, on Chestnut Street.

 Even after the divorce, though, Hailey stayed incredibly close to her dad. Clint lived just across the street, and she’d stop by almost every single day, sometimes before school, just to say hi, sometimes for dinner, sometimes for no reason at all, other than wanting to spend time with him. Christmas Day in 2010 seemed completely normal.

 Hailey’s grandmother, Connie, later said Hailey had been in an amazing mood that day. She was excited about her presents, especially her brand new iPod, and spent most of Christmas and the following day hanging out with her dad. Nothing about those days gave anyone any reason to worry. The night after Christmas, Hailey’s 16-year-old brother, David, went to stay at a friend’s house.

 Hailey stayed home, playing video games late into the night. Then, the next morning, December 27th, Shawn left for work around 5:30 in the morning. About an hour later, Billie Jean headed out for her own 12-hour shift. Before leaving, she checked on Hailey and said she was still fast asleep in bed. Everything looked perfectly normal.

Billie figured Hailey would spend the day at home alone until she eventually wandered over to Clint’s house like she usually did. She even left her cell phone behind so the kids could use it if they needed anything. Meanwhile, Shawn claimed he arrived at work in Snyder around 6:00 in the morning, got into a huge argument with his boss almost immediately, quit on the spot, then drove to his mother’s house in Big Spring before returning to Colorado City later that afternoon.

 But, something felt off almost immediately. Clint was used to seeing his daughter every day, and on December 27th, she never came by. No knock at the door, no quick visit, nothing. Hours passed, and he still hadn’t heard from her. Around 2:00 in the afternoon, a text message was sent from the cell phone left at the house to one of Hailey’s friends.

 It simply read, “Why What you doing?” The friend never replied. Later that evening, Shawn picked Billie up from work. When they got home, Billie realized Hailey wasn’t there. She asked Shawn if he’d seen her, and he casually told her Hailey had walked to her father’s house before supposedly deciding to spend the night with her friend Mary Beth.

 There was just one problem with that story. Clint said Hailey had never shown up. Guys, real quick before we continue, I’m honestly curious where everybody’s watching from. Tell me what city you’re in and what time it is for you right now. Thanks for hanging out with me, and definitely leave it down in the comments. All right, let’s keep going.

>> was my day, and then I came home uh around I guess like 3:00 I got there. And Hailey was there watching TV in the living room, and I went to me and Billie’s bedroom, and she came in there and told me that she was going to her father’s house and that she was staying the night with a friend. And then she left.

And then I was there by myself for maybe an hour at the most and then David and a friend came over and I went to his room and they were playing video games and so forth and Billie called me and told me that uh that her relief got there and that she’s going to get to leave a little early. So, I was up there at the hospital in uh Snyder around 6:00 to pick her up and then we came back.

And then we went to bed shortly after that. >> And this whole time you were thinking Haley was at a friend’s house? >> Yes. >> About what time did she say she was leaving out? >> Uh what time Haley was leaving? >> Mhm. >> Uh I guess it was sometime in between 3:00 and 3:30 when she said she was leaving.

 It was like shortly after I got there. I’m not real sure about the time. >> Does she normally call and check in every so often or is it normal to not hear from her for so long? >> Uh it’s pretty normal for her just uh not call cuz she usually does that though cuz she does stay the night at a friend’s house. She’ll be back.

>> morning came and went and Haley still hadn’t come home. Billie finally called Mary Beth’s parents hoping maybe there had been some misunderstanding. But they confirmed they hadn’t seen Haley at all. She definitely had not spent the night there. Inside Haley’s room nothing appeared disturbed. All the things she normally would have taken for an overnight stay were still exactly where she left them.

Billie started going door-to-door around the neighborhood asking if anyone had seen her daughter, but nobody had any answers. At first, she wondered if maybe Haley had gone to the store and someone passing through town had abducted her. Other times, she thought maybe Haley had simply gotten upset and run off for a while.

 A missing person’s report was finally filed during the afternoon of December 28th. Investigators initially classified Hailey as a runaway, which later brought heavy criticism once the seriousness of the situation became clear. Before long, the case was officially treated as a missing child investigation. The entire community rallied around the family almost immediately.

 Volunteers searched everywhere they could think of, and the media quickly picked up the story. Clint was absolutely devastated. He spent nearly every waking moment searching for his daughter, digging through dumpsters, walking alleys, checking streets, searching any place he thought she could possibly be. People started noticing something else, too.

Clint seemed completely consumed by the search, while Billie and Shawn appeared far less involved. As search efforts expanded into isolated fields and wooded areas, reporters mentioned that Billie often avoided participating in those searches. Billie later explained that she simply couldn’t handle looking through forests and open land because, to her, it felt like they were searching for her daughter’s body.

 Even Clint admitted those searches were emotionally brutal, but Shawn kept his distance almost entirely. He wasn’t handing out flyers, wasn’t joining organized searches, and didn’t appear heavily involved in the investigation at all. Police questioned dozens of people, including registered sex offenders living nearby, but investigators quickly ruled them out.

 On Wednesday, December 29th, both Clint’s and Billie’s homes were searched. Then, just 1 day later, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children joined the case. Search dogs eventually picked up Hailey’s scent near a local motel, leading investigators there. But employees didn’t remember seeing her.

 Surveillance footage showed nothing, and after searching all 24 rooms, police found no evidence she had ever been there. Then came New Year’s Eve. Only 4 days after Hailey vanished, Billie and Shawn hosted a New Year’s party at their home. A lot of people found the timing deeply disturbing. Billie claimed she barely even realized it was New Year’s, and said friends and relatives had simply come over to support her.

 Clint, however, saw things very differently. He later said he stood outside on his porch with binoculars searching for his daughter while watching Billy and Shawn celebrating late into the night. “I don’t understand how you can celebrate New Year’s when your daughter is missing,” he said. “That should be the last thing on your mind.

” As the New Year began, the mood across Colorado City felt heavy and tense. There were still no answers, no confirmed sightings, no trace of Hailey Dunn anywhere, and the exhausting searches just kept going. >> Well, Lane and Victor, we’re going into day nine in the search for Hailey Dunn, and there’s still no sign of her.

 When I visited with the Dunn family this morning, I saw Texas Rangers scouring through Hailey’s room. If we take a look over here, this is the window to her bedroom. Now, Texas Rangers, I’m told, have not found anything and no sign of foul play or any sign of her packing her bags and running away from home at this time.

 More than a week later, and still no sign of Hailey, her mother says it’s frustrating, but she remains hopeful. >> But I have to do nothing but hope that she left by herself and that she’s going to come back to me because if I don’t cling onto that hope, I don’t have anything. >> Now, local authorities tell me they’re following several tips at this time.

Several agencies have stepped in, and the reward once again is $25,000 for tips that lead to Hailey Dunn. >> On January 4th, 2011, both the Texas Rangers and the FBI officially joined the investigation. More than 100 billboards featuring Hailey’s photo were placed across Texas and beyond in hopes someone might recognize her.

 The case exploded into national headlines after Nancy Grace covered Hailey’s disappearance and interviewed Billie Jean Dunn on television. Suddenly, millions of people across the country knew Hailey’s name. >> Hailey’s case was on national television, and Nancy Grace seemed to be a little hard on you. What was that like hearing her question Billie like that? >> Uh I heard about it.

I wasn’t there when Billie was getting interviewed by her. I was talking to the Texas Rangers, but I heard about it and it’s frustrating, you know, what she said about me and but it really doesn’t bother me cuz, you know, my main focus is just Hailey cuz we just want her to come home safe. >> Does it hurt to think people would point fingers at you, a person who cares about her? >> Yeah, it hurts.

It does. >> Describe to me the relationship between you and Hailey. >> Uh it’s it’s really really good relationship and you know, I love her with all my heart and I believe she loves me with all her heart. We get along just fine. >> See, is there anything else um you want people to know about you and your relationship with the family at all? Cuz it seems like a lot of people are buzzing on the internet about it.

>> Yeah, as far as me, Hailey, and Billie and David, you know, we all get along just fine. And I would never do nothing to that little girl. I love her with all my heart and I just wish for her safe return. >> The very next day, January 5th, Billie asked Shawn to leave the house. Apparently, that wasn’t unusual for them.

Friends said they fought constantly, separated, then got back together again a few days later. As investigators dug deeper, though, a more troubling picture of Hailey’s home life started to emerge. Reporters later explained that while things may have looked ordinary from the outside, life behind closed doors was much more chaotic and difficult for Hailey and her brother David.

 One reporter put it this way, “We learned there was a lot of alcohol and partying going on at their home from the mother’s side, and it gives the impression that their home life was more difficult than they were trying to make it seem.” It turned out Billie Jean Dunn and Shawn Atkins had already been on law enforcement’s radar long before Hailey disappeared.

Roughly 10 months earlier, police had responded to domestic disturbance calls involving the couple. Both Shawn and Billie had called police on each other at different times, and officers described the pair as aggressive and constantly arguing. >> I really need to file a report on somebody. >> What exactly happened? >> I broke up with this guy a couple of days ago, and then he still on me that he’s going to kill me and that it’s going to be remembered for a long time.

>> I got a situation over here. I have a ex-girlfriend. She’s taking me a whole bunch of anxiety pills without my date. So, I guess she got them from me and she thinks he like took a bunch of her pain pills, too. And she’s saying that she wants to die, so she filed a report on me, you know, for harassment and stuff like that.

 So, she was upset about it. She’s just, you know, not being herself right now. >> Threatening to kill her. >> Damn it. >> What’s Billy done? >> Oh, god. He’s been going all day. All right, I’ll be there. >> Okay. >> Not long afterward, like they often did, Billie and Shawn reconciled and Shawn moved back into the house.

>> He used to tell me about the man. >> What kind of things? >> She didn’t like him. She didn’t trust him. She was afraid of him. >> I don’t want to be here right now. I’m going to be here with you cuz I don’t feel right with my stepdad. >> Hailey had reportedly told her grandmother Connie that she sometimes saw Shawn’s shadow outside her bedroom door late at night.

 She was afraid he might come into her room while she was sleeping. Detectives later asked both Billie and Shawn to take polygraph tests. The first attempt had to be stopped because both of them were allegedly under the influence of drugs at the time. Billie insisted she had only taken prescription medication for anxiety. Shawn walked out of the examination at least twice.

 During a third attempt, he only completed the first phase before quitting again. He complained investigators were turning the case into a witch hunt and trying to pressure him into confessing to something he didn’t do. But during questioning, he said something investigators couldn’t ignore. When detectives asked where he believed Hailey might be, Shawn answered, “In Surry County.

” Then they asked who police should consider suspects. His response was short and chilling, “Both of us.” According to the polygraph examiner, those answers registered as truthful. Shawn refused to explain further and left before completing the second phase of testing. Results from Billy’s second polygraph and Shawn’s initial examination reportedly showed signs of deception on several important questions.

>> Um, I want to thank everyone for coming this afternoon and giving me an opportunity to make a statement. First, I want to speak directly to Hailey in case she’s listening. Um, wherever you are, Hailey, I’m looking for you. Hundreds of people are looking for you. We all want you home safe. Um, I just want to see and touch your beautiful face.

Um, I really love you. I desperately need you home. And um, there’s not a minute goes by I’m not praying for you or crying wishing you were in my living room. Um, I can’t handle not knowing where you are or if you’re safe. You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever laid my eyes on and I’m very proud that God chose me to be your mother.

Next, I want to say if someone out there has Hailey, please let her go. Just turn her loose. Drop her off at a church, a school, police station, anywhere that she can get to a phone and call police or call her family. I’ve been flat out called a liar by some people. Others speculate on my possible involvement in Hailey’s disappearance or or if I’m covering up for somebody.

Some people accuse me of withholding information and not cooperating with law enforcement. These things are not true, but I now feel that I have to defend myself from ridiculous accusations, slander, or defamation of character. >> For months afterwards, searches and memorial gatherings continued around Colorado City, although freezing winter conditions often forced volunteers to pause operations.

Eventually, police held a press conference announcing they were now investigating the case under the assumption that Hailey may have been held against her will or could already be dead. Investigators reviewed phone records, bank activity, and Shawn Adkins’ employment history. That’s when major inconsistencies started appearing in Shawn’s timeline.

His boss later revealed Shawn had not been fired at all. According to him, Shawn arrived at work around 6:00 in the morning on December 27th, bought a drink, turned in his uniform, voluntarily quit, and left by 6:10. Shawn later admitted he lied about being fired because he didn’t want Billie Jean getting angry with him.

 He told detectives that after leaving work, he drove straight to his mother’s house in Big Spring to use her computer and apply for unemployment benefits. But cell phone records completely contradicted that version of events. Between 6:35 and 6:56 that morning, his phone was still connecting to towers in Colorado City nearly 50 miles away from Big Spring.

 Records did confirm Shawn was eventually in Big Spring, but only between 9:38 in the morning and 2:40 in the afternoon. Additional cell phone data also placed him in the Scurry County area that same day. Shawn claimed he returned to Colorado City around 3:00 and last saw Hailey at approximately 3:15 before she supposedly walked to her father’s house.

But tower data showed he was still in Big Spring at 2:40, leaving barely 20 minutes to drive roughly 40 miles. Meanwhile, Hailey’s brother David later described something unsettling from that afternoon. When he returned home around 4:00, the doors were locked. After failing to get inside, he climbed through a window.

 Once inside, he saw Shawn standing in the hallway looking completely startled. David compared it to a deer frozen in headlights. Hailey’s uncle later recalled another disturbing conversation with Shawn after the disappearance. He told Shawn he couldn’t imagine anyone hurting a child. Shawn responded coldly, “It’s like killing a deer.

” Bank records also revealed that after Shawn picked Billy up from work around 6:00 in the evening, the couple stopped at two ATMs where Billy withdrew a total of $140. Initially, Billy claimed the money was for groceries and gas. Investigators later determined it had actually been spent on drugs. Concerned about possible drug use inside the home while children were living there, detectives conducted a deeper search of the property.

During that search, they discovered hundreds of printed internet articles about serial killers, sexual sadism, and family murders. Billy dismissed it by saying they were simply interested in true crime stories. By 2011, investigators officially identified Shawn as a person of interest in Hailey’s case, though he denied any involvement.

 Around the same time, Child Protective Services removed David from the home. Then, on February 24th, investigators made another shocking discovery. More than 100,000 images of child pornography were found on a flash drive inside Billy’s house and on a computer located at Shawn’s mother’s home. Police also seized a laptop that had previously been stored at the station.

Clint later claimed Shawn’s stepfather actually went to the police department demanding Shawn’s laptop back, and somehow investigators returned it. Despite the disturbing evidence, no arrests were made immediately. Authorities explained that because multiple people lived in both homes, they needed to determine exactly who was responsible for the material.

 On On 17th, 2011, law enforcement officers arrived at Billie and Shawn’s home intending to speak with Shawn. Billie told officers he wasn’t there. But after entering the house with a warrant, they discovered him hiding inside. Billie was arrested for providing false information to police. A few months later, in June 2011, Billie Jean Dunn received probation after pleading guilty to lying about Shawn’s whereabouts.

Her sentence included 90 days in jail, suspended, along with 1 year of probation. She later moved with Shawn more than 250 miles away to Travis County while serving probation. By 2012, the couple had finally split up for good. Billie later admitted she had begun suspecting Shawn’s involvement in Hailey’s disappearance, especially after learning that both local investigators and the FBI considered him a person of interest.

 As the years passed, the searches slowly lost momentum. Every memorial gathering seemed to bring new tips, but each lead eventually faded into another dead end. Then, after another year without answers, everything changed. On March 16th, 2013, a hiker discovered human remains roughly 20 miles from Colorado City near JB Thomas Lake in Scurry County.

>> 2013, local authorities were notified of human remains located near Lake JB Thomas in Southwest Scurry County. The remains were sent to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification for DNA analysis. On April 26th, 2013, the Scurry County District Attorney’s Office received written confirmation that the remains have been positively identified as those as those of Hailey Dunn.

>> Authorities never officially announced a cause of death, but Clint later said investigators believed Hailey likely died from blunt force trauma. A reward of $15,000 was offered for information leading directly to the arrest of whoever killed Hailey Dunn. Sadly, the family had to wait another four painful years before Hailey was finally laid to rest in January of 2017.

>> Texas mother, desperate to find her daughter’s killer is speaking out. It was 6 years ago when 13-year-old Hailey Dunn went missing after leaving her father’s home in Colorado City, that’s west of Abilene. Her remains were found 3 years later, but her killer remains at large.

 Her mother, who is from Austin, says she has hope justice will be served. >> I still want to believe every time tell me that there’s going to be an arrest soon, I I keep that faith. >> In 2018, Clint Dunn publicly stated that he believed either Shawn or Billie Jean Dunn attacked his daughter while the other helped cover it up.

 They were both involved, he said. There’s no question about it. Clint never stopped pushing investigators for answers. He constantly stayed in contact with police and begged for an arrest, but despite years of investigation, detectives still lacked enough evidence to move forward. >> I’m just I’ve been staying out of the way of law enforcement all this time.

 I thought I was doing the best thing by and not coming down on law enforcement. And I’ve just It’s been too many years of no action. Nothing’s been done. So, I’m tired of waiting. Um I had I The investigator over the case right now out of Scurry County, he told me one time, he said he doesn’t care if it takes 20 years to do this.

And I do care if it takes 20 years. I don’t want the person that hurt my kid doesn’t need to walk the street for 20 years. >> You think that person is still out there somewhere? >> Yeah. I think he’s here in this town. Big Spring, Texas. >> You think he’s in Big Spring? >> Mhm. I know he was 2 >> Shawn Atkins. >> Shawn, you think it’s Shawn Atkins, the only named suspect? >> Yep.

And I think that Billie Jean knows something. She said too many lies. She’s avoided too much and she knows more than what she said. >> Then, years later, Clint’s social media posts caught the attention of an anonymous person who claimed they had found several of Haley’s belongings sometime in late spring or early summer of 2011.

 At the time, that person had been a middle school student and knew absolutely nothing about Haley or the disappearance, so they never reported the discovery. But in 2019, after seeing one of Clint’s online posts, they suddenly remembered what they had found and contacted him. Exactly what the items were and where they had been discovered has never been publicly revealed.

Clint only stated that the belongings were located in an area investigators had searched multiple times during the early stages of the case. Private investigator Erica Morris had been working alongside Clint ever since Haley vanished. Erica later claimed she had uncovered evidence and communicated with officials, but after Haley’s remains were found, authorities allegedly stopped responding to calls and stopped updating them about progress in the investigation.

 Then, in October 2019, Erica began receiving messages from women across West Texas who said they were being harassed online by a man calling himself Casey. Erica knew Casey was Shawn Adkins’ middle name, so she asked the women to send her photos and videos he had shared. According to her, it confirmed the person contacting them was Shawn.

 On October 28th, 2019, Erica accompanied one of the women to a police station to file a report. But the officer reportedly refused to take it seriously and accused the woman of making the story up. That pushed Erica to publish an open letter warning authorities that if Shawn wasn’t arrested soon, more victims would appear.

 Another 2 years passed before the case finally took a dramatic turn. In May 2021, Erica received a response from the Mitchell County District Attorney’s Office inviting both her and Clint to a meeting. Erica later said, “During that meeting, they assured us that Hailey’s killer would be arrested sometime in June.” And finally, more than 10 years after Hailey Dunn disappeared and 7 years after her remains were discovered, an arrest was made.

>> Reaction from Colorado City tonight is emotional and also getting straight to the point. Shawn Adkins is sitting in the Mitchell County Jail tonight charged for the murder of 13-year-old Hailey Dunn. She first went missing over 10 years ago. You know, this community, they have spent more than a decade searching, searching for a young girl, searching for answers, searching really for justice.

We are a step closer to that tonight. The arrest of Shawn Adkins is what the community of Colorado City has been waiting on for a long time. >> District Attorney Ricky Thompson consulted with the Texas Rangers Cold Case Program regarding Hailey’s investigation. The Texas Rangers obtained a search warrant to collect Shawn’s DNA.

 Then, on June 13th, 2021, Shawn Casey Adkins was officially arrested and charged with the murder of Hailey Dunn. Billy Dunn later said, “I can’t say I’m shocked that it was Shawn. Of course, I would have hoped it wasn’t him, especially since I stayed with him after Hailey went missing, but I’m not surprised.” And I thank God that this person has been apprehended and will answer for what he’s done here on Earth.

 As of July 2021, Shawn Adkins remained jailed on a $2 million bond and had not entered a guilty plea. >> The KCBD Investigates Team, the Mitchell County District Attorney’s Office has released a single page from Shawn Adkins’ arrest warrant. He is the man police hold responsible for killing Hailey Dunn in Colorado City.

 Big Spring police arrested him last month, but we don’t know why. When KCBD requested the arrest warrant, we were sent to Mitchell County and the DA there refused, citing Texas law, claiming it blocked us from access to this public record since it involves the alleged abuse and death of a child.

 So, now while we’re waiting on the Attorney General to rule on this decision, in the meantime, it has been 10 days since our request for the entire arrest warrant and affidavit. We have only this part of the warrant so far, ordering any law enforcement agent to arrest Shawn Adkins for the charge of murder out of Colorado City, but that does not shed any light on what led Mitchell County to that conclusion.

 So, our investigates team will keep pursuing your right to know about what police say led to the death of Hailey Dunn. >> After Shawn’s arrest, private investigator Erica Morse described Clint Dunn as the driving force behind the case. She said he became an example for every parent fighting for justice for their child.

 Clint later said, “There are no words right now to describe how I feel. We will let the child speak the truth. Thank you to everyone who searched for Hailey, and to those who fought tirelessly for an arrest. I hope true justice will be served in the courtroom. The case is still ongoing, but the family hopes that this means justice for Hailey Dunn will finally be achieved.

” >> Out by a jagged cliff along a rough crashing shoreline, a tourist suddenly noticed something strange in the water. At first glance, it kind of looked like a person drifting there. But then, it became clear something was really off. The body wasn’t moving at all, just floating, completely still. When authorities pulled her from the water, it didn’t take long to realize this wasn’t some tragic accident, not even close.

The victim was a young woman, completely unclothed, and um the injuries were brutal, nearly 40 stab wounds. Right away, it was obvious this was something far darker. Around that same time, miles away, a family was desperately trying to find their daughter, 25-year-old Michelle Leng. She was just a student, you know, someone who had gone out shopping and was supposed to come home like any normal day, but she never made it back and no one could understand why.

 And honestly, the most disturbing part of this story, it wasn’t out there by the cliffs. It was waiting somewhere much closer, inside her own room, in the place where she should have felt the safest. Right next to someone she trusted. What started as a missing person case, just a search for a young student, slowly unraveled into one of the darkest and most shocking family crimes Australia has ever seen.

So, Michelle Leng, her full name was Meng Meng. Leng was 25 years old, an international student living in Campsie. When she moved to Australia, she started going by Michelle, kind of like a more familiar name for everyday life. She was an only child and after losing her father back in 2008, her bond with her mom, May, became incredibly strong.

Like, they were really close. Her mom always described her as someone deeply compassionate. Michelle was the kind of person who genuinely felt for others, almost like she carried their pain as her own. Even when she was exhausted or going through something herself, she’d still show up for her friends, always trying to support them, you know? That was just who she was.

Then in 2011, she made a huge, brave decision. She left Chengdu and moved all the way to Australia to study. Now, her mom was definitely worried. I mean, sending your only child across the world isn’t easy, but at the same time, she was proud. Michelle was stepping out of her comfort zone, chasing something bigger, and that meant everything.

May worked incredibly hard to support her, putting aside every bit of money she could so her daughter could build a future. And once Michelle got settled, she didn’t forget that she started sending whatever extra money she could back home. Some of Michelle’s relatives were already living in Australia, so she stayed with her aunt, uncle, and cousin in Campsie, a suburb in New South Wales.

Over time, she built a life for herself there. Fast forward to 2016, and she had already been in Australia for about 5 years. By then, she had a solid group of friends, she genuinely liked where she lived, and academically she was doing really well. After finishing her business degree at the University of Technology Sydney, she decided to keep going and enrolled at the Sydney Institute of Interpreting and Translation.

 She was focused, motivated, and honestly, it seemed like everything was starting to fall into place for her. April 21st, 2016. It was a warm Thursday afternoon when Michelle met up with a few friends near the University of Technology Sydney. Everything felt normal, easygoing like any other day. When it was time to head out, they waved goodbye as she hopped on a bus, and she casually mentioned she was planning to do a little shopping.

She made her way to Pitt Street Mall, just wandering around on her own for a while. You can almost picture it, browsing through stores, taking her time, picking up a few things here and there. Nothing unusual, nothing that would make anyone think this day would turn into something else entirely.

 After that, she caught a train heading towards St. James Railway Station shortly before 4:00 in the afternoon. Then, around 4:30, she got off at Campsie Railway Station, making her way back home to her apartment. And, um, that was the last time everything in her life seemed completely ordinary. >> Michelle was seen in security video shopping at Myer in the Pitt Street Mall last Thursday at 3:00 p.m.

 She bought a juice before getting on a train at St. James Station at 4:30 p.m. and getting off at Campsie. Close friends told police they hadn’t had contact with her since late on Thursday night. >> While her photo was spreading across social media, and people were getting more and more worried, something else was unfolding over 60 miles away, and it was just as disturbing, if not worse.

Out along the coast of New South Wales, there’s a place called Snapper Point Blowhole. It’s actually really scenic, but also um pretty dangerous. The rocks there are slick, jagged, and unpredictable. It’s the kind of place where one wrong step could easily lead to a serious fall, or worse. So, when a tourist was walking nearby and noticed what looked like a person in the water, it immediately felt off.

 At first, he probably thought someone was swimming, but then he took a closer look. The body wasn’t moving, not even a little. It was face down, completely still, and yeah, it didn’t take long to realize something was terribly wrong. Around 10:30 that morning, a paramedic was lowered down from a helicopter to retrieve the body from the water.

 The moment they got her out, it became painfully clear this wasn’t some kind of accident, not even close. She was a young woman, completely naked. Her body covered in stab wounds, nearly 40 of them. The fatal injury was a deep wound to her throat. And from what investigators could see, she had fought back desperately.

 But whoever did this had been relentless. Police quickly started piecing things together, and their conclusion was chilling. They didn’t believe the ocean had carried her there. Instead, they were convinced her body had been left right at the blowhole. The lead detective later explained that the sea had been especially rough that day.

 You know, waves crashing hard against the rocks. But despite that, her body showed almost no signs of impact injuries from the surrounding cliffs, which led them to believe she had entered the water exactly where she was found. >> It was just after 10:30 this morning, police were called to Snapper Point following reports a body a woman’s body was found face down in a blowhole.

>> Post mortem revealed that the woman had suffered a number of wounds. Significantly, some stab wounds. Our interpretation of the situation is that she suffered a violent assault prior to her death. The description of the woman who at this point in time have not identified is a Asian female aged between 20 and 35, medium build, shoulder length hair.

 She has no distinguishing tattoos or scars on the body. Her body was naked when it was found in the water and all jewelry had been removed. >> Anybody who knows this woman or knows anything about this crime is urged to contact police. >> Authorities urged anyone who might recognize the woman or had even the smallest piece of information to come forward.

Investigators from the New South Wales Police Force Homicide Unit released a computer-generated image of her, a young Asian woman with shoulder-length dark hair. Since they didn’t know her identity yet, they gave her a temporary name, the Snapper Point Blowhole Jane Doe. As the story spread beyond the local area, people online started connecting the dots.

 Some began to wonder if this unidentified woman could actually be Michelle. And they were right. DNA testing confirmed it, the victim was 25-year-old Michelle Ling. Things moved incredibly fast after that. By the very next day, police had already taken a suspect into custody. Investigators went all in. They interviewed everyone close to Michelle, family, friends, anyone who might know something.

Her apartment was thoroughly searched, turned upside down, and every piece of digital evidence was carefully examined. Then there was a major breakthrough. Surveillance cameras had captured a car entering a national park about 4 hours before her body was discovered. Tracing that vehicle led them straight to the suspect.

 And this is where it gets really unsettling. The person they identified was someone incredibly close to her. It was her uncle, Derek Barrett, the same man she had been living with. >> The same man who had helped report her missing. Derek, who was 27 at the time, had married Michelle’s aunt just a few years earlier. Not much was known about his background.

He had worked in IT at some point, but had been unemployed for a while. When police examined his phone, they found something deeply disturbing. There were images of Michelle tied up with a gag in her mouth, lying on her own bed. Fabric had been wrapped tightly around her face with tape. And according to officers, the look on her face in those photos, it was something they said would stay with them forever.

 You know, the kind of thing you just can’t unsee. >> The mother of murdered student Michelle Leng has thanked police and the Australian Chinese community who have been helping her family through this terrible time. Mrs. Jong says words can’t describe the pain she feels over the loss of her only child. A fund has also been set up to help pay for Michelle’s funeral and take care of her mother.

>> Derek was denied bail, and he just sat there in the courtroom completely silent as the charges were read out for the first time. And um it didn’t stop there. About 2 months later, even more charges were added, bringing the total to 27. These included things like unlawful detention for personal gain and indecent assault.

 Investigators were already building a clear picture. Based on where Michelle was found, the surveillance timeline, and phone data from both of them, they believe the attack happened almost immediately after she got home that day. The house was empty at the time. That’s when he restrained her in her own bedroom and assaulted her. The motive, sadly, seemed very clearly sexual.

And here’s the part that’s honestly hard to wrap your head around. At some point, while Michelle was still alive, her cousin came back home. She had no idea, not even a hint, that just a few steps away Michelle was being held captive. Police were never able to determine exactly how long Derek kept her alive.

What they did establish was this chilling window of time between late Thursday afternoon, April 21st, and 10:30 on Sunday morning, April 24, when he ultimately inflicted the fatal stab wounds. At some point on that Sunday morning, he wrapped her body in plastic and drove out towards Snapper Point Blowhole. His phone data tracked the entire route like step-by-step.

 And disturbingly, along the way, he even stopped to grab something to eat before continuing on. Eventually, he reached the cliffs and disposed of her body, throwing her into the water below. What makes it even more haunting is that this exact spot, it wasn’t random. Years earlier, Michelle had visited that same place, taken a photo there, and shared it on her Instagram during a trip, smiling, enjoying the view, completely unaware of what would one day happen in that very place.

>> A man will face court today after he allegedly killed a Chinese student and dumped her body on the New South Wales Central Coast. >> In April 2016, Derek was officially charged with Michelle’s murder. When he stood in court, he pleaded not guilty, just flat-out denied everything, like none of it had anything to do with him.

 Meanwhile, Michelle’s family had flown in all the way from China after her body was found, and, you know, they tried to be there for every single court hearing. No matter how painful it was, they showed up, sitting through it all, hoping for answers, hoping for some kind of justice for their daughter. >> Michelle Leng’s distraught mother, supported in court by the wife of the man accused of fatally stabbing her daughter, Michelle’s mother left court promising to speak publicly about her daughter tomorrow.

>> Just what what kind of a person was she? >> Good person, yeah. Like an angel, yeah. >> In China, her murder has made national headlines. >> There’s a lot of international students in Sydney and their parents in China, so they were really, really concerned with this news. >> As those closest to her struggle to comprehend her violent death.

>> His defense attorney tried to paint a different picture, saying his client was struggling badly in custody and continued to deny the accusations. He even told the court that Derek was like deeply distressed and shocked, complaining about the conditions at the Sydney police detention center and hoping he’d be moved somewhere else soon.

But all of that didn’t really change the direction the case was heading. Then, about 18 months later in December 2017, everything shifted. Derek finally admitted guilt. He confessed that he had tied Michelle up, gagged her, and then killed her before disposing of her body. And it didn’t stop at the murder charge.

He also pleaded guilty to 21 additional offenses. 19 of those involved filming Michelle for sexual gratification, which honestly just makes the whole thing even more disturbing. He also admitted to unlawful detention and multiple indecent assaults. At the same time, Derek tried to explain his actions by pointing to substance abuse, claiming he had been using methamphetamine and synthetic cannabis around the time of the crime.

According to him, he couldn’t remember anything from that weekend. The only fragments he said he could recall were seeing his own reflection in a mirror and blood in a sink. But the court didn’t buy it. Justice Helen Wilson made it clear that his claims didn’t hold up. A forensic psychiatrist, Dr. first testified that Derek was most likely faking memory loss to avoid responsibility.

He even pointed out that Derek’s supposed meth addiction didn’t add up, noting he had never seen someone with that kind of dependency present the way Derek did. More than that, he emphasized Derek’s complete lack of remorse and empathy, especially considering the way he had documented the crime and then transported the body so far from the scene.

 At one point, Derek wrote a letter to Michelle’s mother. In it, he said he could only imagine her pain, that he wished he could go back and undo that day, that his own problems had destroyed everything. He talked about sleepless nights, nightmares, losing everything over one terrible weekend, and how he couldn’t understand why he had done it.

He even admitted he had betrayed both families and said he felt disgusted with himself. But none of that convinced the judge. Justice Helen Wilson described what happened as a crime of extreme brutality and profound evil. She called it depraved, sadistic, something done by a man Michelle trusted in the very place that should have been her safe haven.

>> A socially inadequate man driven by sexual perversion and sadism, Derek Barrett didn’t fool anyone. >> It’s satisfying that we’ve got justice, but there’s no joy in a matter like this. It’s just an extremely sad case. >> lucky he didn’t get life imprisonment. >> Derek Barrett stared intently at the floor of the dock throughout the entire sentence.

 His tears now only for himself, because while this wasn’t technically a life sentence, he could be in his 70s before he is free again. >> In the end, the court handed down a sentence that reflected just how horrific everything had been. Derek Barrett was sentenced to 46 years in prison with a non-parole period of 34 years.

 So, basically, even under the best possible circumstances for him, he won’t be eligible for release until he’s served decades behind bars. And um for Michelle’s family, it was a form of justice, but not something that could ever truly make up for what they lost. >> Look, first of all, if I could ask you to respect the privacy of the family.

They’re very upset and they’ll be leaving shortly, but they’ve they don’t want to say anything to the media at this at this point in time. I just like to say that the uh murder of uh Miss Lang was a horrendous, senseless murder. It’s impacted on a lot of people’s lives. The courts have recognized the seriousness of the offense by the sentence that was handed down on Mr.

 Barrett, the one that heard the heard the facts of of what’s gone on. It was a horrendous matter and the family are traumatized by what’s gone on. That’s all I’ve got to say. Thank you. >> But even after the sentencing, the story wasn’t over. Not even close. Investigators had already come to believe that Derek’s obsession with Michelle had been growing over time, becoming more intense, more disturbing.

And then, a few years later, the case took an even darker turn. Something no one really expected. In November 2019, an elderly woman living with dementia, someone who rarely left her home, was visited by her daughter. When the daughter arrived, she found her mom sitting at the kitchen table holding a small object.

 It turned out to be a durable, weather-resistant USB drive. The woman said she thought it was just a toy, like something random she had picked up, and she had no idea how it ended up in her home. But when her daughter plugged it into a computer, everything changed. What she saw was so shocking that she immediately called the police.

On that device, there were nine video files, over an hour in total, along with 13 photographs. And um they showed Derek and Michelle. The footage revealed him assaulting and torturing her while she was being held captive in her own room. In one of the videos, Michelle’s hands were tied so tightly that they became swollen, even turning purple.

 At one point, Derek cut the rope with a large hunting knife, only to tie her up again. And then he said something chilling, almost casual, like, “So, where were we?” before continuing the attack. It’s honestly hard to even process how someone could do something like that. What’s even more disturbing is that this behavior didn’t just start there.

For some time before the murder, Derek had secretly recorded Michelle and even his stepdaughter while they were showering or sleeping. Some videos showed him watching them and, you know, touching himself. It revealed a pattern that was deeply predatory and calculated. Police were able to match some of the files on the USB drive to data Derek had deleted from his phone just days before his arrest, clearly trying to cover his tracks.

Strangely, the elderly woman who found the device had no known connection to him, even though she lived just a few miles from his former home. How that USB ended up there, that part still remains a mystery. Based on what was discovered, Derek was hit with 17 additional charges including multiple counts of aggravated sexual assault and indecent acts.

Investigators also noted that Michelle’s aunt had often been away in Wollongong for work, which is why she wasn’t home during any of this. She had no idea what was happening and was later overwhelmed with guilt. When Michelle’s mother got the call about the USB drive, she said she nearly fainted. Through tears, she recalled how the police told her the videos showed her daughter being humiliated, assaulted, and tortured.

 She said the shock was unbearable, that it made her physically sick. And not long after hearing the news, her own mother passed away, unable to cope with the grief. She asked a question that really says it all. How could any mother ever accept something like that? Derek Barrett admitted guilt to all 17 new charges, but despite everything that came out, there was no additional prison sentence added.

 And for Michelle’s family, that was another painful blow. Unfortunately, under the law, there was simply no way to extend his punishment further. >> A man who admitted killing his own niece has been sentenced for a second time after a USB stick was unearthed years after he was jailed. >> Judge went as far as saying if the full extent of his perverted crime was known in 2017, he would have been jailed for life.

 But, that simply wasn’t possible now. >> The law doesn’t allow one to revisit a sentence that was imposed in 2017. >> Because this evidence hadn’t been discovered before the original murder trial, the judge treated it as a new aggravating factor. So, yeah, Derek received an additional 20 years in prison. But, here’s the thing.

 That sentence runs at the same time as his original one, not on top of it. Which means the total time he’ll serve still stays at 46 years. There was one change, though. His non-parole period was extended by two more years. So, instead of being eligible for release in 2050, the earliest he can now even apply is 2052. The judge made it clear this case stood out as one of the most brutal and disturbing she had ever had to deal with.

 And when you think about Michelle, it just makes everything hit even harder. She was hardworking, full of hope, someone who had traveled thousands of miles to build a better life not just for herself, but for her mom, too. She believed she was safe. She lived in a home where she trusted the people around her. And that trust was completely shattered.

 For her mother, the pain is almost impossible to put into words. First, she lost her husband and then her daughter, taken by someone she had once considered family. She said they still can’t accept that Michelle is gone, that the grief hasn’t eased at all. She spoke about how time will never return to those days when they lived happily together.

And now, without her daughter, she feels like her entire life has fallen apart, left wondering what comes next and how she’s even supposed to keep going. Baytown, Texas. A lot of people there knew 37-year-old Crystal McDowell as this driven real estate agent who always seemed busy, always moving, always juggling work and being a mom to her two kids.

But behind that image was a life that had been unbelievably hard from the very beginning. Her parents struggled with drug addiction for years and she was even named after Crystal meth. Both of them died from AIDS-related complications connected to drug use less than 6 months apart when Crystal was only 11 years old.

 And somehow things got even worse after that. A couple of years later she was kidnapped by a convicted sex offender who kept her locked inside a chicken coop and abused her for an extended period of time before she finally managed to escape and move in with relatives. For most people, surviving trauma like that could completely destroy their future.

 But Crystal was determined to build a different life for herself. While working as a flight attendant, she met Steve McDowell, a logistics manager who friends described as kind of a big kid, the type of guy who always wanted to joke around and have fun. Before long, the two got married and tried to build a family together. >> What are you doing today? >> About to jump out of a perfectly good airplane.

>> in a plane. Whose idea was this? >> Steve. >> Steve, your idea? How high are we right now? What does that say? >> 6,000 ft. >> Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Steve, hey, high five. Hey, look, your husband >> can live, too. What a bonus. >> One thing people later admitted was that the happy social media version of their marriage really wasn’t the full story.

Even back when Crystal was still working in aviation, she had cheated on Steve with both men and women and that caused serious problems between them almost from the start. There were periods where she left him completely and at one point she even filed for divorce just months after they got married. Still, after their sons Madden and Maui were born, Crystal told people she wanted to make things work for the kids and try to keep the family together.

Years later, when she turned 37, she left aviation behind and moved into real estate in Baytown, Texas. Her career started taking off, the kids were getting older, and suddenly the cracks in the marriage that had always been there started reopening again. In June of 2017, after 10 years together, Crystal and Steve officially divorced.

Even then, they agreed to continue living under the same roof temporarily while preparing to sell the house, especially because Crystal was renovating a townhouse of her own at the time. Not long after the divorce, Crystal started dating a local jeweler named Paul Hargrave, who had recently gone through a divorce himself.

She kept the relationship pretty private, but friends said they hadn’t seen her this happy in years. It genuinely felt like she was entering a brand new chapter of her life. Her work was thriving, the kids were doing okay, and for the first time in a long while, everything seemed to finally be falling into place.

The night before, Crystal had stayed over at Paul’s house after they went out together. That morning, Paul got into the shower while she packed up and prepared to leave. Security cameras inside and outside the house captured Crystal gathering her belongings and getting into her black Mercedes.

 She planned to pick up the kids from Steve and then head out to several appointments afterward. Before driving away, she texted Paul saying there was basically no traffic that morning and that she might take the kids somewhere later if they felt like going out. She told him to have a good day and called him sweet.

 Paul answered with a message saying he loved her and would always support her. Around 1:00 in the afternoon, he texted her again just to check in and ask if she needed anything. There was no reply. At first, it didn’t seem that strange. Maybe she got caught up with the kids, maybe meetings were taking longer than expected.

 Um things happen. But later that evening, Crystal was supposed to meet up with family members to watch the huge Floyd Mayweather versus Conor McGregor fight together. Paul sent another message saying he was really worried about her and hoped she was okay. Still nothing. She never showed up. Her uncle Jeff, who had helped raise her since childhood, eventually contacted police.

>> Chambers County Sheriff’s Office. >> My niece, no one can get a hold of her. No one has heard from her. And I’m really concerned. >> While investigators were just beginning to piece things together, something enormous suddenly pulled attention and resources away from everything else happening in Texas. For days, grocery stores across the southern part of the state had been almost completely emptied as people rushed to buy food, water, and supplies.

Everyone knew a storm was coming, but what they didn’t fully realize yet was how devastating it would become. Meteorologists had just confirmed it was now officially a Category 4 hurricane. >> This is an ABC News special report. Hurricane Harvey. >> We are coming on the air for breaking news.

 Hurricane Harvey barreling into the Texas coastline as a Category 4 storm with 130 mph winds. It’s the first Category 4 storm to hit the US in over a decade, threatening record rain totals of up to 35 in throughout much of Texas that could render some areas uninhabitable for months. More than 150,000 people at this hour plunged into darkness.

 The president declaring a federal disaster for the state and we are already hearing reports of significant damage, of collapsed buildings, of people perhaps trapped under the rubble. >> When I opened the door, more water rushed in and all of my stuff flew out and like it just kept coming in. All I could grab was my wallet and my phone. That’s all I knew to grab.

>> Formed as a tropical wave near Africa, had transformed into Hurricane Harvey and around 10:00 p.m. on August 25th, it slammed directly into Texas. In those final hours before landfall, people were still underestimating how bad things could get. Then the destruction began. Winds stronger than 130 mph ripped through communities.

Massive flooding forced more than 30,000 people out of their homes. 57 tornadoes touched down across six states, and more than 100 people died in the United States alone. Harvey became the deadliest hurricane to hit Texas since 1919, and the deadliest hurricane in America since Hurricane Sandy back in 2012. As conditions worsened, Crystal’s family and friends became even more terrified.

But deep down, they already felt this wasn’t just a storm-related disappearance. Something else had happened to her, and they couldn’t shake that feeling. >> Uh it has been days since the mysterious disappearance of a Houston area realtor. Crystal McDowell was last heard from August 25th, shortly before Harvey hit Houston.

>> On the third day of the investigation, Crystal’s cousin Jade received a message saying someone had spotted Crystal’s Mercedes sitting in the parking lot of a Motel 6. Attached to the message was a photo showing the car partially submerged in floodwater, but the license plate was still visible. >> See this black car right here? This Mercedes? The cops were here busting in doors to find out where this lady is.

>> Crystal McDowell’s car was found submerged in a Motel 6 parking lot about 13 miles from her home. Friends and family don’t believe her absence is flood-related. >> Even with dangerous flooding everywhere, investigators made their way to the motel. The car looked abandoned in a very strange way. It had been carelessly parked, the doors were unlocked, and the keys had been left inside the ignition.

 Detectives immediately felt something was off. It almost looked staged, like whoever left the vehicle there wanted someone to steal it. Sheriff Brian Hawthorne later explained that they didn’t believe Crystal had parked it herself. The vehicle was left open with the keys visible, almost like bait. Investigators pulled the Mercedes out of the flood water using an airboat and sent it for forensic testing hoping the water hadn’t destroyed every possible clue.

>> Now a lot of people are wondering if the bizarre timing of her disappearance was the perfect storm to cover up a crime. >> This morning the desperate search for a Houston real estate agent and mother of two Crystal McDowell posting on Facebook “Stay safe out there.” the night before she was last seen. According to her boyfriend Paul Hargrave, this home security video shows her the next morning heading out of his house and getting into her car on her way to pick up her kids from her ex-husband who lives about 20 minutes

away. >> It these messages Basically that the roads were clear of what to do in preparation of the storm. >> Hargrave showed us his last text message exchange with McDowell. Her last text message to Hargrave was “And you are so sweet.” >> She wouldn’t just get up and leave her kids. She wouldn’t She wouldn’t do that.

So I think something’s uh horribly wrong. >> I think that there was probably some animosity between boyfriends and husbands and the husband probably might think the boyfriend had something to do with it or the boyfriend might think the husband had something to do with it. >> As detectives dug deeper, they focused on three men closest to Crystal, her boyfriend Paul, her uncle Jeff and her ex-husband Steve.

Both Paul and Jeff appeared publicly in emotional media interviews begging for answers. >> And our main objective is just to get Crystal back home. >> I uh hope and pray that you know she’s okay and she’s going to come back to us. >> What do you think happened to her? >> I’m not sure. I We’re just trying to um focus on um on finding her and um assisting the police with whatever we can assist them with.

>> At one point, investigators became frustrated with Jeff because he and other relatives entered Crystal’s townhouse and started going through her belongings, which technically could have interfered with evidence. Jeff insisted he was just desperate to help. Paul explained that on the morning Crystal disappeared, he had been in the shower and never actually saw her leave the house.

 Security footage backed up his story. But detectives did find one thing suspicious. It took several days before the surveillance footage reached police. For reasons nobody really understood, Paul gave the footage to the media before handing it over to investigators. Still, from everything police could determine, Crystal and Paul seemed genuinely happy together.

Just 2 days before disappearing, she posted online saying she had never been happier in her life and that God had been so good to her. Then there was Steve. Steve told investigators Crystal had texted him saying she was on her way over and asking if he had enough water because she might stay there with the kids during the storm.

Since everyone was preparing for severe weather, that message didn’t immediately raise suspicion. But then Steve showed police another message supposedly sent from Crystal to her uncle Jeff saying she planned to grab the kids and drive to Dallas. Jeff later confirmed they had briefly discussed leaving town because of the hurricane, but Crystal never officially told him she was actually going.

 Friends and relatives described Steve as increasingly obsessive after the divorce. Crystal’s aunt said he would have done anything Crystal asked of him, but his behavior had become unhealthy and overwhelming. One friend described him as manipulative and self-centered, someone who always needed control and wanted things done immediately.

According to people close to Crystal, she had started feeling trapped in the relationship for years. She was the primary breadwinner while Steve constantly spent money creating major financial pressure on her. Back in 2008, Crystal had once tried to divorce Steve before changing her mind after he threatened suicide.

Years later, during another separation, she even called 911 in panic after Steve disappeared with the children while making similar threats again. So, when Crystal told him in early 2017 that she truly wanted a divorce this time, people close to him said he was devastated. His older daughter from another marriage, Krista, later explained that Steve still deeply loved Crystal.

 Even after she vanished, he continued wearing his wedding ring. Krista described their relationship as unstable and toxic, saying they constantly drove each other crazy. She also noticed disturbing behavior from her father after the breakup. He changed his social media profile picture to the Grim Reaper and updated his Facebook banner to read in loving memory.

 At one point, Crystal invited her new boyfriend, Paul, on a family cruise that Steve had originally planned to attend, too. Crystal eventually asked Steve not to go because it would be too uncomfortable. What nobody realized was that Steve had secretly planned to propose to her again during that trip.

 He simply refused to accept the divorce. Despite all of that, detectives initially described Steve as cooperative, polite, and eager to help. He spent hours at the police station every single day. Both he and Paul voluntarily agreed to polygraph tests. Steve failed his. Paul said he never received official results, but investigators aggressively accused him of hiding something.

Of course, polygraph tests aren’t legally reliable, so none of that alone could prove anything. Crystal’s family hired a private investigator, Jeff offered a $10,000 reward, and Paul added another 5,000. Police publicly stated they were now treating Crystal’s disappearance as a possible homicide case.

 Sheriff Hawthorne made it clear that Hurricane Harvey was not believed to be responsible for what happened to her. Paul agreed completely, saying Crystal would never willingly abandon her children. Former FBI agents assisting the case also pointed out there was no evidence she had been depressed, suicidal, or planning to disappear voluntarily.

 But between the chaos of the hurricane and the complicated web of people surrounding her, the investigation slowed almost to a standstill. >> We’ve got a handful of folks that need to be interviewed. What else do you guys see that’s up on this board that we need to get done because this stuff’s going to start drying up on us if we don’t jump on it.

>> Paul is just soaking up to all the attention. >> Yeah, he is and he’s >> He loves it. >> And he’s best buddies with Uncle Jeff, too. That’s what I don’t understand. It’s getting more and more interesting about Uncle Jeff, isn’t it? >> Days passed with absolutely nothing. No phone activity, no bank transactions, no sign she was alive anywhere.

 The district attorney, Cheryl Leak, eventually admitted she believed Crystal was already dead. Meanwhile, Steve, Paul, and Jeff continued accusing each other in different ways. Paul suspected Steve. Jeff distrusted Paul. Steve claimed he knew nothing except that Crystal never arrived to pick up the children.

 Investigators eventually returned to the area near the motel where Crystal’s car had been discovered. This time they gained access to surveillance footage from nearby buildings and businesses. According to the footage, someone abandoned Crystal’s Mercedes there at 6:37 in the morning on August 26th, 2017.

 The person walking away from the vehicle looked similar to Steve, but the footage quality was too poor to confirm it. Then detectives found cameras from a nearby gas station. Roughly 5 hours after the Mercedes had been left at the motel, another car pulled into the station. A man got out and shoved something deep into a trash can, almost aggressively forcing it down where nobody could easily see it.

 This time investigators were confident about the identity. It was Steve McDowell. After tossing the object away, he lingered nearby and repeatedly glanced toward the motel parking lot. Detectives believed he was checking whether Crystal’s car was still there. Their theory was that whoever abandoned the Mercedes had intentionally left the keys inside hoping someone would steal it.

 If not for the hurricane and flooding, that probably would have happened. Unfortunately, the trash can had flooded, too, and whatever Steve discarded was gone forever. Later, when police visited Steve’s house, they noticed a bicycle. Steve claimed he had gone to Walmart that morning. Investigators reviewed Walmart surveillance footage and found video of a man resembling Steve wearing a hooded sweatshirt purchasing a bicycle with cash before riding it through the rain near the location where Crystal’s car had been abandoned.

 Still, it was all circumstantial evidence, and they needed more. Steve denied being the man on the bike, and without a clear facial image or traceable payment, investigators had to back off temporarily. At that point, Crystal had been missing for 10 days. Eventually, the rain finally eased, and floodwaters began pulling back, allowing search and rescue teams to properly access areas that had been impossible to reach earlier.

>> Angelica, I know they’ve been looking for her for weeks now. What can you tell us? >> Well, we checked in with them. They say there is no movement on her bank account or her passport. The sheriff here says that the search area is in West Chambers County and in Baytown Baytown, rather. They say the thinking is that she’s still in this area.

>> Do I think there’s potential foul play involved in it? Yes, I do. >> And with each passing day, Sheriff Hawthorne says that concern grows. Crystal McDowell was last heard from on Friday, August 25th, through a text message to her uncle. >> They didn’t meet uh about a billboard her boyfriend had put up for her, and that was it.

 That was the last time I heard from her. >> He immediately reached out for help, and then Hurricane Harvey slammed into the area. Right now, they’re combing through surveillance videos from businesses and personal surveillance videos from homes. Loved ones say McDowell has been living in the Legends Bay subdivision with her ex-husband and two small children, but had moved on with a new boyfriend.

>> She was on top of the world. She was the happy She had said herself she was the happiest she had ever been in her life. >> And because of that, they don’t believe she would have left on her own. And the sheriff says they’re looking at several persons of interest, and he says he’s confident that answers could be coming soon.

 Live in Chambers County, I’m Angelica Alvarez for 13 Eyewitness News. >> Paul and Jeff actively helped with search efforts. Steve did not. Prosecutors made the decision to remove Madden and Maui from Steve’s home and place them with Crystal’s aunt, Cindy. Investigators believe Steve was emotionally collapsing, and they hoped losing custody of the children might finally push him into telling the truth.

Every day he came into the station looking worse, exhausted, pale, barely holding himself together. When detectives informed him the children were now with Cindy, he nearly fainted. He said he wanted to go home, but promised he would return the next morning and finally tell the truth. That night, Steve texted his daughter Krista, asking her to come see him because, in his words, they might never see each other again.

 Around 3:00 in the morning, she arrived and directly asked him whether he had anything to do with Crystal’s disappearance. At first, he repeatedly denied it. But hours later, he quietly admitted investigators had told him they might reduce his punishment if he revealed where Crystal’s body was located. Krista immediately replied that he didn’t know where the body was.

 Then Steve softly answered, “What if I do?” After saying that, he looked away and started crying. Eventually, Steve made a deal. He agreed to confess and lead police to Crystal’s body if prosecutors removed the death penalty as a possible sentence and allowed him one final visit with his children. Authorities agreed. >> My understanding from our communication was that you were kind of ready to be honest about some things.

>> I loved her. I’d do anything in my whole life for her and my kids. >> Steve confessed that he and Crystal had argued that morning after she told him she no longer loved him. According to him, he snapped. He grabbed her from behind and strangled her in a burst of rage. He insisted the killing had not been planned beforehand.

>> Did that happen when she told you she didn’t love you anymore? >> Yeah, when she told me she didn’t want to be with you and then you did anything? >> Let me see here. >> Well, I already told you this. >> Okay. >> I think I did that. >> Chokehold or something? Did she say anything when that was going on or did she fight or what what happened? >> She was just staring at her.

>> How did you eventually know that she was no longer alive? >> She stopped moving. >> Afterward, he covered her face with a plastic bag, wrapped her body in a blanket, and placed her inside the trunk of her own car. >> I covered her face with a bag. >> And then you put her in the car? >> Like that or put her in the trash bag too.

>> He dumped her body in a marshy area and abandoned the Mercedes hoping someone would steal it. He later said, “I didn’t want to kill her. I love her. I would give anything to bring her back.” Just over 2 weeks after Crystal disappeared, investigators finally found her body. Steve personally led them directly to it.

>> Today at 2:45 p.m. Crystal’s body was discovered and Steven Wayne McDowell, 44, has been arrested, charged with murder. >> Detectives later admitted that without Steve’s confession, Crystal’s remains might never have been discovered. Honestly, if her disappearance had been reported even 1 day later after Hurricane Harvey completely overwhelmed the region, the investigation might have gone in a completely different direction.

The Mercedes probably would have been stolen and investigators never would have been able to trace events through surveillance footage. And who knows if the case would have ever been solved at all. >> New twist in that murder case in Houston, a mother of two vanishing just hours before Hurricane Harvey hit.

 Now, her ex-husband is under arrest. >> Steve McDowell heads to court today charged with first-degree murder. Not only do police say they found Crystal McDowell’s body, but in a surprising turn, they say her ex-husband confessed. >> Now, police say after questioning her ex-husband for days, Steve McDowell tearfully admitted to murdering the mother of his two children.

>> Once I got that call, I was in a state of shock and denial. So, just trying to deal with it the best way I can. I had my suspicions from day one. I can’t say that I was honestly that surprised given the arguments they had the week prior of her missing. >> Wearing shackles, Steven McDowell seemed to hold back tears as he appeared in court for the first time.

>> Everything in the investigation leads to a city acted alone. >> Police finally located the 37-year-old’s body in a wooded area Saturday. The hurricane hampered the search effort. McDowell’s uncle, Jeff Walters, had reported her missing. >> Her parents died when she was young, and I guess I’m the closest one to her in the family.

She’s like my daughter. >> Her autopsy was performed yesterday, and right now, we still don’t have a motive. Charlie? >> Oh, my. Thanks. >> 44-year-old Steve McDowell was charged with first-degree murder. His defense argued the killing happened in the heat of passion, which under Texas law can lead to a lighter sentence than premeditated murder.

If that argument succeeded, Steve could have received only a few years in prison. Steve claimed the incident began as a spontaneous hug that spiraled out of control. Prosecutors strongly disagreed. They argued he acted intentionally, driven by anger over Crystal leaving him, jealousy toward Paul, and resentment over financial issues.

 During trial, prosecutors called the couple’s daughter, Maui, as a witness. In recorded testimony, she described hearing intense arguments between her parents about Crystal being involved with another man. According to Maui, Crystal said she planned to leave and take the children with her. Steve allegedly shoved her onto the bed and told her she wasn’t going anywhere.

 Maui testified that she watched her father physically attack her mother. She remembered him looking at her angrily while Crystal tried to call for help. During the struggle, Maui saw Steve covering Crystal’s mouth and nose with his hands while she struggled to breathe. Afterward, Steve ordered the child to stay in her room and never tell anyone what she had witnessed.

 The heat of passion defense failed completely. Steve McDowell was convicted and sentenced to 50 years in prison. He will not become eligible for parole until 2042. Later, Paul said he believed Steve absolutely knew what he was doing. He thought Steve understood the approaching hurricane could help destroy evidence and cover his tracks.

Paul also admitted he carried guilt, feeling like his relationship with Crystal may have influenced Steve’s actions. After the trial, charity fundraisers were organized to help support the children’s future. One bakery campaign donated 100% of proceeds from a dessert called the Crystal Special toward the kids’ education fund.

 Jeff later said Crystal was a light that would never go out. And her best friend Bronze admitted the hardest part was realizing she would never again receive another text from Crystal, hear her voice on the phone, or watch their children celebrate birthdays together. The strange thing about life is that most important moments happen while we assume tomorrow will look exactly the same as today.

 The same people, the same birthdays, the same holidays. The same future plans sitting comfortably ahead of us. And because of that, we rarely stop to imagine what life would feel like without those people around. Until one day, suddenly, they’re gone.