The upcoming documentary dives deep into the disappearance of a schoolgirl.
Netflix has released details of a new factual show exploring the media coverage and shifting public interest around “one of the most closely watched unsolved missing-persons cases of the century”.
The documentary attempts to find answers in the disappearance of Alissa Turney, who vanished in 2001.
The 17-year-old went missing on the last day of her junior year of high school in Phoenix, Arizona.
Alissa’s case was initially labelled as a runaway, and a missing-persons investigation was not launched straight away.
To this day, Turney’s whereabouts remain unknown. The documentary comes from the producers of American Murder: Gabby Petito. Alissa’s parents divorced when she was three years old and her mother, Barbara, remarried a man named Michael Turney.
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Michael, who had three children of his own, adopted Alissa and her older brother John. Michael and Barbara then went on to have a child together- Sarah.
Tragically, Barbara died after a cancer battle when Alissa was just nine years old, leaving Michael to raise all six children.
At the time of her disappearance, Alissa, who had a boyfriend, lived with Michael and Sarah and worked at the fast-food restaurant Jack in the Box.
On the last day of her junior year at Paradise Valley High School, Michael had picked her up from school at lunchtime and she had allegedly stormed off after an argument.
Later, he and Sarah found a note in her bedroom, saying she was running away to California, but she had left her phone and other personal items behind.
She had been planning to go to a party that night, but never attended.
A week after she disappeared, Michael said he received a phone call from a California number where Alissa swore at him before hanging up.
In 2008, Michael claimed Alissa had been killed by two “assassins” from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
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However, the spotlight then shone on Michael as at the same time, detectives were raiding Michael’s home when they found explosive devices and firearms amongst other weapons.
They also found a manifesto outlining his plans for a rampage against the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers building in Phoenix.
Turney admitted to unlawful possession of unregistered destructive devices and was sentenced to 10 years in jail, being released in August 2017.
In August 2020, he was indicted and charged by a Maricopa County grand jury on second-degree murder charges relating to Alissa’s disappearance.
However, all charges were dismissed in July 2023 and Alissa’s body has not yet been found.