Five years later, Dunn case still under investigation

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  • Billie Jean Dunn, the mother of Hailey Dunn, sits in the living room of her Colorado City home during a 2011 Snyder Daily News interview.
    Billie Jean Dunn, the mother of Hailey Dunn, sits in the living room of her Colorado City home during a 2011 Snyder Daily News interview.
  • Connie Jones, Hailey’s grandmother, was consoled by friends after Scurry County Sheriff Trey Wilson announced the remains found at Lake J.B. Thomas were her those of her granddaughter.
    Connie Jones, Hailey’s grandmother, was consoled by friends after Scurry County Sheriff Trey Wilson announced the remains found at Lake J.B. Thomas were her those of her granddaughter.
  • Joey Roland tied a stuffed animal on the Hwy. 208 bridge in Dunn days after the teen’s disappearance.
    Joey Roland tied a stuffed animal on the Hwy. 208 bridge in Dunn days after the teen’s disappearance.
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Five years ago, Colorado City teenager Hailey Dunn was reported missing by her mother, Billie Jean Dunn.
On Dec. 27, 2010, Dunn was last seen walking from her mother’s home in Colorado City to a friend’s home. She never arrived.
On March 16, 2013, the remains of the teenager were found at Lake J.B. Thomas in Scurry County.
Since that time, the Scurry County Sheriff’s Office has been the lead investigating team on the case. While nothing new can be reported by Sheriff Trey Wilson, the case made news this month when Dunn’s murder was the first to be featured by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the Texas Ranger Unsolved Crimes Investigation Team’s public awareness program highlighting one unsolved case each month.
Anyone with information about the case may contact the Missing Persons Clearinghouse at (800) 346-3243 or submit a tip through the Texas Rangers’ unsolved homicides web page.
On April 26, 2013, Wilson confirmed the remains found at Lake J.B. Thomas were those of Dunn. He made the announcement in front of Dunn’s family, searchers and the media.
At the April press conference, Connie Jones, Hailey Dunn’s grandmother, spoke out.
“I had a feeling all along that she wasn’t kidnapped, she was murdered,” Jones said. “When they found the remains, I knew it was Hailey.”
Wilson has said that Shawn Adkins, the former live-in boyfriend of Billie Jean Dunn, remains the only “named suspect.” Law enforcement officials in Mitchell County named Adkins a suspect on Jan. 14, 2011.
“I think Shawn Adkins had something to do with it, just from what Hailey used to tell me about him. She didn’t like him, didn’t trust him and she was frightened of him,” Jones said following the April 2013 press conference.
Hailey Dunn reportedly was last seen alive by Adkins on Dec. 27, 2010. On that same day, Adkins left Colorado City for work at WSI Cased Hole Specialists in Snyder.
According to reports, Adkins quit his job that day and went to his mother’s house in Big Spring. Billie Dunn also left Colorado City to go to work at Cogdell Memorial Hospital.
From 6:35 a.m. to 6:56 a.m., police reported that cell phone records showed Adkins’ phone was pinging in Colorado City.
Police reports also stated that David Dunn, Hailey’s older brother, returned home and found the front door locked. He entered the Chestnut Street home through a window and observed Adkins standing in the hallway with a “deer-in-the-headlights” look, the report stated.
Later in the day, Adkins and Billie Dunn were in Snyder and made two withdrawals from an ATM — $60 and $80. Billie Dunn later admitted to investigators that the money was used to purchase illegal narcotics from a person in Scurry County.
On Dec. 28, Billie Dunn reported her daughter missing to Colorado City police. Searchers from throughout West Texas began looking for the teenager in Scurry, Mitchell, Howard and Nolan counties.
On Jan. 14, 2011, Abilene law enforcement searched a landfill with cadaver dogs. Two hits were reported, but later ruled to be skin cells from a discarded cast.
Also during the initial investigation, officials said evidence found in Snyder and Colorado City landfills was not confirmed to be related to the case.
Billie Dunn was interviewed by media throughout the state and appeared on CNN programs. On Jan. 31, 2011 she held a press conference and voiced her frustration toward investigators.
“It seems there is no urgency to get it done. (Hailey) needs to be found,” she said.
In late February 2011, according to documents released by the 32nd Judicial District, pornographic images and images of deviant acts were found on a computer taken from Adkins’ mother’s home in Big Spring and a memory stick seized at Billie Dunn’s home.