Hailey Dunn

Who was Hailey Dunn?

Hailey Dunn was born on August 28, 1997, to Clint and Billie Jean Dunn. She grew up in Colorado City, Texas, and was involved in many sports and other extracurricular activities. Hailey attended High School at Colorado City High School. By eighth grade, Hailey played on the volleyball, basketball, softball, and cheerleading teams. When Hailey was ten years old, her parents, Clint and Billie Dunn separated.

After the separation, Hailey and her older brother David went to live with Billie Jean and her new boyfriend, Shawn Adkins. However, Clint lived only a short walk away so that they could visit every day. Hailey never missed an opportunity to hang out with him. In 2010 she spent most of Christmas and Boxing day with her father, Clint.

Hailey Dunn is Reported Missing

The following day on December 27, 2010, Shawn left for work at 5.30 am, and Billie Jean left an hour later. As Billie Jean left, she checked on Hailey, who was sound asleep in her bed. Hailey was to head over to her dad’s house when she woke up as Billie Jean and Shawn would be at work all day.

That day Shawn got into a big fight with his boss and quit on the spot. Hailey visited her father, Clint, every single day without fail. However, on December 27, 2010, she never visited her father. When Billie Jean Dunn got home from work that day, she noticed Hailey wasn’t home. She asked Shawn if he knew where she was, and he told her that she had left to visit her father and would stay at her friend Mary’s house that night.

The following day Hailey was still not home, so Billie Dunn phoned Mary’s parents. What Mary’s parents told Billie was enough to make her heart drop. Hailey had not spent the night there. They had not seen her at all. In Hailey’s room, nothing was missing. If she had stayed at a friend’s house, she would have packed some clothes and her iPod.

On December 28, 2010, Billie Jean filed a missing person report for her daughter. Initially, the police didn’t take the report seriously, classifying it as a runaway. However, Hailey Dunn’s case was updated to a missing child case a little while later.

The Search for Hailey Dunn Begins

Clint was distraught and spent every second looking for her. A level of concern that Billie and Shawn did not share. Billie and Shawn did not want to partake in the searches. Saying it was too traumatic for them. On the 31st, just four days after Hailey went missing, Billie and Shawn through a new years eve party. When asked about it, Billie says she didn’t even realize it was new years eve and that she had family and friends over to support her. Clint couldn’t understand how they could celebrate the new year when their daughter was missing.

On January 4, 2011, more than a hundred billboards were set up through Texas and other states. The case was taken to a new national level. Billie and Shawn were both asked to take polygraph tests. Shawn walked out of the test twice, and on the third attempt, he only completed stage one. During the test, when asked where Hailey might be, he told police Scurry County, and when asked who the police should be looking at as suspects, he replied both of us. The test showed that these two answers were truthful, but he refused to explain further and walked out.

Police Investigate Shawn Adkins and Billie Jean Dunn

Volunteers spent months searching Colorado City and surrounding areas. Police obtained bank and cell phone records from Billie Jean Dunn and Shawn Adkins. Shawn’s previous place of work was also looked at.

Investigators learned that on the day Hailey went missing, Shawn showed up for work at 6 am and brought a drink before handing in his uniform and quitting on the spot. Then at ten past 6, he drove away. Shawn had told investigators that after this, he went to his mother’s house in Big Spring to use her computer to sign on for employment benefits. His cell phone records, however, show a different story.

At 6. 35 am, Shawn’s cell phone pinged off a tower in Colorado City, 50 miles away from Big Spring. His cell phone did ping in Big Spring, but not until 9.30 am. More cell phone pings also put him in the area of Scurry County that day. Shawn told investigators that he was back in Colorado City by 3 pm and saw and spoke to Hailey Dunn for the last time at 3.15 pm before she left to visit her father. However, his cell phone location proves this impossible.

Hailey Dunn’s older brother informed investigators that at around 4 pm, he found the door was locked and had to enter the home through the window. When he entered, he said he saw Shawn standing in the hallway, looking like a deer in headlights.

Detectives obtained a warrant and searched Billie and Shawn’s home. Upon searching their home, they discovered multiple articles printed detailing serial killers and family murders. Billie told them this was just something they were interested in.

On January 12, 2011, Shawn was listed as a person of interest in the case. He denied any involvement. On February 24, over 1000 images of child pornography were found in Shawn’s possession. However, arrests were not made regarding these findings, but it was later presented as evidence to a jury.

On March 17, 2011, the police went to Billie and Shawn’s home to speak with Shawn. When they arrived, Billie told police he wasn’t there, but they entered using a warrant and found Shawn hiding inside the house. Billie was arrested and charged with lying to the police. She was sentenced to a suspended 90-year jail term and a year of probation for lying about Shawn’s whereabouts. Shawn and Billie Jean broke up in 2012 and went their separate ways.

Three Years Later, Hailey Dunn Was Found

On March 16, 2013, a hiker found human remains on land that belonged to Shawn Adkin’s family in Scurry County. It took over a month for authorities to identify the body as Hailey Dunn’s.

It wasn’t until 2017 that Hailey Dunn’s body was released to her mother, and she was able to be laid to rest.

Shawn is Arrested

In June 2021, Shawn Casey Adkins was indicted for the 2010 murder of his former live-in girlfriend’s daughter, Hailey Dunn. His arrest came after DNA samples linked him to the murder. He was indicted for committing homicide, intentionally and knowingly concealing a human corpse with intent to impair its availability as evidence in any subsequent investigation or official proceeding related to the offense. The 13-year-old girl had been stricken on the head with an unknown object causing her death. 

Shawn Adkins remains jailed at Mitchell County jail on a $1,250,000 bond.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Where is Shawn Adkins now?

A. On December 30, 2021, Shawn was indicated for committing homicide, intentionally and knowingly concealing a human corpse with intent to impair its availability as evidence in any subsequent investigation or official proceeding related to the offense. Shawn Adkins remains jailed at Mitchell County jail on a $1,250,000 bond

Q. Who killed Hailey Dunn?

A. Her mother’s live-in boyfriend, Shawn Casey Adkins.