I really need to file a report on somebody. What exactly happened? I broke up with this guy a couple of days ago and and he’s telling me that it’s going to kill me and that it’s going to be remembered for a long time. 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 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 my the investigator over the case right now out of Scary 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 that doesn’t need to walk the street for 20 years. 13-year-old Haley Dunn came from the small town of Colorado City in Texas.
With a population of just under 4,000 people, the area Haley was from had a particularly tight community. Haley was described by her dad, Clint, as a tomboy that loved glittery and pretty things. Her mom, Billy Jean Dunn, said she always remembers her laugh, big smile, and how funny she was. She was a bright and energetic teenager.
Haley’s friends said she loved to joke around and she was never afraid to speak her mind. She was a cheerleader, a saxophone player, and a competitive and talented athlete. loving school, her friends, and her teachers. By the time she reached the eighth grade, she was playing for the volleyball, basketball, and softball teams.
Her parents would separate when she was 10, and Haley and her older brother, David, went to live with their mother and her boyfriend, Sha Atkins, on Chestnut Street in Colorado City. Haley and her dad, Clint, were especially close. Clint lived just across the road from them, and Haley would swing by his house every day.
Whether it be just popping in to say hi before school or staying over for dinner, she never missed an opportunity to spend time with him. Christmas Day 2010. Haley’s grandmother, Connie, said that Haley was in great spirits that day. She was excited about the gift she had received that year, especially her new iPod, and spent most of Christmas and Boxing Day with her father.
During the evening on Boxing Day, David, Haley’s 16-year-old brother, went to a friend’s house for a sleepover. Haley stayed at home and played video games into the night. The following morning, December 27th, Sha left the work at 5:30 a.m. Eye also left about an hour later to start a 12-hour shift.
She said she checked in on Haley, who was sound asleep in her bed. Everything appeared to be fine. Illy said that Haley would be home alone all day as she and Sha would be out at work, and she assumed that when Haley got up, she would simply head over to her dad’s house as she normally would. Ulie also left her cell phone at home so the children could use it if they needed to.
Shawn arrived at his job in Snyder at around 6:00 a.m. He then said he got into a bad fight with his boss 10 minutes after he arrived and ended up quitting on the spot before heading to his mother’s house in Big Spring and then driving back to Colorado City just before 3:00 p.m. Haley’s father, Clint, was used to seeing his daughter everyday, but on December 27th, Haley didn’t knock his door, and he didn’t hear from her all day.
At around 2:00 that afternoon, a text was sent from the cell phone left at the house to a friend of Haley’s saying, “WY, what you doing?” This friend never replied. Later that evening, Shawn picked Billy up from work. Billy said that when she got home, she realized Haley wasn’t in the house. She asked Sha if he had seen her. He said that Haley had left the house on foot to go to her father’s and then had plans to stay the night at her friend Mary Beth’s house.
But Clint confirmed this definitely wasn’t the case. That was my day and then I came home uh around I guess like 3:00. I got there and Haley was there watching TV in the living room and I went into me and Billy’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 Billy 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 Snider 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 at? Uh what time Haley was leaving? 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 a 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 to not call cuz she usually does that though cuz she does stay the night at a friend’s house.
She’ll be back the next morning. The next morning came and went, and Haley was still not home. Billy decided to phone Mary Beth’s parents, who confirmed they hadn’t seen Haley at all, and she definitely didn’t spend the night with them. Nothing was missing from Haley’s room, and certain things everyone would have expected her to take if she was staying at someone’s house were all still there.
Illy started going door to door, asking everyone if they had seen her daughter. but no one had. Illy said she was scared that maybe someone had driven past and snatched her while she was walking to a store. And she even wondered if maybe Haley had been in a bad mood, which resulted in her storming out of the house that day.
A missing person’s report was filed on the afternoon of the 28th of December. Investigators initially classed Haley’s disappearance as a runaway, but a short while later, her case was reclassified as a missing child case. This was a decision that the police would later receive immense backlash for making. The community rallied around the family and sprung into action to try and find Haley.
The media quickly ran with the story, too. Clint was devastated and distraught at his daughter’s disappearance, and he spent every waking moment looking for her. He rifled through dumpsters, searched the streets and alleyways, and anywhere else he could think of. People reported that this level of concern was not shared by Billy and Sha. As the searches expanded into more vast and open areas, reporters recalled that Billy didn’t want to partake in these searches.
Billy herself said that while she was happy to hand out flyers and talk to the media, she couldn’t deal with looking in wooded areas or fields because that made her think they were looking for her daughter’s body. Searching these more rural areas was also something that Clint struggled to do. Illy’s boyfriend Sha, however, didn’t even hand out flyers, let alone participate in the searches, and he was very far removed from the investigation.
Numerous people were questioned, including registered sex offenders in the area, but everyone was quickly ruled out. Wednesday, December 29th, Clint and Billy’s homes were searched and a day later, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children got involved in the case. Dogs managed to track Haley sent throughout the neighborhood, which led them to a nearby motel.
But the staff there did not recall seeing Haley, and she wasn’t seen on any of the surveillance footage either. A thorough search of all 24 suites in the building failed to produce any evidence that Haley had ever been there. Illy and Sha threw a New Year’s Eve party on the 31st, just 4 days after Haley was reported missing, and many people were confused at the timing of this.
Billy said she didn’t even realize it was New Year’s Eve and that the reason that family and friends came over was to support her. But Clint had a different take. He said that he stood on his porch with binoculars looking for his daughter, watching Billy and Sha party into the night. “I don’t see how you can just celebrate the new year when your daughter is missing,” he said.
“That should be the last thing on your mind.” As the new year rolled around, the close community entered it with a somber and subdued feeling. With still no trace, sighting of, or word from Haley Dunn, the lengthy and painstaking searches continued. Well, Lane and Victor were going into day nine in the search for Haley Dunn, and there’s still no sign of her.
When I visited with the Dunn family this morning, I saw Texas Rangers scouring through Haley’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 Haley. Her mother says it’s frustrating, but she remains hopeful. that 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 on to 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 Haley Dunn. On January 4th, 2011, Texas Rangers and the FBI came on board to look into Haley’s disappearance. More than 100 billboards featuring Haley’s picture and information was set up throughout Texas and other states.
Hades case gained even more attention when Nancy Grace reported on it and interviewed Billy Gene Dunn. This took the case to a new national level. Haley’s case was on national television and Nancy Grace seemed to be a little hard on you. What was that like hearing her question Billy like that? Uh, I heard about it.
I wasn’t there when Billy 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 Haley 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 Haley. Oh, 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 and 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, Haley, and Billy 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 following day, January the 5th, Ilia asked Sha to leave the home. This was not an uncommon thing as the pair frequently rled, often making up a few days later.
But as the investigation was now deepening, more about Haley’s home life started to come out. Reporters said that although her home life appeared to be simple and carefree from the outside, behind closed doors, it was far more complex and difficult for the 13year-old and her brother. One reporter said, “We got word about a lot of alcohol, a lot of partying from her mother, and so you get the sense that maybe home life was a little harder than what they let on.
” Billy Gene Dunn and Sha Atkins are being on the police’s radar long before Haley disappeared. Around 10 months before Haley was last seen, calls were made to police regarding the domestic disturbance between Billy and Sha. The pair both called the police to report each other. And when officers arrived at the house, the couple were argumentative and combative.
I really need to file a report on somebody. What exactly happened? I broke up with this guy a couple of days ago and and he’s telling me that he’s going to kill me and that it’s going to be remembered for a long time. I got a situation on my hands. I have a ex-girlfriend. She’s taking me a whole bunch of anxiety pill that I take.
Well, I guess she got them from me. She said she like took a bunch of her pain pills, too. And she’s saying that she wants to die because she called the report on me, you know, for threats and stuff like that. She was just upset about it. She’s just, you know, not being herself right now. Threatening to kill her.
Damn it. Billy done. Oh god, he’s been going all day. All right, I’ll go up there. Shortly after this, as was very common, Billy and Sha patched things up and Sha moved back into the home. Billy herself said that Haley didn’t see Sha as a stepdad or father figure and they were more friends than anything else.
According to others close to Haley, she did not like Sha at all and felt afraid of him. Things that Haley 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 me. 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.
She told her grandmother, Connie, that she would often see Sha’s shadow in the middle of the night outside her bedroom door and she was terrified that he would enter her room as she slept. Detectives asked Billy and Sha to enter undertake polygraph tests. They both had to retake the tests due to being under the influence of narcotics at the time of the first one.
But Billy said this was simply an anti-anxiety medication that had been prescribed to her by her doctor. Sha Atkins walked out of the test at least twice, and on the third attempt, he only completed stage one. He said he felt it had become a witch hunt, and they were trying to force him into admitting to something he hadn’t done. But he did give the detective something.
When he was asked about where he thought Haley might be, Sha responded, “In Scurry County, when asked who the police should be looking at as suspects, he simply replied, “Both of us.” The test did show these two answers were truthful, but he refused to explain any further before walking out again and not completing stage two.
The results of Billy’s second polygraph test and stage one of Shaun’s both showed that deception was indicated on several 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 Haley in case she’s listening. Um, wherever you are, Haley, 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 Haley, 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 Haley’s disappearance or wonder 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.
Over the coming months, vigils and searches continued throughout Colorado City, but the volunteers were often hindered for weeks at a time due to the freezing temperatures. Colorado City police then held a press conference. They said they were now investigating the case as if Haley was under duress or deceased.
Early into the investigation, cell phone and bank records belonging to both Sha Atkins and Billy Jean Dunn were analyzed. Sha’s previous place of work was also looked at. It turned out that Sha hadn’t been fired from his job after all. His boss told investigators that Sha turned up for work at 6:00 a.m. on December 27th and bought a drink before handing in his uniform and quitting on the spot. And at 10 6, he drove away.
Shawn later admitted he had lied about being fired to try and avoid an argument with Billy Jean. Shawn told detectives that he went straight from Snder to his mother’s house in Big Spring to use her computer to sign on to unemployment benefits. But cell phone records showed this was simply not possible.
Between 6:35 and 6:56 a.m., Sha’s phone pinged off of a tower in Colorado City, which was almost 50 m away from Big Spring. The data did put him in Big Spring, but not until between the hours of 9:38 a.m. and 2:40 p.m. More cell phone tower pings also put Shawn in the area of Scurry County that day. Shawn told police that after visiting his mother’s house, he was back in Colorado City by 3:00 p.m.
and saw and spoke to Haley for the last time at 3:15 before she left to go to her father’s. However, more mobile data confirmed that Sha was still in Big Spring at 2:40 p.m., which would have left him with just a 20inute window to make a 40-m drive. David, Haley’s brother, said when he returned home on Decemb
er 27th at around 4 p.m., he found the door was locked. After knocking for a while to try and get in, he managed to enter the home through a window. David found Sha standing in the hallway looking like a deer in headlights. In an affidavit, Haley’s uncle recalled a conversation he had had with Sha regarding her disappearance. Her uncle said he couldn’t believe anyone would ever want to hurt a child.
Sha replied, “It’s like killing a deer.” Ank records showed that after Shawn picked up Billy from work at around 6:00 p.m., the couple stopped at two ATM machines where Billy withdrew a total of $140. Billy originally told the police that the money was withdrawn to buy groceries and gas, but investigators later realized the pair used the money to buy narcotics.
Concerned that Sha and Billy were potentially using narcotics inside the family home around children, detectives wanted to take a much closer look inside the house. Following this, detectives found that Billy and Sha had printed hundreds of articles found online, all of which profiled and talked about serial killers, sexual sadism, and family member murders.
But Billy said this was just something they were interested in, and that plenty of people were into true crime. On January 12th, 2011, it was revealed that Shawn was now officially being considered a person of interest in the case. He, however, denied any involvement. David was then removed from the home by child protective services.
On February 24th, authorities made a shocking find. Over 100,000 images of child pornography on a memory stick were found in Billy’s home and on a computer in Sha’s mother’s house. A laptop was also seized and held at the station. Haley’s father, Clint, said that Sha’s stepfather went to the police station demanding the laptop be returned to Sha, which it was.
Arrests were not made regarding these findings, however, but it was presented to a grand jury. Sheriff Tomb said of this, “You have more than one person in the home in each case, so you have to make sure and verify who is going to be the one responsible.” On March 17th, 2011, authorities went to Billy and Shaun’s home to talk to Sha.
Illy said he wasn’t there, but when officers entered the home using a warrant, they found he was hiding inside the house. Illy was then arrested and charged with lying to the police. In June 2011, Illy Gene Dunn was sentenced to a suspended 90-day jail term and a year’s probation for lying about Sha’s whereabouts.
Illy served her probation over 250 mi away in Travis County, where she had moved with Sha. The couple did eventually break up in 2012 and went their separate ways. Illyene said she started to believe he was involved in her daughter’s disappearance after it was confirmed that as well as local police, the FBI also considered him to be a person of interest.
As time went on, searches for Haley began to dwindle. With each vigil that was held, tips and leads would slowly start to trickle in, only for the case to go cold again shortly after. Another year would pass with still no movement in Haley’s case. But on March 16th, 2013, a hiker found human remains 20 mi away from Colorado City near Lake JB Thomas 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 26, 2013, the Scurry County District Attorney’s Office received written confirmation that the remains have been positively identified as those of Haley Dunn.
Authorities did not confirm the cause of death, but Clint said he was told by investigators that Haley had most likely died from blimpforce trauma. A $15,000 reward was offered for any information leading directly to the arrest of the killer or killers of Haley Dunn. Sadly, the family had to wait a painful four years until they could finally lay Haley 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 Haley Dunn went missing after leaving her father’s home in Colorado City. That’s west of Abalene. Her remains were found three 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 you tell me that there’s going to be an arrest soon, I I keep that faith. In 2018, Clint Dunn told the media he believed his daughter was attacked either by Shaun himself or by his ex-wife, Billy Jean Dunn, while Sha assisted. “They’re both involved,” he said.
“That’s not even up for discussion anymore.” Clint was constantly in touch with the police, begging them to make an arrest in his daughter’s case, but the investigating team still needed more. 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 my 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 that 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 two months ago. Do you have somebody in mind? Sean Atkins. Sean, you think it’s Sean Atkins? The only named suspect? Yep. And I think that Billy Jean knows something. She said too many lies.
She’s avoided too much. And she knows more than what she said. Vent Dunn’s many appeals on social media caught the attention of an anonymous person who reportedly found several items belonging to Haley Dunn during late spring, early summer of 2011. The person who found the items was in middle school at the time and had no knowledge of Haley or her disappearance.
Because of this, they did not tell the authorities about what they had found. In 2019, this person saw one of Clint’s social media posts about Haley. It was only them they remembered what they had found. They reached out to Clint to tell him. The items and their location has not been publicly revealed, but Clint said they were found in an area that was searched countless times in the initial stages of the investigation.
Private investigator Erica Morse has been working closely with Clint Dunn since his daughter disappeared. Erica said she uncovered evidence and spoke to officials, but said they had been silent since Haley’s remains were found. She said they wouldn’t return her calls or update anyone on whether there was any movement in the case.
In October 2019, Erica said she began receiving messages from women in and around West Texas who were being harassed online by a man going by the name of Casey. Knowing this was Sha Atkins middle name, she asked them to send the videos and photos to her that he had sent to them. These confirmed that it was him.
On October 28th, 2019, Erica accompanied one of the women that was being harassed by him to the police department to make a report, but they were turned away by an officer who accused the victim of fabricating the story. This pushed Erica to pen an open letter urging that if Sha wasn’t arrested soon, more victims would undoubtedly follow.
that two more years would pass and it wouldn’t be until 2021 where the case would take a big turn. In May 2021, Erica did hear back from the Mitchell County District Attorney and they requested a meeting with her and Clint. Erica said, “During that meeting, we were assured that during the month of June, Haley’s killer would be arrested.
” And with this, more than a decade after Haley Dunn was reported missing and 7 years after her remains were found, an arrest was finally made. Reaction from Colorado City tonight is emotional and also getting straight to the point. Sean Atkins is sitting in the Mitchell County Jail tonight charged for the murder of 13-year-old Haley 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 Atkins is what the community of Colorado City has been waiting on for a long time.
District Attorney Ricky Thompson consulted with the Texas Rangers Unsolved Crimes Investigation Program regarding the case. The Texas Rangers then obtained a search warrant to get a sample of Shaun’s DNA. On June 13th, 2021, a warrant was issued and Shaun Casey Atkins was arrested and charged with the murder of Haley Dunn.
Eddie Dunn said, “I’m not really shocked at the news that it was Sha. Of course, you would have hoped it wasn’t him because I stayed with him after she left after Haley went missing. But I’m not surprised and I thank God that that person has been apprehended and is going to pay for what he did here on Earth. Sha Atkins is currently being held on a $2 million bond and as of July 2021, he has not yet entered a plea.
The KCBD Investigates team, the Mitchell County District Attorney’s Office, has released a single page from Shaun Atkins arrest warrant. He is the man police hold responsible for killing Haley 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 Atkins 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 Haley Dunn.
Following Sha’s arrest, Erica Morse referred to Haley’s dad, Clint, as the driving force in the case and said that he was a template for every parent who wants to find justice for their child. Jint said, “Right now, there are no words to define how I feel. We will let the trial speak the truth.
Thank you to everyone who searched for Haley and to those who fought tirelessly for an arrest. Hopefully, true justice will come in the courtroom. This case is still ongoing, but the family hopes that this will see that justice for Haley Dunn is finally served.
