Hailey Dunn, 13, vanished from her Texas home in 2010. Her body was found three years later.
More than a decade after the strange disappearance of 13-year-old Hailey Dunn, an arrest has been made in the Texas cheerleader's killing.
Shawn Casey Adkins, the former boyfriend of Hailey's mother, was taken into custody on Monday and charged with murder, according to the Howard County Sheriff's Department. Authorities have not publicly said what led to Adkins' arrest.
He had been initially identified as the only person of interest in the case.
Hailey went missing on Dec. 28, 2010. Adkins told investigators the girl had left home to visit her father, a half-block away, and some friends, but she never arrived, authorities said.
Her mother, Billie Jean Dunn, was later arrested and charged with giving false information to police about Adkins’ whereabouts. She pleaded guilty to a probation violation involving a previous arrest and was sentenced to an extra year of probation.
On Monday, the mother told Big Country Homepage she was overjoyed by the arrest.
“First and foremost, I’m so elated and I’m so relieved that it’s finally happened,” she said. “Every day, every night since we’ve gotten her back, that’s been our big task, that’s what we’ve wanted to see,” she said.
Hailey's body was found in 2013 near Lake J.B. Thomas, a reservoir on the Colorado River about 30 miles from the girl's home.
Clint Dunn, Hailey's father, hired a private investigator to dig into the case and has publicly complained for years that investigators were moving too slowly in his daughter's disappearance and death.
The father has long said he believed Adkins was responsible for what happened to Hailey.
Erica Morse, the private detective hired by Hailey's dad, said Monday they had recently been told an arrest was imminent.
“This is not a surprise,” she said. “Mr. Dunn and I had a meeting with the Mitchell County district attorney about 30 days ago. During that meeting, we were assured that during the month of June, Hailey’s killer would be arrested.”
Adkins was being held in lieu of $2 million bail, according to online records.
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