Authorities now believe that an Oklahoma teenager missing for more than a month was killed by her boyfriend, who has been arrested and charged with murder, KFOR-TV reports.
Police on Thursday arrested Tanner Washington on a complaint of first-degree murder in connection with the suspected death of 17-year-old Faith Lindsey, according to KOKH-TV.
The development comes after family members reported Faith missing on November 4.
At the time, Faith had been living with Tanner and working at a Sonic in Pauls Valley, about 60 miles south of Oklahoma City, according to Faith’s sister, Justice.
“[He] texted me Monday night saying that he can’t find her, she’s missing, freaking out,” Justice told KFOR-TV.
Tanner Washington, 24, was arrested by Del City police Thursday night on a first-degree murder warrant out of Ponotoc County in connection to the disappearance of missing Pauls Valley teen, Faith Lindsey.https://t.co/O95xZvlCou
— Tulsa's Channel 8 (@KTULNews) December 20, 2019
Justice says she then started receiving unusual text messages from her sister’s phone. The messages alleged that Faith was in a bad situation: she could not get a ride home, and the person she was with would not bring her home.
“She was misspelling a lot of things that night,” Justice told KFOR-TV. “And Faith, she has very good punctuation and spelling, and that just wasn’t her.”
Adding to the suspicion, Justice began receiving calls from Faith’s phone, but the line would disconnect as soon as she answered.
Investigators now believe Tanner lied to them.
According to the report, Tanner allegedly told someone that Faith was shot in October and that is why she was missing.
“He reported that he had received a text message that she had been shot,” Seminole County Undersheriff Matt Haley told KFOR-TV.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Tanner had also told investigators he was afraid his girlfriend had been harmed by the Indian Brotherhood.
But later, Tanner reportedly admitted those things weren’t true and that he made up the story.
Court documents also reveal that Tanner told police he brought Faith to work one day and that she wasn’t there when he came back hours later.
Yet Faith’s co-workers say she never showed up that day.
“The more we spoke with him, the more his story began to fall apart as far as what had happened,” Haley told KFOR-TV.
Authorities charged Tanner in November with obstruction of an officer and false reporting of a crime.
Tanner was arrested in June for being aggressive toward his girlfriend, according to Verified News. He also had been arrested the same month for allegedly assaulting his sister.
Investigators are still searching for Faith’s body. She is about 5 feet, 4 inches tall and weighs 115 pounds. She has long brown hair and blue eyes.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation is offering $5,000 that leads to Faith’s location, KOKH-TV reports.
To report information about the case, call 800-522-8017 or email tips@osbi.ok.gov.
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