New Documentary Explores Mysterious Disappearance of Ariz. Teen Alissa Turney — and Sister's Quest for the Truth (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

When Sarah got home later that day, she found her sister’s bedroom wrecked, with a note on her dresser explaining that she’d run away to California. To Sarah, this seemed plausible. Yet Alissa left her cell phone and makeup behind, details that would later strike investigators as peculiar. Their father,Michael Turney,a former sheriff’s deputy and electrician, called in a missing persons report that evening.

Police in Phoenix initially thought Alissa might have run away from home. But as years passed with no sign of her, Sarah Turney, now 35, came to believe that Alissa was not a runaway but a victim of homicide.

In a new documentaryFamily Secrets: The Disappearance of Alissa Turney,which premieres Sunday, Oct. 13 at 8 p.m. ET/PT onOxygen True Crime, Sarah, an executive producer on the film, alongside New York-based media companyStory Syndicate, delves even deeper into the facts of the case and uncovers some chilling discoveries along the way.Peacockwill stream an extended version of the documentary beginning Tuesday, Oct. 22.

Moments later, she adds: “I really wanted to get to the truth of what happened in my family. That’s one of the biggest questions in this case is why didn’t anyone do anything? I realized that it was all on me.”

Alissa Turney.Courtesy Sarah Turney

The more Sarah searched for answers, the more convinced she was that the man who gave her life was the same person who took her sister’s. “For me, it was kind of like a switch,” Sarah explained toPEOPLE in December 2020.

Despite Sarah’s suspicions, Michael Turney has steadfastly asserted his innocence, including during a20/20interview with John Quiñones in 2009. He was acquitted of murder charges just last year.

Sarah was 4 years old when Alissa’s mother,Barbara Strahm, died of lung cancer. The girls grew up in a blended family, as Alissa’s mother remarried a year before she passed, and her stepfather Michael adopted her.

Alissa and Michael Turney.Courtesy Sarah Turney

Each of Turney’s five other children have said they believe he is responsible for the disappearance of their sister. Most vocal among them has been Sarah. As an adult, she launched apodcast, aFacebook group, anInstagram accountand finally,TikTok, airing details about her sister’s relationship with their father, including conversations they’d had and interactions with law enforcement she believes are incriminating.

Ultimately, Alissa’s remains were never found.Sarah’s online petition got nearly 300,000 supportersurging a murder trial against her father Michael. Eventually, the police opened the case as a murder investigation in 2006, after Alissa’s boyfriend told them that Michael had checked her out of school the day she went missing. He was charged with second-degree murder in 2020, but a judge acquitted him in July 2023 because of insufficient evidence. Sarah continues to post to TikTok what she claims is evidence of her father’s guilt.

Sarah and Alissa Turney.Courtesy Sarah Turney

In the trailer, Sarah confronts her father Michael in an emotional conversation.

“I’m trying to meet you in the middle here, Dad,” Sarah says to him.

“You’ve destroyed your own family,” Michael says to his daughter.

“You’re trying to gaslight me and I’m not taking it,” she responds angrily.

“As filmmakers, we wanted to explore the shifting nature of truth and how someone who had been groomed to believe one version of reality could relearn her own memories,” said the documentary’s directors Ricki Stern and Jesse Sweet, also an executive producer. “We crafted the film to embody Sarah’s journey of excavating the truth about herself, her family and what happened to her sister. We are grateful to Sarah for welcoming us into her life and opening up her family archive in support of this vision."

Michael Turney.Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office

Peacock’s extended version of the documentary, out a week after Oxygen True Crime, will include expanded and new sections of the film. Notable footage includes Alissa’s friends providing intimate details of their friendship with her, an investigation of Sarah and Alissa’s father Michael’s disturbing relationship with Alissa and other family members and friends. It will also provide a deeper look at Sarah’s advocacy on social media and through her podcasts.

“It’s not a dirty family secret,” Sarah continues during the trailer. Looking straight to camera, she says: “It’s about what’s right and what’s wrong.”

Family Secrets: The Disappearance of Alissa Turneypremieres Sunday, Oct. 13 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Oxygen True Crime. Peacock will stream an extended version Tuesday, Oct. 22.

source: people.com