NewsWest 9
Colorado City teen Hailey Dunn has been missing for almost two years but now investigators are chasing down some big leads right here in Odessa.
This comes after officials received a jailhouse letter from a woman claiming to have seen a young girl being held against her will in an Odessa home and she said the girl matched Hailey's description.
Detectives with Colorado City Police tell NewsWest 9, they got a possible lead in the case from a woman behind bars named Sonja Callahan.
She penned a letter from her jail cell saying in January of 2011 she saw a young girl at an Odessa home who matched the description of Hailey Dunn.
In the letter, Callahan said the unknown girl was kidnapped and being held against her will.
"The letter was investigated and followed up at face value and also digging a little deeper into the contents and the people surrounding that letter," Detective, Kelsey Alexander Rivera, said.
Callahan went on to write that the girl was drugged by her kidnappers and eventually died of an overdose. She claims the girl's body was dumped behind the Ector County Coliseum.
Detectives searched the area and found nothing. We're told officials have conducted interviews with Callahan and with people here in Odessa.
"It is a lead that has not been closed out yet. It is still being investigated," Alexander said. "It's just an example of how each tip is investigated seriously."
Meanwhile, the Hope for Hailey Group said they're devastated with the news.
Volunteer Stacie Campbell said the group found out about the letter a few weeks ago but she said they weren't given all the details.
"We felt like Hailey was in Odessa being held, is what we felt like," Campbell said.
Campbell said even Billie Dunn, Hailey's mother, knew nothing about Callahan's claims of drugs and an overdose until an Abilene news outlet broke the story.
"Ripping and shredding their entire hearts out," Campbell said. "There's no eating, there's no sleeping, there's anger, there's crying."
Investigators said so far these leads haven't proven to be credible but Hope for Hailey said this is still a blow to their continued mission to bring Hailey home.
"Right now we're just trying to start back over again," Campbell said. "We can't give up. We are in it until she comes homes."
