Haleigh's Secret

or is it something deeper, something in the darkest corners of our psyche?

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“And fights back, guess you didn't move in on a bunch of dumb hillbillies now, did you?”

Listen to our town on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On June 16th, 2023, the forecast for a temple, Texas, was hot and muggy. The high would hit 103 degrees. 22-year-old Hayley Murphy started her day as she often did, on the phone with her mom, Becky Mitchell.

We talked probably 45 minutes while I got ready for work. She told me about her going to go to her ex-boyfriends, yacht party. Later that day, Hayley asked her sister, Harley Murphy, to help her pack for that weekend get away. She wanted you to pick out some outfits for her.

Yeah, she has so many clothes. She was like, "I have 30 bathing suits and I need to just pick 3, can you help?" Nothing about that day seemed unusual to Hayley's family. They were clothes. Hayley loved family.

She was very protective of the people that she cared about. One person had a special place in Hayley's heart, her two-year-old son, J.J. Brittany Ketchum, is Hayley's best friend.

I had never seen like a light in her eyes the way I saw when she was found out she was

pregnant with J.J.

“No one in Hayley's circle, old enough to remember that June day, knew they were making”

their final memories with Hayley. She said by to her son, and she said by to me, and then she got on the car and we left. Some of those memories are excruciating. Are you feeling some guilt about this? Yeah, I feel a lot of guilt.

It turns out Hayley devoted mother, daughter, sister, friend had a dangerous secret and her family believes it was deadly. That's a terrible story. Sounds like a movie, not real life. I'm Josh Mankwitz, and this is Missing in America, a podcast from Date Line.

This episode is Haley's Secret. Please listen closely, because you or someone you know may have information that could help Hayley's family find the answers they're still looking for. Haley Brie and Murphy spent much of her childhood in and around killing Texas in the shadow of the sprawling forthood army base.

Her mother, Becky Mitchell and the army veteran, was stationed there. She says her oldest daughter did not seem destined to follow in her boot prints. Because Hayley is a princess. She likes her makeup. She loves her nails.

She likes to be pretty. Haley did like to stand out. Her favorite mode of expression was Inc. Becky and her younger daughter, Harley Murphy, had a lot to say about that. At times, they finished each other's sentences.

She loved tattoos. Oh yeah. That was her passion, I guess you'd say she wanted to be fully covered in tattoos.

Maybe we're past a passion into addiction.

I did make her promise after she got her neck tattoo that she would never tattoo her

face.

“What was it about the tattoos that made her want to do that?”

I think it's the art. She was like, wherever you want to put it, whatever you want to do, you can do it. I think she liked the attention to that was an addiction for her to get attention from people. Everyone who knew Haley agrees, she was not shy. She lived loud with no regrets, absolutely.

She enjoyed life to the fullest. In 2018 after graduating high school, Haley told Becky she was not going to college. She had other plans. When she said to the two of you, "I'm joining the U.S. Army," you thought, "Come on, you're kidding."

He had literally thought she was joking. Becky served in the military for four years. Today she's a parole officer. To her and to Harley. It was obvious why Haley and the Army did not seem an ideal match.

She don't like to get dirty, she don't like to be hot.

“She does not like being told what to do.”

And she don't like to be told what to do, yes. We didn't think she was going to make it through basic training. We were waiting for the call for her to say, "Hey, come get me, it's time for me, come home." That call never came. Haley not only made it through basic at Fort Jackson in South Carolina.

She met her soon to be best friend, Brittany Catcham. Everybody had their own little clicks and she was new when she was rowdy. And then I was just socially awkward and weird. So we just ended up just hanging out because no one liked her and I was like, no one likes me.

So that's perfect. Tell it you were a couple of misfits who found each other. Yeah. In a sense. After basic training, Haley and Brittany both ended up at Fort Hunt.

And both in the third cavalry.

Brittany says that's when their friendship deepened. But if you were a person that she liked, like you felt the love through walls, you would do anything for you. Haley was a human resources specialist. Becky says the office job was a perfect fit for her daughter turned soldier.

She loved her job. She loved the people she worked with. In 2019, almost 18 months after enlisting, Haley's life took an unexpected turn. She became pregnant. When she got pregnant, what's a Lonnie that was like the greatest thing in her life.

She couldn't wait to be a mom. Becky says Haley received a medical discharge in August 2020. And in September, Haley's son Jalani, JJ, was born. Haley assumed sole custody of JJ. His father was in the military too.

And Haley's family says she remained on good terms with him. She was determined to keep him in their son's life. Haley Murphy was now a stay at home single mom. She says she wasn't going to work till after he was a year old. And that's what she did.

How'd she make money? She had some money saved up from when she was in the military. Haley was really good with money. After Haley left the army, Brittany and Haley stayed close. Brittany says motherhood mellowed her best friend.

Before she had JJ, she loved to party. She does love going out. Well, when she had that son, everything changed.

She started taking care of herself in ways that I had never seen her take care of herself

before. After JJ's first birthday in September, 2021, Haley surprised her family again. She's like now I gotta get a job and figure out my life. And that job turned out to be stripper. Not initially.

Not initially. No. She was working as a cocktail waitress in a strip club. Becky says Haley soon realized she could make a lot more money dancing at strip clubs instead of serving drinks.

One of her good friends from high school was a stripper. I feel like she coached Haley into doing it by looking how much money I make. And Haley's competitive, so she had to outdo her friend.

“Was her friend right that she made more money doing that?”

Definitely not. Oh, money. Haley worked at three clubs in Austin, where according to Becky and Haley, her competitive streak was on full display along with everything else. She had to be best at the dancing on the pole.

The better outfit.

She bought a pole and she put it in her living room and she would practice doing tricks

“and stunts so she could be better than anybody else in the club.”

One of the things that happens to women in that profession is they attract a lot of attention from men, some of it wanted and some of it probably not wanted. Yeah. You're worried about that a lot, a lot. In January, 2023, Becky says Haley heard her neck and back in a car accident and had to stop

dancing. She was driving home from work one night and a drunk driver hit her. She still went to the clubs and worked, but she wasn't able to dance on stage and stuff like she used to.

According to Becky and Harley, by then, Haley was already thinking about a new career.

JJ was getting older, he was about to turn three and then the following year after that he would have started school, she didn't want to be the stripper mom. Becky says Haley enrolled in business classes and planned to get her real estate license. She was dreaming big. I can open my own real estate company and I can be my own boss and work my own hours.

“That's how she looked at being a real estate agent.”

I'm sure I'll be able to, you thought this is great. She said in the right direction. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Haley owned a house in temple about an hour from Austin and in the spring of 2023, she and

JJ had two roommates, Harley and her baby boy. The sisters just two years apart were navigating motherhood together. On Friday, June 16th, Haley was packing for a weekend away, Harley agreed to babysit. She said that she was going to Austin for the weekend should be back Monday, if not, latest Tuesday morning.

Haley's car was in the shop so Harley drove her to Austin to meet up with a friend whose name is Trinity Smith. Haley was going to stay at his place.

“She said she might go to an ex-boyfriend's birthday party on Saturday.”

Harley dropped off her sister at a bar called slick willys and Trinity met them there. Haley loaded her suitcase and then her school bag into his car. And then she said by to her son and she said by to me and then she got the car in the left. That's Harley drove home with the children. It started to rain and Haley called her from her next stop another bar.

She was like, it's raining really bad here. The power just went out at the bar. I just wanted to check on you guys, make sure you're safe. She told me to let her know when I made it home. Harley says she forgot to make that call when she got home, but texted Haley on Saturday.

She didn't hear back and Becky did not hear from Haley either. Becky says that wasn't surprising. We didn't really expect her to be calling us or texting us because she was going to be at this party. And on Saturday evening, Becky noticed Haley had not posted anything on social media.

And that was unusual. Haley, she lived on social media. She posted something every day, every so many hours on social media, something. By Sunday, Becky and Harley were worried. They could see their text messages to Haley were not being delivered.

The calls to her phone were going straight to voicemail. Becky says they checked with Haley's friends to see if anyone knew where she was and learned this.

Haley never showed up at her ex-boyfriend's party.

Haley's friend Brittany Ketchum was asleep when her phone rang. She was still a soldier deployed in South Korea. It was the middle of night for me and they were like, "Have you heard from Haley and I opened all my apps?" And I'm like, "No, I haven't heard from her," and then I felt like this pain in my stomach.

The one friend of Haley's Becky could not reach was Trinity Smith. The guy Haley was with Friday night. Becky left messages on his phone but did not hear back. I told Harley, I said, "Well, she said she'd be home Monday night or Tuesday morning I said, "I'll wait till Tuesday."

By Tuesday, Haley's social media accounts had been uncharacteristically silent for three days and calls to her phone were still going to voicemail. That's when Becky filed a missing person's report with the Austin Police Department.

Even so, Becky wanted them to move faster.

“A few days later Becky learned Haley's case had been turned over to the Texas Rangers.”

On June 25th, Ranger Kevin Callahan opened a missing person's investigation. We were like, "Okay, they're going to take this serious. It's wrong." By then, Becky and Harley had already launched their own search. With help from relatives, they posted missing flyers on social media and all over Austin,

hoping someone had seen Haley or Trinity. And soon, Becky had something to share with Ranger Callahan. Two women saw the flyer and messaged Becky on Facebook. They had seen Haley and Trinity Friday night at Eddie's tavern, a bar in roundrock, just north of Austin.

They were sitting at a table next to Trinity and Haley and they had actually talked to Haley. They were throwing darts.

“In her Facebook message, one of the women wrote, "The man said something to the effect”

that he left his phone or wallet somewhere so they had to leave. We stayed till clothes and they didn't come back," unquote. Becky says she gave both women's contact information to Ranger Callahan. That lead was a start and soon Becky would have more information to share with investigators. Trinity Smith was about to resurface.

He called Becky and he had quite a story to tell. "I'm feeling the house too, I've just had to check myself out the house today." "Today?" "It's just, yes, yeah." "Now, where was Haley, and did Trinity know what happened to her?"

My name is Sarah Terny. I spent years fighting for justice for my missing sister Alyssa Terny.

Four and a rest was finally made in her case after nearly 20 years, but after my experience

with the media, law enforcement and the court system, I knew I couldn't stop with Alyssa's case. I know what it's like to fight for media attention, for answers, and for justice. After I stopped telling my sister's story, I knew I wanted to help as many other victims, survivors, and families as I could.

On my podcast, Voices for Justice, I provide unique insight into these tragic cases, I know what it's like to not just listen to these stories, but to live them. And more importantly, how to help them by being a true voice for justice. Listen to Voices for Justice in your favorite podcast player today. You can be so much more than just a passive consumer of true crime.

You have the power to help. The moment a body is found, the clock starts ticking, 48 hours.

“That's how long detectives have before the trail begins to go cold.”

From A&E in crime house, this is the official podcast from the famous true crime series

the first 48, step inside the critical window, the interrogations, the dead ends, and

the breakthroughs that crack a case wide open. On Carter Roy, each week I revisit a landmark homicide investigation with a depth you know, and immersive long form storytelling built for your ears. Real detectives, real cases, real stakes. This is the first 48. New episodes every Thursday. Listen to and follow the first 48 on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Amazon music or wherever you listen to podcasts.

You want to believe you're safe in the Heartland, and it just changed. On the murder in the Heartland podcast for my D, we'll examine true stories that happened in a town a lot like yours. I regret not telling the police. I knew who did it. I wanted the person to pay for what they had done to her.

There was a sense of blood thirst. We have to get revenge. Listen to murder in the Heartland wherever you get your podcasts. It was Saturday, June 24th, 2023. Haley Murphy's family had not heard from her in seven days. Her mom Becky Mitchell had been trying to reach Trinity Smith. The friend Haley was last seen with, he had not returned a single message. Until now, Becky recorded the call.

Today? It just, yes, yeah.

Trinity told Becky he'd spent the past week in the hospital, receiving treatment for blood poisoning. Trinity said he did not have his phone with him, and was just now hearing that Haley was missing. I'll just find out if they today. Becky asked Trinity where he and Haley went after they left that bar and round rock. When y'all left, Eddie's tavern, where did y'all go? He stopped him now, he ain't even like, I can't even get out here, you know,

“and I went home. Do you know what they were driving? Do you remember what they were”

driving? I can't, I can't, oh, so if it's a question, I can't. Somewhere it's by the coast. It's a big call, I can't be waiting to not be called. Trinity told Becky he was drunk when he dropped off Haley to meet her friend, and he said he did not know the friend's name. Now, there was a reason Becky recorded that call. You already suspected him by the time that phone conversation happened. I automatically suspected the person she was with did something to her.

Trinity's phone call only deepened that suspicion. Any part of the story Trinity is telling sound true to you? No. Because Becky is a parole officer she knew. Trinity was on probation for a federal drug conviction. About six months earlier, Haley had asked her mom to check Trinity's record. She had found out he was on federal probation and she was wondering what it was for. That was not the first time Becky had run a record check on a man in her daughter Haley's life.

She's attracted to felons. And I told her that I said you have a type. If they had been

“in trouble with the law, then you don't want them. What appealed to her about guys like that?”

I don't even know the bad boy. She was attracted to man that just could not follow rules. Okay, pretty sure you said to her at some point Becky, why don't you try dating somebody who isn't one of my parolees or couldn't become one? Yes, yes, I did a lot. We had that conversation so many times.

And her answer was what? She would laugh. Actually, she never really had an answer. She just laughed at it.

Haley met Trinity at work. He was a 47-year-old patron at one of the strip clubs where she danced. He also had a nickname he had apparently given himself. Bankroll. We got to pick whatever girls he wanted to go to the VIP section with him. He picked Haley and he told Haley bring all your friends. She'd make $56,000 that night just by being in the VIP section with him and her friends. Haley ever tell you what Trinity's last bankroll did for

a living to make all my money. Back in January, February, March timeframe, she had found out that he was a drug dealer. Tell me what you know about Haley's drug use. Smoked marijuana for sure, for sure. And I'm sure partying in that lifestyles. She probably did some code or, you know, ecstasy Molly, something like that. But as far as drug using daily basis, kind of thing, no. Her sister agrees with that. The most she did at home was maybe smokes weed after

JJ went to sleep. Harley says Haley and Trinity were not dating. Just casual friends. She wasn't with him per day. She was kind of like a trophy piece that he could walk around with in public. He would buy her nice things and pay her bills so that she would go be seen with him

in public. Haley's best friend, Brittany Ketchum, had the same take. I would never call him a boy

friend. I don't think they ever got physical. Like, um, sexually that I'm tracking and if they did, I'm not tracking it. The relationship was he was an older man who wanted a pretty younger

“woman on his arm. And that's what he got.”

Platonic or not, Becky says Haley and her friends sometimes stayed at Trinity's apartment in Austin. According to Becky, Haley told her one night about three months before she went missing. Trinity did something that scared her. It happened after someone had broken into Trinity's car.

were trying to rob him because he evidently had some drugs that his car.

Becky says Trinity made a not so veiled threat to Haley. He was talking about whoever vandalized his car. He was going to kill them and and their whole family. After that incident, Becky says she thought Haley had stopped seeing Trinity. It was now clear. She had been wrong. About a week and a half after Haley went missing. Becky met with Texas Ranger Kalaan

and told him about the threats Trinity had made. She also gave him the recording of her phone call

“with Trinity. I was open, but what do you want to know? What information do you need to make this”

task easier? So we can get to the finish line and find my daughter. They mainly wanted access to my phone account to look at Haley's phone. That's what they wanted. Becky says a couple of weeks after that meeting. Ranger Kalaan told her Trinity had lawyered up and would not speak with him. When someone you love goes missing, life doesn't stop. It just gets harder. The adults in Haley's life were struggling to manage their own emotions.

While taking care of Haley's almost three-year-old son, JJ. At first he was just asking if he

could speak to her or when she'd come home. And when time, I was cooking dinner. And he just sat in the middle of the kitchen floor and he was crying. And he looked up at me and he was just like, "I just miss my mommy." I don't know what to say to that boy. Because I miss her too. How do you tell a toddler that no one knows where his mother is? Harley and Becky say they spoke with JJ's father who was still in the military stationed in New York.

Together, they came up with a plan to talk with JJ. We all decided that we were just going to tell him that she's lost and she's having a hard time trying to find her way back home. That might be the best answer. Becky and Harley put on their game faces for a little JJ. The truth was that neither of them believed Haley was ever coming home.

“Because if she were alive, what are both of you would have heard from her?”

Absolutely. Absolutely. Haley loved family. Out of all three of my children,

she's the only one that would never leave me. She would never go anywhere that I wasn't.

Even as an adult, when she moved out and bought her own house, she used literally 15 minutes from me. Weeks turned it a month. And to Haley's family, it looked as if the rangers had made 0 progress in their investigation. Becky and Harley were about to find out. Haley had been keeping a secret from them, whether she realized it or not. She was taking a very big risk. You think Haley had any idea that the kind of dangers she was putting yourself in?

No, I don't.

“You want to believe you're safe in the Heartland, and it just changed.”

On the murder in the Heartland podcast for my D, we'll examine true stories that happened in a town a lot like yours. I regret not telling the police. I knew who did it. I wanted the person to pay for what they had done to her. There was a sense of blood thirst. We have to get revenge.

Listen to murder in the Heartland, wherever you get your podcasts. Hey guys, Willie guys, Tear, reminding you to check out the Sunday Sit Down podcast. On this week's episode, I get together with the talented charming and hilarious Tracy Ellis Ross to talk about her Broadway debut in a one-woman show. And the new season of her travel series that has Tracy seeing the world solo, you can get our conversation for free wherever you

download your podcasts. For years, a deranged man in Wichitaot known as the poet stalked Ruth Finley. He sent her letters, gifts, and poems, but no one could have guessed how this would end. From Sony Music Entertainment and New Metric Media, this is the poet, I'm Rachel Brown.

listening today. Subscribeers to the binge can listen to all episodes, all at once, add free.

“After Haley Murphy's family reported her missing, they kept looking for her on their own.”

Five days after her disappearance, her sister Harley turned up a clue. She had pulled up Haley's call records from their family-shared phone account and started calling the number she did not recognize.

And the first one I called, he told me what his name was, and then I explained to him the

situation. I asked him if he had spoken to her or seen her since that night, he clicked his pen and I heard him start writing down stuff. And he was asking me more questions than not, as soon as I got off the phone with him, called my mom back and I said that was a cop on her phone. Look, I was like why would she be talking to a cop? To be clear, the man Harley spoke with did not say he was a cop. Harley thought he sounded like one. She says he told her his name was Mike,

and that he had called Haley on June 16th, 2023. That was the day she disappeared.

My cat told me that he was supposed to meet her out at the bars that night, but he never went.

Harley says she remembers Haley getting a phone call that night before they left for Austin to meet

“Trinity. She made me get out of her room so she could take the call. You remember anything she said”

during that conversation? No, she closed her door. I do remember her saying about what time she was going to be getting there? But that was it. I just figured that she was talking to Trinity at that time. About a week after Harley talked with Mike, Becky met with the Texas Ranger assigned to Haley's case. She says another person was at that meeting. Someone whose name was familiar. Mike Guerrera, who was a state police officer, CID undercover officer. The officer's name is

actually Mike Guerra. Becky said she first heard his name almost a year before Haley went missing.

And here's how. In August, 2022, Becky says Haley's then boyfriend had just been released from prison. That was moving in with Haley. And so he tells her one day, hey, I got one doubtful bag left at

“cousin's house with my clothes in it. And so she takes him to Austin to his cousin's house. She”

don't get out the car. She sits in the car and they're on the way home and state patrol gets behind their car. I can see what's coming here. Yeah, he's driving. He takes off. Tassby chased down 35 headed towards temple. Becky says the chase ended when the boyfriend stopped the car and ran off leaving Haley to face the music and the cops. According to Becky, that's when Mike Guerrera convinced Haley to inform on her boyfriend. They put the handcuffs on her.

She's upset. She's crying and Mike comes and talks to her at the scene and says, we could put you in jail if you don't help us. She informed and he went back to prison. Becky says when Haley told her about the deal with Guerrera, she gave her daughter a reality check. I told her that's dangerous for one, like, you know, who all knows that you're doing this. You don't want to tell people that you do this or you've done this, I said, because no matter how long it's been, it can come back on you.

Snitches get stitches. Yes. Becky says she thought her message had landed and Haley's days as an informant were over. Now face to face with Mike Guerrera, a wave of doubt swept over Becky. Was he the same Mike Harley had talked with? The guy Harley thought sounded like a cop. The guy who'd called Haley the night she met up with Trinity on the day she vanished. Did you ask him? I didn't ask him right out because I felt like I would be lied to.

Instead, Becky says she made an excuse to face time with Harley during that meeting. So she could hear Mike Guerrera's voice. Well, face time, her. I gave him my phone. Harley says she recognized his voice. He sounded like the guy she spoke with who would called Haley the night she went missing. Becky and Harley were convinced that man Haley was working

as an informant once again. And it turned out they were right. The Austin Police Department told Dateline that when she disappeared, Haley was working as a

the Texas Rangers, a division of the DPS, took over her case five days after Becky reported Haley

“missing. Haley was working for their agency. Did the Texas Rangers tell you that your daughter had”

been a confidential informant against the drug dealer? No, not at first.

Haley's sister Harley says when they shared their theory with investigators, the truth came out about Haley being an informant. We told them what we suspected before they finally really did. That is what was happening. We just didn't know you knew. In March, 2024, nine months after Haley vanished. Trinity Smith, the man she was with on the night of her disappearance, was arrested for assaulting a girl friend back in 2021.

At the time, Trinity was also under investigation for drug trafficking. And while Trinity was in

“custody for the assault charge, Austin Police and the FBI executed a search warrant on his home,”

and found nearly nine kilos of meth. Trinity was arrested. And in 2025, he pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute meth and fatamine. He was sentenced to 29 years and is appealing. Haley's family believes information she was giving law enforcement helped build the federal

drug case that put Trinity behind bars. I'm just wondering if they said you, we could never have

done this without the help your daughter gave us? Never. Never. The assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted Trinity's drug case told Dateline his conviction was unrelated to any information provided by Haley. However, Becky paid close attention to the court proceedings in that case, and was struck by this. Haley's name came out quite a few times about the evidence in that case. Becky is right during an evidentiary hearing, a detective testified that police searched

Trinity's house because they suspected he was tampering with evidence, possibly evidence relating to Haley's missing persons case. That detective also testified that Trinity was the last person seen with Haley, and self-home records showed their phones were together at the time of her disappearance. He called Trinity a suspect. That was more than a year ago. Obviously, Haley hasn't been found. Right, they are still looking. No one has come forward and said they know what happened.

No. We asked the prosecutor if the plea deal Trinity accepted required him to provide information about Haley's disappearance. He told us, while the agreement did not require Trinity to cooperate with law enforcement, he made choose to do so, and the government could file a motion for a reduced sentence. Of course, confessing to any involvement in Haley's disappearance could also land Trinity in a lot more trouble. The same month Trinity's house was searched, Texas Ranger

on Jamani replaced Kevin Callahan as the investigator on Haley's case. Becky says not only has a money put fresh eyes on the investigation, he has kept her in the loop. He's been kind of an open book as he finds something or hears something. He tells me, he lets me know.

“According to Becky, Haley's phone records may be the key to solving her case.”

They line spoke with Ranger Amani, and he confirmed that foul play is suspected in Haley's case. But because the case is active, he would not say whether Trinity Smith is a suspect in her disappearance. We reached out to Trinity, and he called us from the Williamson County jail. He told us,

he does not know what happened to Haley, and he never threatened to harm her or her family.

At the time he spoke with us, Trinity was facing three felony charges related to that assault on his former girlfriend in 2021. In June, 2026, he pleaded guilty to those charges and was sentenced to an additional five years in prison. Haley's family believes she was murdered because her secret life as an informant was somehow exposed.

the dangers she was putting yourself in? No, I don't. I don't think she understood.

I mean, once she was only 22 years old, I think the first time she did it, and it was all okay

that when she's approached to do it again, she's like, oh, okay, I'll just do the same thing I did before. I really feel like she thought she was safe and thought nothing could come back on her. And law enforcement's got my back. Right. When a person goes missing, it is natural for the people who love them to replay their last conversations over and over in their head. Brittany Ketchum says she spoke with Haley on the night

she vanished before Haley went to Austin to meet Trinity. The last phone conversation we had, we were arguing about him, literally that night, and I said,

“I last word to verbatim to her, where Haley, you need to stop hanging out with men like this,”

because one of these days you're not going to come home. You have a son you need to think about. And she said, you're being over dramatic. She just hung up on me. That call still hunts Brittany. Those were probably the last words she were thinking. Well, she was like, yeah, look where I'm at right now.

Yeah. And I don't know if like she would have felt anger towards me in that moment. You know, or towards yourself. Yeah. Are you feeling some guilt about this? Yeah. I feel a lot of guilt. You should not. It sounds like you said every single thing to your friend that a good friend would say.

“You gave her the right advice. She didn't listen to it,”

which is incredibly sad, but that is none you. Yeah. Yeah. But. But at the end of the day, she's a grown woman. You know, she's going to make her decisions. Brittany did not agree with every decision Haley made, but she has no doubt about this. Everything she ever did in her life was a take care of her son, whether or not

people believe it was a good decision or not. Everything she did was for him.

When Haley Murphy disappeared more than three years ago, she was taking some first steps

toward a new life. Harley and Becky can very easily imagine a different ending to this story. She probably would have been a great real estate agent. She could sell water just a money. It's so air. Yeah. Even if you weren't in the market to breathe, she still get to do it by it. Haley's son, JJ was two years old. The last time his mom sang happy birthday to him. Becky treasures the video that captured that moment. Happy birthday to you, Lani.

In September, JJ will turn six. Yay! Good job! He lives with his father in Texas and spends one weekend a month with Becky and Harley. So you have any memories of her? A lot of actually. One's that you would think that he could not remember because he was so young, but he does remember her a lot. A lot. You look at him. You see her? Yes. The way he acts now too and some of the things that he says

he can't never joke about him. He just like his mom. Just like her.

Becky keeps photos of Haley all over her house. She and Harley are determined to keep her

“memory alive for JJ. How do you want her son to remember her? I think the way that he dies.”

He remembers her as a fun parent who gave him all of her attention and whatever he wanted. He will be quick to say that to us. Yeah, he'd be like, my mom will get it for me. My mom will do it. You think you're ever going to know what happened to her? I would like to hope that we would know eventually, but, um, the way it's, I don't think I would bet money on it.

Haley Murphy's story does not have an ending. Not yet. But Becky can sum up what her family has been through so far in just seven words. Sounds like a movie. Not real life. Here is how you can help. At the time of her disappearance, Haley Murphy was five feet tall and 130 pounds, with short platinum blonde hair. He's a lot. And multiple brightly colored tattoos.

light colored jean shorts, and light purple vans. If you have information on Haley's whereabouts,

“please contact the Texas Rangers at 512-424-2160, or the Texas Department of Public Safety Missing”

Persons Clearinghouse at 512-424-5074. To see photos and videos of Haley, and to learn more about other people we've covered in our missing in America series, go to dateline missing in America.com.

There you'll be able to submit cases you think we should cover in the future.

Thanks for listening. We'll see you Friday's on dateline on NBC. Or you can stream

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[Music] Missing in America is a production of dateline and NBC News. Hate Vitek is the producer of this episode. Sarah Dolberg is the associate producer. Marshall House fell as the editor. Bradley Davis is senior producer. Paul Ryan is executive producer. And Liz Cole is senior executive producer. From NBC News Audio, Sound Mixing by Justin K. Sloan.

Jessica Fenton is head of audio production. [Music] What drives a person to kill is it uncontrollable rage, overwhelming fear, unbearable jealousy,

“or is it something deeper, something in the darkest corners of our psyche?”

Every Monday and Thursday, the crime house original podcast serial killers and murderous minds dives deep into the minds of history's most chilling murderers. From infamous serial killers to ruthless cult leaders, deadly exes and terrifying spree killers. I'm Dr. Tristan Engels, a licensed forensic psychologist. Along with Vanessa Richardson's immersive storytelling full of high stakes, twists and turns, in every episode of serial

killers and murderous minds, I'll be providing expert analysis of the people involved. Not just how they killed, but why. Listen to and follow serial killers and murderous minds, available now wherever you get your podcasts.