The boyfriend of a missing 17-year-old girl has been arrested and charged with her murder.
Tanner Washington, 24, was taken into police custody on December 20 in Oklahoma. On Friday, he was formally charged with the first-degree murder of his girlfriend, Faith Lindsey, who was reported missing on November 4.
Lindsey’s body has not yet been found and her case remained on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children website as of Monday. Washington had been on probation for domestic assault and battery when she disappeared.
Faith’s sister, Justice Lindsey, told News 4 that Faith had been living with Washington in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma when she vanished on October 28.
Earlier this moth, Justice said: ‘(Washington) texted me…saying that he can’t find her, she’s missing, freaking out.’
After receiving Washington’s text, Justice said she began receiving concerning texts from her sister’s phone. The messages claimed she was with a person who wound not take her home.
‘She was misspelling a lot of things that night. And Faith, she has very good punctuation and spelling, and that just wasn’t her,’ Justice said, adding that the uncharacteristic spelling errors makes her doubt the texts came from her sister.
Justice continued: ‘She kept trying to call me a lot, but hang up as soon as I answered.’
Investigators began focusing their attention on Washington after his story about Lindsey’s disappearance repeatedly changed.
Washington allegedly told an acquaintance that Lindsey disappeared because she had been shot.
Washington later told investigators that he had received a text message saying Lindsey had been shot, according to Seminole County Undersheriff Matt Haley. However, Washington later admitted the he lied about receiving the text message.
He also told police that he dropped Lindsey off at her job at a Sonic Drive-In restaurant on the day she disappeared, but coworkers told police she never arrived at all.
Haley said: ‘The more we spoke with him (Washington), the more his story began to fall apart, as far as what happened.’
A $5,000 reward is currently being offered by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation for any information leading to Lindsey’s body.
Police have not revealed a possible motive for the alleged murder.
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