The Vanished Podcast Replay: Margaret "Kay-Alana" Turner Part 1 - Lost
Kay-Alana Turner’s episodes first aired in November 2023. On March 8, 2023, 27-year-old Kay-Alana Turner stayed overnight at a friend’s home in Silsbee, Texas. Her friend noticed that Kay-Alana hadn’t been sleeping well and that something appeared to be troubling her. The following morning, Kay-Alana was believed to be asleep when her friend left for work, but as the day wore on, attempts to contact her raised concern. When Kay-Alana was briefly reached by phone, something didn’t seem right, and no one knew where she was. Loved ones later learned that Kay-Alana had planned to drive to Austin, about four hours away. Her loved ones began searching for her, but by the next morning, troubling reports about her behavior began to surface. These were accounts her family and friends felt were completely out of character. What was clear was that Kay-Alana was missing, and they needed to find her.
On April 19, 2024, after more than a year of searching, Kay-Alana Turner’s remains were found by Texas Equusearch in Montgomery County, Texas, less than 1,000 feet from where her car had been abandoned on March 10, 2023. She was positively identified through dental records. Due to the condition of her remains, the medical examiner ruled the cause of death as undetermined, with the manner classified as accidental, noting no evidence of foul play.
In the months that followed, body camera footage from Kay-Alana’s initial encounter with Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputies was released, sparking concern and controversy. In the footage, deputies were heard making joking and disparaging remarks about Kay-Alana, including comments about her appearance after viewing her identification. The footage intensified scrutiny of the response to Kay-Alana on the day she disappeared and raised broader questions about how law enforcement handles encounters involving individuals experiencing medical or mental health crises.
Kay-Alana Turner was laid to rest in November 2024. Her family continues to seek accountability and hopes her story leads to meaningful change, believing that compassion and understanding could have made a critical difference that day.
Photo Credit: James Blaign Rambo
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