Mitchell County – More than a decade later, a man has been arrested and charged in connection with the death of a Mitchell County eighth-grader.
Shawn Casey Adkins, 35, was arrested on Monday in Big Spring and charged with murder for the death of 13-year-old Hailey Dunn.
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Police said Dunn was last seen on Dec. 27, 2010. Her mother reported her missing the following day.
Dunn’s body wasn’t found until March 16, 2013, when her remains were discovered near Lake JB Thomas in Scurry County.
Police said Adkins had been a suspect in the case but was never charged.
At the time of Dunn’s death, he was the live-in boyfriend of Dunn’s mother. The circumstances surrounding Dunn’s disappearance are what led authorities to Adkins initially. Ultimately, though, the investigation stalled for lack of new evidence.
In 2020, the district attorney for the 32nd Judicial District, Ricky Thompson, consulted with the Texas Rangers Unsolved Crimes Investigation Program (UCIP) regarding the case, and the Rangers took a new look into the investigation.
The Rangers interviewed several people, and Adkins was identified as the suspect in Dunn’s death.
A search warrant was obtained to collect Adkins’ DNA.
After samples were collected on June 13, an arrest warrant was obtained and Adkins was arrested and taken to the Howard County Jail in Big Spring. He was then transferred to the Mitchell County Detention Center. His bond was set at $2 million.