For 407 days, Kay-Alana Turner’s parents tirelessly searched for their missing daughter, often traveling from Beaumont to Tomball. Now, as they review body camera footage of the day Harris County deputies encountered her, they seek an apology for the mishandling of her case.
Kay-Alana was last seen driving away from deputies on March 10, 2023, in the 18000 block of Country Hills Drive. Despite extensive searches, only her phone and shoes were found. Her family believes she was suffering from a mental health crisis during her disappearance. On April 19 the remains of Kay-Alana were found less than 1,000 feet from where her car was abandoned after she went missing.
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“That’s what makes it so cruel—the things they called her and the way they treated her. You can hear the horrible things they said. They said she was probably dead out there and walked away, saying she would die out here if she went out. They never went back to the woods. Texas EquuSearch was there the next day, searched for two hours in the morning, and then were told they had to stop.”
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Authorities claimed they had to stop the search because warrants were placed on her.
“They saw her as a fugitive, even though she never had a ticket and had no record whatsoever. We told them she had heart issues, asthma, and a change in her medication, but they still wanted those warrants in place,” Rosa explained. “Watch the videos and hear the filthy words they called her, the names they used.”
One of the biggest setbacks came from HCSO sending searchers, including Texas EquuSearch, in the wrong direction.
“They sent everybody in the wrong direction. Once we saw the videos, we realized that we thought they were searching on the Montgomery County side. Everything we said, everything we heard, and every map we saw showed that she crossed the creek. No searches took place in Montgomery County; they all took place on the Harris County side,” Rosa said. “There was a search in Stagecoach and another in Magnolia, but those were proven not to be her. So, while those searches happened in Montgomery County, nothing happened right where she was.”
When asked for a reason, Rosa explained that their usual response was that she made it to Prairie Decker Road and was picked up.
“When I would say, ‘My baby could be laying dead in those woods,’ they would respond, ‘No, she made it to Rose Hill where she was picked up.’ When I called and asked them to check the sex trafficking registry pages, they would say, ‘Oh my God, we haven’t heard from her.’ The missing person detective would ask me where she would go, what she would do, who she would reach out to,” Rosa explained. “I told him she would come home, reach out to us, or contact her boyfriend who loves her. They were going to get married and sign on their house the next week. She would call her best friend. But they kept insisting, ‘Well, she’s just laying low, just hiding.’ I would say, ‘She would never do that to us.’ And for 407 days, that was their story, and they stuck to it.”
The family of Kay-Alana has not received any apology for the mishandling of her case.
“There’s been no apology. Nothing. When they called to tell them that Kay-Alana’s remains had been found, the missing person detective said, “Well, that’s not good.” Why was that not good? Because she was found 900 feet from her car. That’s why it was not good,” Rosa recounted. “She may not have been that far, but she was drug by animals and torn into pieces, so we don’t even know if that was actually where she was. We sent in some dental records, and they checked out. They confirmed it was her, and the missing person detective called to say it had been verified.”
They trust that Montgomery County will do the best job they can to recover the remaining remains still out there, knowing she has not been completely found, Rosa said.
“There’s another search plan coming up within the next few weeks for them to go out there. But a tornado came through, and there were other things that happened, like the weather. Her left arm, legs, and spine are missing. I’m so sorry. The sweetest, kindest, smartest girl was ripped apart by animals over a two-acre area when she could have been found that day, and surely would have been found the next.”
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Rosa explained that their family had been surrounded by a cloud of witnesses, emphasizing how the people of Tomball had supported them from the start, with them driving back every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to be there.
“People from that area have covered us. They handed out fliers, gave us food to eat, and prayed over us,” she shared. “They have been the hands and feet on the ground when we couldn’t be there because we were away for two months and then had to come home. It became a question of whether we quit our jobs and stay there to keep working or go home and work to pay for our stuff.”
Kay-Alana’s family also witnessed the power of social media firsthand, posting about her for 407 days and receiving tips on possible sightings during that time.
“For months, any time we received a call about a possible sighting of her, someone would post it on the Facebook page, and ten people would go find that person and say, ‘No, it’s not her, ma’am.’ They literally covered us in love. We’ve had so many people say, ‘We love Kay,’ even though they never got the chance to meet her,” Rosa explained. “They worked so hard to find her, but now they’ll never get to meet her. She was laying right there. We are not against law enforcement; our family is law enforcement.”
Rosa highlighted how the police in Tomball are amazing, emphasizing that they truly deserve big gold stars next to their names.
“Anytime we called them with a sighting or anything, they were on it. They would call us and talk to us with such compassion. They dreaded having to say, ‘We’re sorry, it’s not her.’ Magnolia and Conroe were the same way,” Rosa said. “We had law enforcement helping us and trying to find her. We are not against law enforcement; we do not support defunding the police.”
Kay-Alana had a deeply personal relationship with law enforcement, including multiple family members who served as police officers and a state trooper family friend who once saved her sister’s life with CPR when she nearly drowned at three years old.
“We have a love and respect for the police. There are people we love who are police officers. People wonder why we’re so upset about the treatment that morning,” Rosa said. “No one had any reason to be scared of the police, right? She had no reason to fear them. She spent her whole life surrounded by police officers. She had no reason to fear them.”
Kay-Alana’s family is still waiting for her to come home, holding out for autopsy results and any updates.
This article is part of an ongoing series on Kay-Alana’s disappearance, exploring how her family is moving forward and seeking justice.