Hailey Buzbee: Lured by an Online Predator (Happening Now) // 581

What is going on true crime fans? I'm your host Teez and I'm your host Daphne and you're listening to Going West. Geez, hello everybody. The city of Columbus is seeing a lot this month. First the Tepi murders which of course we did a three part on and now an arrest and an ongoing Indiana case was made in Columbus which is what we will be diving into today. I mean he and I have been following this case for weeks. We are so devastated to see such a horrific conclusion to this story coming out so this is one that we've been checking on every day we just can't believe how disturbing of a turn this story took. Yes and our hearts really go out to the Busby family who have to learn of all these really horrific details that have been coming out these past couple weeks because there has been an arrest made. So thank you to everybody who sent this one into us. There was a lot of you guys who sent in this case. Yeah and as we learned about it at first like I truly hoped of course and felt like it was possible that this would be one of those stories where there would have been a safe discovery and everything would have been fine. Yeah everybody was kind of hoping that she would be recovered safely. But again the details of this are more horrific than we imagined and we have a lot to talk about today. Yeah and there's actually going to be a call to action at the end of this episode so please make sure that you stay tuned and also make sure that you share this story. Alright guys this is episode 581 of Going West so let's get into it. Fischer's Police say a missing 17 year old is now considered to be an endangered missing juvenile. Haley Busby is believed to have run away from her home. Her family has been looking for her for quite some time now and officials have updated her status to endangered missing juvenile. The family of a missing teen in Hamilton County says they are desperate for answers tonight. Fischer's Police are calling Haley Busby an endangered missing juvenile. We'll never stop. We're never going to stop looking for her. We just miss our girl. Fischer's Police are now saying a teen who went missing last month is likely dead. Haley Busby is believed to be dead and police now have a suspect in custody. For four weeks now there has been an intense search for the teenager and just within the last hour Fischer's Police held a news conference saying with the evidence they have today Haley will not be coming home. I know that her family is devastated and I'm confident that our community will rally coming hours, days and weeks to stand with that family and their grief and share in the burden of mending and healing from the tragic loss. Haley Page Busby was born on October 9th, 2008 to parents Lindsey Simmons and Bo Busby, raised alongside her younger sibling sister Sabrina and brother Elijah. By all accounts it appeared that she was primarily raised by her father Bo, who's an accountant, and her stepmother Rania who works in HR at a senior community in Fischer's Indiana, which is a city all its own consisting of around 100,000 people, but it is also a northside suburb of Indianapolis. Growing up in inter-teen years Haley loved music, books and spending time with her family and friends. When this story takes place, you know just a few weeks ago, Haley was a 17 year old junior at Hamilton, southeastern high school right there in Fischer's, and she was also working as a server at the kitchen on Maine in nearby Fortville, Indiana, because although she lived in Fischer's, her family home is on the far eastern side of the city out in the suburbs, right next to downtown Fortville, so this was very close to her home. So the restaurant that she worked at is described on Google as a quote, casual eatery serving burgers, tenderloin fries and shakes, plus fried pickles. Actually this week, they posted about Haley on their Facebook page saying quote, Haley Busby worked at the kitchen on Maine restaurant in Fortville for nearly 16 months. I imagine it was her very first job. Almost immediately, she captured the attention and support of her co-workers and customers. She was a kind, generous young girl. Haley one who knew her could see, she was bright, quick-witted, energetic, and full of life. Haley was very dedicated to her job and no doubt she was driven to succeed. Haley's presence at the restaurant enhanced the atmosphere and the people who came in. She had a spotless record of service and customer satisfaction. Haley went out of her way often to serve in her job and was known by many of our neighboring businesses for her thoughtfulness and gift shopping and giving. Haley once interviewed me, the owner, for her school newspaper. It was a story for the holiday season based on the importance of local community support. Haley mentioned that journalism was a passion of hers and something she planned to pursue in college. We are deeply saddened about the horrific events that occurred and pray for justice for Haley and her family and friends and for their peace, also for the communities that lost her bright light and youthful spirit. Haley is gone way too soon and we will miss her infectious smile, her cheerfulness, and jokes. And what the owner said about journalism was absolutely true, as her parents also described her as a dedicated student who was excitedly working towards a career in journalism by being a member of the journalism team at her school. But again, Haley was a junior in high school so she had a few months left of her eleventh grade before heading into her senior year this coming August of 2026. Now her school of course had their two weeks off for winter break after three days of final exams in mid-December, with break starting on December 19th and ending after the holidays on Monday, January 5th. And actually it was later in the evening after that first day back at school for her second semester of eleventh grade that she went missing. Now remember Haley lived at home with her dad, her stepmom, and her two siblings. But let's talk a little bit about her neighborhood because she lived in the beautiful Fisher's neighborhood of the enclave at Vermillion. And here's how it's described on FirstWalk.com. Quote, It offers unique single-family homes featuring craftsmen, italianate, tutor, and Greek revival home designs. Choose from both ranch and two story floor plans with exquisitely detailed exterior designs, as well as access to shopping, dining, entertainment, and community events. So she had reportedly, you know, this really stable home life with her hardworking parents in a beautiful newly built suburban community. So back to January 5th. On that very evening, Haley was reportedly last seen at 10pm, and then at some point that evening, Haley left the home. When her family woke up the next day, they noticed that she was gone and they also reported that it seemed that she had left of her own accord, because not only were there no signs of forced entry and also no signs of a struggle, but Haley had left with multiple everyday items. Now right now, we don't know exactly what those items were or how much she left with. Which obviously could help the public understand how long she was planning on being gone for, especially since remember, school was just back in session. So that day, her family did report her missing, and naturally, police originally believed that Haley had just run away, because maybe for the first time in a case that we've covered on going west, it kind of seems like that's what might have happened. But very quickly, based on what they would continue to find, the situation seemed to be one of concern, and much more than just a simple runaway story. Because like Daphne said, the neighborhood was newly built, and actually Haley's family home, which is five bedrooms, was built in 2022. So her house and even the house right across the street are adorned with not only doorbell cameras, but security cameras fitted to the home's exterior as well. And this would help tremendously, because although Haley's house is the first at one of the un-gated entrances of their neighborhood, these cameras were enough to pinpoint when Haley was picked up, and also by who. Just like in the Tepi Murders case that we just did three parts on, surveillance footage played a major role in this case. And because Haley was a minor and police were interested in finding out who Haley had gone off with, to obviously ensure that she was safe, they tracked down the car that they found on surveillance footage, picking her up from outside of her house, which was an Acura with an Indiana license plate. And what they found was absolutely horrific. So like Haley's saying, this did look like a runaway case, but her family, of course, were incredibly worried from the jump, which is why they reported her missing as soon as they realized she was gone, because she was supposed to wake up that morning and go to school for another day, the second day into her second semester. Right. That's just not super typical or normal. Maybe if it was on a weekend, they would be like, oh, well, I wonder if she just like slipped out to go do something, but this is a school day, she should have been in school. And like a lot of teenagers that we talk about on the show, honestly, she was very, very responsible. Like I said, she was in the Journalism Club. She had a job. Yeah, she was not the type to run away. So right away, they're like, why did she leave? Like what's going on? Obviously, they looked at their own cameras, and that's why they reported her missing, because they were really worried about her. And also, she hadn't communicated with them at all after she left. Like she didn't say she was going off with a friend. She didn't ensure that she was okay, and she would be back. Now in an age where teenagers are glued to their devices, she was totally unreachable, because not only was she not reaching out, she was not responding to their calls and texts. So instead of a runaway case, police looked at Haley's disappearance as an endangered missing juvenile. So although they believe she left voluntarily, since they could see on surveillance footage her willingly getting into this vehicle, they still suspected she was in danger, especially as the days continued to pass with no contact. So this is why police tracked down that vehicle and identified a suspect, a 39 year old man named Tyler Thomas, who is from Hawaii, but has been living in Ohio. And I think it's great that they were able to identify that she did leave voluntarily, but also the fact that they believe that she was in danger, because sometimes we don't see that in certain cases. They're just like, oh, well, she's a runaway. So oh my god, they could have easily said, well, clearly she's willingly getting into that car, but I think they are really listening to the parents and hearing out that this is not typical and that they don't know whose car she was getting into. Which I feel like it could have totally gone the other way. But again, having the security camera footage was so helpful in this case, because right off the bat, they're able to identify a vehicle. They're like, oh yeah, that's the car she got into right there. Well, then they tracked it to this 39 year old man named Tyler Thomas, and they're like, why is a 40 year old guy picking up a 17 year old girl? Like, this is why it is so good that they looked into this right away, because this was not her school friend picking her up. So this man, of course, was questioned in relation to Haley's disappearance, and at some point in his interview, he actually admitted to police that he had picked Haley up from her house the night she vanished. She's saying, yes, I did that because he can't deny it, right? We don't know under what circumstance he admitted to this though or what other details he provided yet other than the fact that he dropped her off on the side of a road in Western Ohio at some point after picking her up. Which would mean at a minimum. They would have been in a car together for over two hours. Yeah, and this is obviously a fucking lie. Yeah, clearly he did not pick her up just to drop her off on the side of a random road, but I'd really be interested to know what his excuse was for doing this anyway. Yeah, you know, I picked her up and I drove her two hours and then I just said, get out. Yeah, like this. What's your reasoning? So stupid. Obviously, he knew he was going to get caught in the lie there. Well, through continued investigation, police found that this was not true. And with the help of Haley's devices as well as Tyler's, they were able to uncover that they had met on an online game and had been talking for over a year. So this 39 year old man had been grooming this 17 year old for about a year. But also remember, you know, she had just turned 17 in October of 2025. Right. So she was 16 when they first started talking. And if it was over a year, we don't have the date yet, she could have even been 15, which is disgusting. Now there is a lot of speculation online that the gaming question is Roblox, which police have only confirmed online gaming is how they met. But in case it is Roblox, that is a massive social platform. You can play this game while having private chats, voice chatting, etc. So it's not just gaming. It's kind of like virtually hanging out with friends and strangers due to it's open like chat ability. Actually, Roblox has been linked to many other cases of online grooming because of this. As although Roblox chat filters and blocks you from like listing your phone number in your address, predators and people often get around this by spelling things weirdly and then asking kids to add them on discord or session or Snapchat. And then that's how they take the game offline. Yeah, and this is very much a known issue with a ton of public outrage that it seems like the CEO kind of glazes over. But the game is so popular amongst Gen Alpha. So a lot of impressionable kids are playing this game, not understanding the dangers and the predators that are lurking in there. Yeah, and then the parents think they're just playing a game and don't know what is happening behind this game. And it's interesting because Daphne you mentioned to me that the owner of Roblox wanted to make the game like a dating site for 17 and older, which of course 17 is still a minor. Yeah, there's the CEO has said a lot of a lot of people think this CEO is like whacked out. Like he is, I mean, the fact that he wanted, he has been pushing to make it a dating website, essentially, or add like a dating feature of like, oh, you can meet people on here and you can date and yeah, 17, you're still a minor. So that is illegal and it's a very predatory idea. So obviously it's no surprise that Roblox has faced over 100 lawsuits related to predators in child safety concerns. Yeah, so if they did meet on Roblox, it's very possible that he catfished her and they moved the conversation off game. I mean, it kind of seems like that's exactly what happened. Yeah, so we want to know, did he catfisher and maybe pretend he was younger while they were talking only to reveal that he was 39 and she's only 17 once they meet up because obviously by looking at him, she would know, oh, you're like, well, twice my age. Yeah, or was this some sort of manipulation? Was he using this tactic of, oh, I'm an older guy. I'm successful. I've got my shit together like, you know, like I'm impressive. Look at me. Yes, I'm glad you bring that up because we have talked about this in other cases of teenagers and something that I think a lot of parents and people don't understand. Like I was born in 1994. So I grew up on like my space and omega and stuff like that when I was a teenager and I found myself in like chat rooms, talking to strangers because you're like, oh, the internet is so big. And I was actually telling my mom this and I'm like, I think if like I could have found myself in the same trap when you're a teenage girl, you want to be valued, you want to be seen, you want to be older. And I can absolutely see Haley or any other teenage girl talking to a guy even if they know he's older and he sees her and thinks she's mature and convinces her to meet up to put her in a dangerous situation. Well, yeah, and this can really happen to anybody. I actually know somebody, this actually happened to a friend of mine who is a guy that got cat fished online and the situation was pretty gnarly. So yeah, it really can happen to anybody and that's why I think it's so important to kind of put this out there for the public to know and especially parents to know that they need to monitor what their kids are doing online. Like just that's just, it has to be that way. Well, that's something that's so devastating about this story in particular and why it's such an unfortunately cautionary tale. Haley didn't sign up to be a cautionary tale. No, not at all. But I would imagine that her parents didn't know that she was talking to this guy online. The reality of the world is that there are just predators out there and there are bad people and they're looking to take advantage of other people. Yes, all the time. That's why we were saying this about Roblox because it is a breeding ground for predators and they're always looking for a new way to find children. Yeah, I mean, 100 lawsuits is not nothing. No. And I do want to add, so they like like we are just talking about how a lot of predators or people will move their conversations off game so that they can speak freely. And obviously as we know as well, Haley and Tyler had been talking for over a year. So they met on a game. They moved it off game to an app called session. Now session is a free encrypted messenger app that doesn't require a phone number or an email for account creation. Haley this app even protects users metadata and IP addresses. So very, very private, which means it's probably used for a lot of bad shit. Yeah, by a lot of bad people. But so he told detectives that he, you know, they were talking on session for a very long time, having these in-depth conversations for months and months and months. And he essentially admitted Tyler did two detectives that he planned her running away and her transport on session. So they talked about how they would meet up and how he would pick her up. They planned all of this on session. So he essentially from what I'm gathering, he was explaining that, oh, this is going to be such a better life. Like we can finally be together and you just need to run away. Let's plan this to get, you know, it's like he's kind of, this is the whole thing. It's grooming. He's essentially creating this idea that life is going to be so much better with him. Outside of her family home. And it only makes you wonder exactly what he said. You know, obviously this is why she took her things with her because they planned to get away together and to go away. But why she wanted to get away from her home, what he said exactly to convince a minor to leave her home, how long she planned to be gone, we just don't yet know. Well, let's get a little bit more into Tyler. Let's find out who this piece of shit really is because he's known to be a catfish to some degree, including going by the name James on various dating apps like Boo and Field. Now Boo is a dating and friend making app in field is a dating app that focuses on exploring kind of more alternative relationships like for those who have kinks or are polyamorous, non monogamous, etc. This field account claims that he's a 32 year old straight man named James, though remember he is 39 with his bio reading quote, love to travel, explore and experiment from an island, but soon to be hiking up some mountains or in the Midwest. His listed desires include casual friends with benefits, connection, BDSM, aftercare, aka bike cuddling, etc., for play and intimacy. Though if it even matters, exes of his have come out and said that he had a lot of other fetishes as well, though primarily it was BDSM. His Boo profile also lists his name as James, and it states that he's an engineer who studied at UCSD, so University of San Diego, and that he was living in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His bio reads quote, From the West Coast, but thought I'd move to Ohio. It also states that he was looking for friends, that he's 36, and INFP, which is a personality traits, and also a Taurus. So clearly he's lying about his name and age, and actually, there's a Facebook group called, are we dating the same guy, Columbus, Marion, Zayn'sville, Ohio, that posted his field page where it says that his name was James in November of 2024. With the poster stating quote, First name is actually Tyler, and I suspect that there's a partner who may not know what he's out doing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, so it's kind of like, I think this is, it's really interesting that there's actually a community for this, because it's like, it's holding people accountable, it's like, hey, are we dating the same person, is someone cheating on you or me? Well, also the fact that they discovered his name as Tyler, he's saying his name as James, that is us on the tone, but also why are you de-aging yourself by 17 years? Yeah, I think this guy has a particularly hard time realizing that he's 39, like, bro, it's fine, you're getting older. Some other reports suggest that he had been in an eight year relationship with a Columbus radiologist, so if that is true, it seems that he lied about his age and his name so that he could cheat on his girlfriend. Yeah, I think that sounds about right, and maybe so that he could get younger girls to like him. Well, I'm only 31, 32, you know, maybe because obviously with the dating apps, you set your age parameters. Right. So maybe a 20 year old would go up to 30 or 31, but not to 38 or 39. Yeah. So that kind of, I think that says a lot on its own. He's definitely trying to use that to his advantage, but, you know, as almost 39 year old myself, just deal with it, bro, like date people your own age, you freak. Well, clearly he's a predator, and obviously now a pedophile. But I will say that there is a lot of speculation about him doing this so that he can traffic young women and girls, but at this point, because we don't have anything else, concrete, this is just speculation. But either way, this just kind of shows that he's more than comfortable with lying about his name and age and who knows what else. Now before we move on, I wanted to mention another comment on this post that we found pretty interesting assuming it's true. It says quote, I met James. James is actually Tyler in its 100% him. I left his apartment in quotations after 10 minutes. Claimed to only have a bike in no car. He went in for coffee and then went to his place, but left quickly. I don't know why I just had to leave. Nothing bad happened. Just a bad gut feeling. Had a very empty apartment, mattress on the floor of his room, and nobody was there, but he claimed to have three roommates. Not the mattress on the floor. Yeah, the 39 year old mattress on the floor, my god. And with all this background information now, let's get into the next development in the case that led to the horrific findings that are captivating news headlines everywhere. Once police identified 39 year old Tyler Thomas, they immediately feared the worst. That this man was indeed a predator, obviously, and that he had done something to Hailey. Interestingly, as far as we know, he does not have a prior criminal record, but he knowingly crossed state lines with Hailey and his story actually started to falter. So this quickly became a multi-agency investigation with the Columbus police and the FBI assisting the Fisher's police. Yeah, because now we have two different jurisdictions. So there's more than just a few agencies gathering together to solve this thing. Especially because at that point, he said, yeah, I took her into Ohio and I dropped her off on the side of a road in Western Ohio. So now it's like based on what he said at first, they're like, okay, so she's just out there in Western Ohio. Perhaps even though of course, I'm sure they were like, right? Yeah, you just left her on the side of the road. Sure, buddy. Exactly. And as this large team continue to interview and investigate Tyler, they found out that after picking up Hailey, they both went to a home on Hunter Avenue in Columbus, Ohio, which is in a suburban area of Victorian village and is a three and a half hour drive away from her home in Fisher's Indiana. So on January 21, 2026, two weeks into the search for Hailey, a search warrant of this Columbus home was conducted as well as one for his devices and what they found was terrifying. On his cell phone, belonging to Tyler Thomas, investigators found child sexual abuse material of Hailey, both photo and video, as well as evidence that Tyler had tried to delete them and dispose of this evidence. So he's already trying to cover his tracks? Yeah, so I'm sure after police found him, he was like, oh my god, I better go delete this in case they look at it, but it wasn't gone completely. They still found it. Yeah, because they're going to be able to still get that information. So this material proved that Hailey had been inside his home, that he had explicit material of her and that he was trying to hide that fact. But this wasn't the only property police searched regarding Tyler. They also found a short term rental of his near Hawking Hills, Ohio, which is a very rural area known for attacking trails and waterfalls. So this rental property was searched multiple times and police have confirmed that forensic evidence was found inside that may indicate a crime occurred on that property. Now especially since there was proof of Hailey being at both properties, police believe that she may have been alive for days after she went missing before Tyler ultimately killed her. But before they had confirmation that Hailey was deceased, police used drones and canines to search the area for any sign of her or her remains. Detectives of course also searched Tyler's vehicle, you know the one that he used to pick up Hailey, which they collected DNA, a hair tie, a seat cover, and took nearly four dozen photos of. And then Tyler was arrested. Actually, at the request of local police, he surrendered and turned himself in. But it was not for murder, at least not yet. Now because he tried to delete the explicit photos and videos of Hailey and potentially trying to hide other information related to the investigation, on January 31st of 2026 this year, in Columbus, Ohio while cooperating with police, Tyler Thomas was arrested for tampering with evidence, which is a felony. In the next day, he was charged with pandering sexually oriented material, involving a minor, which also had to do with those explicit images, and this is a serious felony in Ohio as well. The arrest document reads, quote, on the 6th day of January 2026, the complaintant did alter or remove a thing to wit. A video of Hailey Busby, the missing juvenile, performing sexual acts which was located in his deleted file, and is in the form of cash photos, with purpose to impair its availability as evidence in such proceeding or investigation. Now something that we wanted to mention that many seem to be confused about is the fact that Tyler's arrest information lists him as homeless. It also says that he's white with brown eyes and black hair weighs 155 pounds in his life. But the reasons why it would say homeless as it doesn't appear he actually was, is because he either refused to give the arresting officer his address, or he doesn't have a permanent residence currently. So surely with time we'll learn more about the home that he brought Hailey to in Columbus, as well as that short-term rental near Hawking Hills, and the small city of Logan which by the way, had indicated on the rental listing that two guests would be staying there, but Tyler originally lied until the police that he was just there by himself. And by the way this rental was a cabin. As of Monday, February 2nd, 2026, the judge had set a $1.5 million cash surety bond for Tyler, though his attorney stated that Tyler has quote, absolutely zero intention of making this bond. He's almost saying like he's being a good boy, he's not going to flee, he's not going to try to get away with this. Well his attorney added Tyler's interest in quote, fully cooperating with bringing closure as quickly as possible to this extraordinarily unfortunate situation. I hate the language that they use in this shit. But get this guys, Tyler actually cooperated so much that on February 1st, he led police to Haley's remains and Wayne National Forest and Perry County Ohio, which is 45 minutes away from Hawking Hills and an hour and 15 minutes from Columbus. And according to Hawking County Sheriff Lanny North, her remains were found near a trailhead in a snowy wooded area. But he added quote, he didn't say that he killed her or where it happened. Hence why Tyler's attorney Sam Shamancki stated later that if homicide charges are filed, Tyler will plead not guilty, despite leading them to her remains. Now as we discussed in the Tepe series, the reason for this is so that he would have the right to defend himself against the evidence and possibly plead his case. I mean it's just so hard to believe that his attorney says that Tyler maintains that he was not involved in Haley's death. There's just, you know, there's just no way. The fact that he groomed a 17 year old took her away from her house to his property, this weird little rental property in Hawking Hills and then says that, and then they find her remains in a wooded area and he says that he was not involved at all like come on. I wonder if he'll try to pull, you know, oh she died and I just put her there, you know. Well, this actually I had a thought in my mind about the BDSM thing, like maybe is he going to say something like, oh yeah, well, I mean he could be charged with obviously statutory rape. But if he was to say like, oh well, we were just having rough sex and I accidentally choked her to death or something like that. Yeah. Like is he going to try to pull something like that or, hey, we were, you know, doing drugs together in Chioservido says it's going to be some stupid explanation like that. Well, it's just hard because we don't know how she died yet. So it's like, who knows what he'll say because he knows how she died. Of course he does. Well, that's the biggest thing that's going to be revealed in this case is her cause and manner of death because once we know that like there, there, those excuses are going to start, you know, falling apart. Well, in light of all these horrific revelations on February 1, 2026, Haley's father Bill released the following statement on Facebook, quote, Haley was a smart, beautiful, kind and caring young lady with a bright future. She had a deep love for her family and holds a very special place in so many hearts. Our family is devastated. We want the community and others to know that we are so grateful for the support we received. It's been tremendous and gave us the hope and strength we needed during our darkest hours. Please continue to keep our family and your thoughts and prayers as we move forward and thank you for all the love you have shown our precious Haley. Please consider signing and sharing the petition below Haley's law. And this right here is going to be the call to action. So please listen up and pay attention here. Yeah, let's talk more about Haley's law. So her family and local elected leaders are pushing for child cyber safety in Indiana. So they want to push this new initiative and create a new emergency, the pink alert since pink was Haley's favorite color. So this law would mandate education on online grooming in Indiana schools, which is amazing on its own. And the pink alert would activate and notify your phone like an amber alert would if there is evidence of online grooming or predator contact nearby, suspicious or coercive communications, a sudden unexplained disappearance, exploitation or trafficking risk factors, credible threats or alarming digital activity, and vulnerability due to age or circumstances. Lieutenant Governor Beckwith said on this law, quote, Haley's law actually fills a gap between the amber alert and the silver alert right now. Unless you see somebody physically being abducted, you can't really call for an amber alert. We need to call for this now so that people can be on the lookout because time is of the essence. I think this law should be everywhere because here's something that's really important in Haley's case. Like we're saying, teenagers are so impressionable, you know, preteens children, they are so young. And if I really believe that if Haley had known about online predators more, if she had been more informed of how manipulative people can be, including somebody like Tyler, who probably seemed like a peer or an ally. Yeah, or some sort of knight in shining armor. Yeah, I mean, imagine if Haley had learned about this exact type of story in school, all of this could have been avoided because she would have known the signs and could have said, I don't know if this stranger is who I think he is. Yeah, I definitely think that laws like this need to be enacted immediately. I think it's been a long time coming, obviously. Yes. When we look at the internet, the age of the internet and how often this really does happen, and the fact that there haven't been laws like this put into place to keep children safe, I mean, it's just unimaginable. Like you would think that this would have already been done. I agree, which is why it's so important to share this story and to know about it as parents or as teens, so that stories like this don't happen anymore. Well, the petition, which is on change.org, and we will post for anybody else who wants to sign it, reads quote, Haley didn't simply run away. She was lured. In today's digital world, a predator doesn't need a van or a public encounter. They only need a smartphone. Indiana's current alert system leaves a dangerous gap when someone goes missing under suspicious, unusual or high-risk circumstances that don't meet existing criteria. For decades, we've taught children, stranger danger, and warned them not to accept candy from someone in a van. While those lessons still matter, they no longer reflect the most common threats. Today's predators often pose as friends, peers, or mentors, reaching children through social media, gaming platforms, and online communities. Our law, alerts, and education standards must reflect that reality. Pass Haley's law. So well said. Because really, the stranger danger, the van, the creepy guy in a van who has candy like all those, those are so outdated. I mean, obviously that kind of stuff still happens, of course, and it's still relevant to a degree. And which is why they're saying that this, that's still matters, of course, but we've moved into a digital world, you know, and we need to keep kids safe, you know, while they're on the internet and prevent things like this from happening. Totally agree. Well, we assume that Tyler will be charged with murder imminently. But here's why he hasn't been yet, despite him leading investigators to her body. Right now, as we said, there are still no details available regarding her cause or manner of death, nor details pertaining to exactly how or where her remains were located, and what condition they were in. Obviously, Heath said they were at a snowy trailhead. Right. We talked about them being in Perry County, Ohio, but we don't know the exact condition or circumstances. During a press conference held on February 1, 2026, Fisher's Indiana Mayor Scott Fadness stated, quote, It pains me today to let you know that after extensive investigation, we feel that Haley is deceased. That was the day that they found her remains. And that's all we have at this point. Of course, the police already have Tyler Thomas in custody, so they have bought themselves some time to do this right and make sure that they have a very strong case against him for murder, which we know they will, you know, should be able to do based on what we already know as it is. But they really just need to wait until they have the cause and manner of death confirmed in Haley's case, which should happen very, very soon. But also, this case crosses state lines and the FBI is involved. So prosecutors have to decide which state is going to file the charges, which county has jurisdiction and where the murder actually occurred, which tends to take a bit of time. You know, they want a slam dunk case here. In the latest, Tyler Thomas has waived his preliminary hearing, which means he isn't going to fight the current charges against him. So his case will go straight to a grand jury very soon, which means police will be able to add new and more serious charges if they can charge him in her murder or even her kidnapping. But luckily, as we wait for more, Tyler Thomas sits in a Franklin county jail. Thank you so much, everybody, for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode. Remember, we are going to post that change.org petition for Haley's law. So please make sure that you sign it alongside us. And thank you so much to everybody again who emailed this in, who sent it over on socials, Heath and I have been following it since the very beginning. Yes, a ton of you guys sent over this recommendation. I know we are all so devastated with where this case went and obviously there are details coming out all the time. So we may be back very soon with an update episode. But make sure that you're following us on socials because any kind of quick, small update will just post it there. Like there was just a tepid murder update about how many times they were shot each and we just posted that on our socials versus of course making a whole episode about it. So yeah, we're on Instagram at Going West Podcast. We're also on Facebook and we have a TikTok. So go give us a follow. Alright guys, so for everybody out there in the world, don't be a stranger.