KCBD Investigates: Dunn family’s private investigator calls for accountability after prime murder suspect released

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - Hope is something Clint Dunn has struggled to hold onto since his daughter, Hailey, disappeared in 2010.

For the first three years after Hailey was reported missing, Clint prayed they would find her alive.

In 2013, law enforcement discovered Hailey’s remains near a lake about 30 minutes from her hometown of Colorado City.

Years later, no arrests had been made.

In 2019, KCBD sat down with Clint who said law enforcement promised him they would find the person responsible.

“I want to let the murderers know that I’m coming for them. The walls around them are going to fall down and they are going to go to trial. They’re going to go to prison,” Clint said in the 2019 interview.

Clint came close to finding justice when law enforcement arrested Shawn Adkins for Hailey’s murder.

Adkins was dating Hailey’s mother at the time of her disappearance and law enforcement believe he was the last person to see Hailey alive.

Weeks before Adkins’s trial was scheduled to begin, prosecutors dropped all charges because they needed more time to investigate.

On Monday, July 24, Clint’s private investigator, Erica Morse, hosted a news conference via Zoom in response to Adkins’ release.

“Now we have an accused child killer roaming the streets again weeks before his trial was supposed to begin. Who should be held accountable for that?” Morse asked.

Morse said Hailey’s case has changed hands too many times.

“We had the FBI in there, the Texas Rangers, and then you had your local guys. What happens in a situation like that is if there is not one centralized location, all of that stuff becomes disorganized,” Morse said.

Court records reveal prosecutors are struggling with a critical piece of evidence.

According to the documents, the State tested soil from Adkins’ work boots and found a match to soil collected from where Hailey’s body was found.

Prosecutors said they recently learned the FBI also ran a test and did not find a match.

“Clint has heard from several forensic anthropologists and a couple of labs since Shawn was released,” Morse said.

Morse said they plan to retest the samples.

In the court documents, prosecutors said they still consider Adkins their prime suspect and will pursue charges again if they can obtain the evidence they need.

Morse said Clint is also taking steps to solve the case.

“He is now a high school graduate and a college student,” Morse said. “He’s going for forensics, he is going for biology. He is learning everything he can learn in college to solve Hailey’s case.”

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