The Murder of Hailey Buzbee

Summary

Murder Sheet: The Murder of Hailey Busbee

Air Date: February 2, 2026
Hosts: Áine Cain (A), Kevin Greenlee (B)

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Episode Overview

This episode provides an in-depth, sensitive journalistic account of the disappearance and murder of 17-year-old Hailey Busbee from Fishers, Indiana. Drawing from law enforcement press conferences, community reactions, discussion of digital dangers, and legal documentation, hosts Áine Cain and Kevin Greenlee walk listeners through the devastating developments, the evolving investigation, and calls for systemic change in handling similar cases.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Timeline of Events

• Hailey’s Disappearance: Hailey Busbee, 17, went missing on January 5, 2026, from her home in Fishers, Indiana, initially classified as a runaway, later as an endangered missing juvenile ([00:00]–[02:53]).
• Community Response: Vigorous efforts by her family and community to raise awareness through both traditional and social media.
• Devastating Development: On February 1, 2026, law enforcement held a press conference announcing they believed Hailey was deceased. Media reports indicate her body was found around February 2, 2026 ([03:01]–[04:46], [18:10]–[19:04]).

2. Press Conference Details

Statements from Officials ([04:46]–[10:04])

• Mayor Scott Fadness (Fishers, IN):

  • Spoke about the community’s pain, Hailey’s promise and character, and the efforts being made to support her grieving family.

    “She was a bright light in the family. She was a wonderful big sister. She had a tremendous amount of promise and hope. She was excited about moving on to university. ... our community will rally in coming hours, days and weeks to stand with that family and their grief.” — Mayor Fadness ([05:02])

• Chief Ed Gerhardt (Fishers PD):

  • Identified the suspect as Tyler Thomas, 39, of Ohio.
  • Evidence (including digital forensics and statements) indicated she was with Thomas in Columbus, Ohio, and at a short-term rental in Hocking County ([07:05]).

    “Our detectives identified a suspect, 39 year old Tyler Thomas of Ohio. ...through continued investigations, his initial story was determined to be untrue. ...More evidence was collected at the home and the vehicle he had picked Haley up in.” — Chief Gerhardt ([07:05]–[10:04])

  • The investigation transitioned to recovery after learning details of her fate, and the case shifted jurisdiction to Ohio.

• Special Agent Tim O’Malley (FBI Indianapolis):

  • Extended condolences, emphasized FBI’s technical and investigative support, especially coordination with Ohio agencies.

    “The FBI is committed to pursuing justice and holding those responsible accountable for what they did.” — Tim O’Malley ([10:04])

Q&A With Press ([11:22])

• Notably: The meeting between Hailey and Thomas was not random; they met via online gaming, sparking renewed concerns about digital predator access to minors.

  “This person came here to meet Hayley and that Hayley and the suspect met somehow through online gaming.” — Kevin Greenlee ([11:45])

3. Digital Dangers & Predator Access

• Discussion expanded on how online predators, enabled by modern communications, can lure victims without ever leaving home.

  “Predators no longer have to go in a van to your neighborhood... They can on their computer or on their phone online through these different communities. ... They have more access to children than ever because of the Internet...” — Áine Cain ([11:45]–[13:52])

• Both hosts stressed the seriousness of online grooming and reiterated the difficulty for parents to police these digital frontiers, arguing for more robust regulatory responsibility from tech companies.

  “To put the onus entirely on parents to deal with that, I think is a dereliction of society's duty to protect children.” — Áine ([35:43])

4. Investigation Details & Legal Documentation

• Suspect Details: Tyler N. Thomas, 39, from Columbus, Ohio (listed as homeless, but with address info on Hunter Avenue).
• Charges (as of episode):
  1. Pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor (creation/production of CSAM)
  2. Tampering with evidence (deleting/altering digital evidence) ([19:04]–[24:00])
• Affidavit Summary:
  • Digital forensics uncovered deleted sexual abuse material involving Hailey on Thomas’s devices.
  • The case moved from a missing persons’ case in Indiana to a homicide case in Ohio, given evidence she died in Ohio ([24:00]–[29:16]).
• Arraignment: Thomas appeared remotely for his arraignment on February 2nd, with a $1.5 million bond. His attorney confirmed Hailey’s remains were found in Perry County, Ohio ([34:22]–[34:41]).

5. Community and Family Advocacy: ‘Hailey’s Law’ & the Pink Alert Proposal

• Hailey's family and friends advocate for “Haley's Law,” which would:

  • Create a Pink Alert for high-risk missing minors not qualifying for other alerts.
  • Update and mandate predator awareness education in Indiana schools, focusing on modern online risks ([30:16]–[33:55]).

• Host Endorsement:

  “There should be a different kind of alert for something like what Hailey went through, like the pink alert they're suggesting, because it still puts it out there for people...” — Áine ([33:35])

6. Reflections, Systemic Critique & Moving Forward

• Critical reflection on the responsibilities of online platforms, law enforcement, education systems, and society at large to prevent digital predation.
• Rejection of victim-blaming, reaffirming focus on perpetrators and system failures ([35:43]–[38:59]):

  “If we want to look to blame somebody, blame the perpetrator first of all. And then secondarily, look at what were the environments that led this young girl to be in contact with this guy and how was that allowed to happen?” — Áine

7. Appeal for Information

• Request for listeners with information about Tyler Thomas’s activities or online aliases to contact the hosts at murdersheetmail.com ([39:00]).

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Community Shock:

  “You don't think of it as the sort of place where these kinds of tragedies happen. But of course, in this day and age, these tragedies happen everywhere. There's nowhere you're immune from it.” — Kevin ([04:46])

• On Vulnerability in the Digital Age:

  “We're in a very different landscape for predators. And they, I think, have more access to children than ever because of the Internet, because of social media, because of the proliferation of smartphones.” — Áine ([12:45])

• On Law Enforcement’s Diligence:

  “Between the tips that you've shared with us and the support that you have shown the family, we could not have asked for more from our community and beyond. This is not the outcome that any of us had wanted.” — Chief Gerhardt ([09:15])

• Systemic Responsibility:

  “I think more needs to be done about this legislatively because obviously these companies are not going to do it themselves. And it's our children on the line.” — Áine ([35:43])

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:00–02:53: Introduction; Hailey’s background and disappearance
• 04:46–10:04: Press conference—statements from Mayor, Police Chief, FBI
• 11:22–13:52: How Hailey met the suspect; digital dangers discussion
• 19:04–24:00: Suspect’s background; charges and court documents
• 29:16–33:55: Jurisdiction explanation; family’s advocacy for ‘Hailey’s Law’ and Pink Alert
• 34:22–34:41: Arraignment and confirmation body found
• 35:43–38:59: Systemic analysis, critique of tech companies, and call for legislative reform
• 39:00–39:59: Appeal for further information from the public

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Conclusion

This episode delivers a thorough, impactful examination of Hailey Busbee’s case—honoring her memory, scrutinizing investigative progress, emphasizing the lurking dangers faced by youth online, and rallying for systemic changes in child safety protocols. The hosts’ empathy, legal insight, and journalistic rigor provide listeners with both clarity on the facts and a thoughtful call to action.

For more information or to share tips:
Email: murdersheetmail.com

Support ‘Hailey’s Law’ & learn about the Pink Alert petition:
Check show notes for the Change.org petition link.

Transcript

[A]

Anya. I'm Anya. And today we're going to talk about a very tragic development in the disappearance of 17 year old Hailey Busby of Fishers, Indiana. Content warning. This episode contains discussion of murder, including the murder of a child and sexual abuse of children. So we previously talked on the murder sheet about how on the night of January 5, 2026, 17 year old Hailey Busby vanished. This was a teenager from Fishers, Indiana. She was believed to have left her home at the Enclave at Vermillion, which is a housing development area off of 101st street near Flat Fork Creek Park. And she was believed to have left on her own accord. So police initially classified her as a runaway, then changed that status to endangered missing juvenile. They launched a investigation. Haley's family also raised awareness about her disappearance through the traditional media and through social media and all around the country, we saw people sharing Hailey's story on social media. Unfortunately, yesterday, Sunday, February 1, 2026, this case came to a devastating conclusion because that was when officials in Fishers, Indiana called a press conference announcing that they believed that Haley was deceased. And what they discussed at that press conference was horrific. We'll get into that shortly. But as of Today, on Monday, February 2, 2026, media is coming out that investigators believe they found Haley's body. And we're going to talk about what we know so far about these circumstances. My name is Anya Cain. I'm a journalist.

[B]

And I'm Kevin Greenlee. I'm an attorney.

[A]

And this is the Murder Sheet.

[B]

We're a true crime podcast focused on original reporting, interviews and deep dives into murder cases. We're the Murder Sheet.

[A]

And this is the murder of Hailey Busby. It's.

[B]

What terrible news this was to receive yesterday. And certainly we were all earnestly hoping for a different conclusion to this case.

[A]

Yeah, I really, really wish that we could just do some update at some point saying she'd been found safe and went back to her family and that everything was okay. And this was a gut punch yesterday when, when they made this announcement. And we'll talk about this in depth, but I guess just to start with, our hearts go out to the Busby family, to everyone who KN loved Haley, to her classmates, to her friends, her peers in Fishers, Indiana.

[B]

It.

[A]

This whole thing is so awful and, you know, it's just, it, it. It's never should have happened. So with that out of the way, we'll talk about what was discussed at this press conference because I think it kind of shines a light about what. Where things may develop in the future. And I might kind of have you read some of the parts. Kevin I'll read some of the other ones. I think, to start off with, I guess we'll go into the press conference in detail and then talk about some of the filings or the filing that we received in this case so far. But up first, yesterday, I think they called the press conference around 5pm not a lot of notice. But Mayor Scott Fadness was the first person to speak at this. Mayor Fadness is the mayor of Fishers, Indiana. I think his presence underscores how important this case has been to Fishers, Indiana, as a community. For those of you who are not aware of Fishers or what's going on in Indiana, Fishers is a city to the north of Indianapolis. It's frequently cited as one of the best places to live, I think, in the country, in the United States. It's great. It's also like the fourth largest city, I think, in Indiana, but it has a very small town, suburban feel.

[B]

And certainly it's widely regarded as being very safe. You don't think of it as the sort of place where these kinds of tragedies happen. But of course, in this day and age, these tragedies happen everywhere. There's nowhere you're immune from it.

[A]

Nowhere is immune from horrible crimes and horrible tragedies. We know that from places like Delphi, Indiana, where, again, not you don't expect these things to happen anywhere. But certainly I think a lot of people are in shock in Fishers right now, especially imagine people who, who knew of Haley and knew her family. So this is what Scott Vadnais had to say. Quote, thank you, everyone, for showing up this afternoon. Fishers, for as long as I can remember, our name is synonymous with family and family values. So it pains me today to let you know that after an extensive investigation, we feel that Haley is deceased. And I want to talk about her primarily. And then we're going to have Chief Gerhardt come up and talk about the details of the case. But I've spent some time with the family this morning along with Chief Gerhardt, and their wishes were truly to express what an incredible human being Haley was. She was a bright light in the family. She was a wonderful big sister. She had a tremendous amount of promise and hope. She was excited about moving on to university. And she was an incredible human being. And I know that her family is devastated currently. And I'm confident that our community will rally in coming hours, days and weeks to stand with that family and their grief. And share in the burden of mending and healing from this tragic loss. I want to thank Chief Gerhardt and the Fishers Police Department. I want to thank the FBI. I want to thank our other counterparts in law enforcement for the tireless work over the last three to four weeks to try to bring Haley home. Unfortunately, with the evidence we have today, she will not be coming home alive. We're still working diligently to bring closure to this case. Next up came Chief Ed Gerhart, who is the chief of the Fishers Police Department. He's been with the department since 2000. He graduated from the Federal Bureau of Investigations National Academy and Mayor Fadness appointed him as the chief in 2018. So do you want to go ahead and read what Chief Gerhardt had to say? Kevin?

[B]

Certainly. Quote Our detectives identified a suspect, 39 year old Tyler Thomas of Ohio. Because of evidence obtained and the statements made by the suspect, the investigation has now moved to recovery efforts. On January 6, we responded to the Busby residence. Her parents had reported that she had left overnight. Our officers and our detectives diligently, diligently began the process to locate her. Using all of our resources available throughout the investigation, we were able to identify an unknown vehicle that had been in Haley's neighborhood the night she had gone missing. Using technology, our detectives identified Thomas as the suspect she had left with. We made contact with him in Ohio and he admitted to picking Hailey up at her home. He told us that he dropped her off on the side of the road in western Ohio. However, through continued investigations, his initial story was determined to be untrue. We continued to diligently work with the FBI, the Indiana State Police and our Ohio partners, the Hawking County Sheriff's Department and the Columbus Police Department. And after further investigation, Columbus Police department's homicide unit assisted in serving search warrants. More evidence was collected at the home and the vehicle he had picked Haley up in in the investigation confirmed Haley to be at the Thomas home in Columbus and at a short term rental in Hocking County. The Hocking County Sheriff's Office search warrants for the short term rental property and coordinated the use of aerial drones, K9 and physical search techniques to try to find Haley. Investigators from all agencies involved continue to search for Haley. Haley and her story have been shared nationwide. Between the tips that you've shared with us and the support that you have shown the family, we could not have asked for more from our community and beyond. This is not the outcome that any of us had wanted. We have connected her parents with resources that will Help them. And we will stay committed to supporting her family through this tragic time. Haley attended HSE High school and we are working with the district to provide extra support for students that are being impacted by this devastating news. The suspect is in police custody in Ohio on charges associated with this case, but has not been charged with the murder at this time. This is an ongoing investigation that now continues in Ohio. We will continue to support those agencies that help with their investigation in any way possible. Our hearts are with her family, her friends and our community as we try to get through this terrible time together.

[A]

Next was special agent in charge of the FBI Indianapolis field office. That's Tim o'. Malley. I'll read what he had to say. Quote, this is truly a heartbreaking outcome and there are no words that give the pain that Haley's family is feeling. But on behalf of the entire FBI, we want to extend our deepest condolences to her family, to her friends, and to all those who loved her. From the moment that FBI assistance was requested, we've been working closely with our partners at the Fisher's PD and other law enforcement to locate Haley and find out what happened. Things that we've been doing since we became involved were offering technical assistance. We've been doing investigative work, analytical work, and I think above all, one of the things that we've been working on is the coordination with law enforcement in Ohio since this case has tragically crossed into Ohio as well. So that's really what the FBI's involvement has been. Well, what I can say today is can never bring Haley back. I do want everyone to know that the FBI is committed to pursuing justice and holding those responsible accountable for what they did. We are committed to standing with this community and our law enforcement partners and we're going to be there until the end. The one ask I have for everyone is just be patient. As this investigation continues in the search for Haley continues as well. So thank you. Up next came some questions from the press.

[B]

Yeah, Russ McQuaid from Channel 59 was there among with some other people. Yeah, I think one of the key points was the. Pardon me. The chief said that this was not a random pick up, that this person came here to meet Hayley and that Hayley and the suspect met somehow through online gaming.

[A]

Now Again, Hailey was 17. The suspect is 39. We don't know what online game this was at this point. We don't have further information on that yet. But obviously that's something that's going to really, I think concern and alarm a lot of people. We often hear about the horror stories of predators meeting children online. And if this case ends up bearing out in that direction, that's gonna be something very disturbing for a lot of people. And unfortunately, that is the sort of crime that can truly happen to anyone. Predators no longer have to go in a van to your neighborhood or even insert themselves into a situation where they're gonna be able to groom kids. They can on their computer or on their phone online through these different communities. So it's. We're in a very different landscape for predators. And they, I think, have more access to children than ever because of the Internet, because of social media, because of the proliferation of smartphones. And it's a scary thought for a lot of people, for parents and for kids. So chief Gerhardt also clarified that investigators have utilized both cell phone and social media information in the investigation, although he could go into further detail on that. When asked about time of death for Haley, he said that the investigators believed she died within a few days after she was picked up, Although he indicated that it is unclear how close they are to recovering Haley's body. He also said that Fisher's PD was the one to encounter the suspect, sort of versus Ohio authorities. He said that that initial contact occurred within days of Haley being missing and that the suspect was cooperative, but he could not explain to what extent he cooperated. Obviously indicating. I mean, to me, when he earlier mentioned that they were. They found that the suspect's statements about dropping her off were not true. It sounds like, you know, someone can appear cooperative at first and then turn out to not be, you know, to be lying or trying to massage things. So he said he had no history on the suspect, Tyler Thomas. He said, quote, he's being held in the Franklin County, Ohio, jail on two felonies. Pandering, obscenity, and tampering with evidence. There's no bond set at this time. And he also noted that Tyler Thomas would have a hearing today, February 2nd. If you're like us, you're trying to save money right now. One major personal finance hack we've discovered is investing in clothing staples that hold up over time and never go out of fashion. That is why we love our sponsor, Quince.

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[B]

We should say that it has been announced today, the day after this press conference that Haley's body has been recovered.

[A]

Well, I don't know if it's been officially announced but credible press have reported that it's that they found her. But again I what I did to kind of indicate the changing, I guess agencies on this. I reached out to Fisher's police department today to ask them to confirm and they recommended that I get in touch with the FBI, which I did. And then they recommended that I get in touch with Columbus, Ohio Police department indicating kind of the transfer of this case went from a missing person's case in Indiana to a homicide in Ohio. So that I've not heard yet from Ohio. But we'll be, we'll be keeping out an eye on that. But yeah, I don't think there's been an official announcement. But certainly Angela, good note of Fox 59 I think is very credible and she's reported that the body's been discovered. So I, I trust her.

[B]

So I believe did an Ohio paper also makes the same claim.

[A]

Yeah, so it's, it's been widely reported. I, I don't see any reason to doubt it. I've seen a lot of speculation in the comments section of some of this talking about how they need to keep looking for Haley because she may have been trafficked. I to say something that if police are out there beyond the body likely being found according to media, if police are out there saying that they have evidence of a murder, that's not something they do lightly. That's not something that they're going to just say. So I think, you know, when we see people speculating about stuff like that, I just think that's not really responsible, frankly. Let's look at the charges that Tyler Thomas is now facing. And we received the documentation of like the warrant and things like that. And you know, the. Through, through the Ohio court system. I'll, I'll list. Before we get into that, I will list some of the defendant information that kind of comes up when you look at this. So he's listed as Tyler N. Thomas. And his. He's listed as being 39 years old and living in Columbus, Ohio. His address is listed as homeless. That doesn't necessarily mean that he is unhoused. My understanding is that if you don't give a primary address or something like, there can be complicated stuff with that. So he's, he's a male. He's 5 foot 9, 155 pounds, black hair, brown eyes. The offense date for him is listed as January 6, 2026. I don't know how much we need to read into that versus, you know, she went missing on the 5th or the early hours of the 6th or if there's some more indication with that. But he's also listed as. Even though he's listed as homeless, there is an address listed on Hunter Avenue in Columbus. We'll get more into that address later. The officer complainant is listed as Chuck Radek. I'm sorry if I'm saying his name wrong. When I looked up officer or Detective Radek when he was 27 in 2003, he and a colleague, Keith O', Connor, helped rescue a man who was handcuffed to the steering wheel of a burning car. But that was the only case I was able to find associated with him on newspapers dot com. As far as what Thomas is charged with, the listed charges for the offenses are one, pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor slash, create, produce material. And the other one is tampering with evidence, altering, alter, destroy, conceal, remove record. So his arraignment was listed for February 2nd today at 9am we'll talk more about that in a minute. But he was elicited as being arrested on January 31, 2026, and being held at the James A. Carnes Correction Center. So I'll get into the complaint. I, I'm, I've gone back and forth on this. I, I think we're gonna kind of redact a bit of this complaint because it's incredibly disturbing sexual material. I will, I will kind of. I will kind of. I don't, I don't know. I guess I just feel protective of a child victim in this situation. And I'm Going to err on the side of caution here. So I'm not going to. I'll. I'll kind of read it, but I'm going to redact some information about what specifically was found because I just don't feel good about saying that on this program. Okay, so, quote, this is from the complaint that we received. Quote, complainant being duly sworn, states that the above named defendant at Franklin County, Columbus, Ohio, honor about the 6th day of January 2026 did with knowledge of the character of the material involved. To wit, after picking up a minor out of state, the defendant had cash photos on his cellular phone, which is evidence of a video being created of the said minority performing a sexual act which took place at Hunter Avenue. Create or record material that shows a minor or impaired person participating in or engaging in sexual activity and then it.

[B]

Goes into some details I don't think we only need to get into, do we?

[A]

No.

[B]

So basically it's saying she performed sexual acts which he recorded at this address on Hunter Avenue. And then also mentions that some of these photos or videos were deleted even though he knew an investigation was going on. Is that correct?

[A]

Yeah. Quote, to wit, a video of the missing juvenile performing sexual acts which was located in his deleted file and is in the form of cash photos which with purpose to impair its availability as evidence in such proceeding or investigations. End quote. So those are the two charges. This is what the affidavit in support of probable cause said. Quote, I, Detective Charles Raddick, do hereby swear or affirm that I have the following cause to believe the individual named committed the alleged offenses for the reasons stated in this affidavit in support of probable cause. 1. I have personal knowledge of the facts listed in the statement of facts as I was involved in the underlying investigation and or arrested. Two, I have knowledge of the facts listed in statement of facts based on my review of the available Columbus Division of Police reports which were completed by Columbus Division of Police officers acting in their official capacity as a part of their official duties. Summary Statement of facts in support of probable cause. The affiant is investigating a missing juvenile hb. The missing juvenile was last known to be in the company of Tyler Thomas. On January 21, 2026, a search warrant was executed at the residence of Mr. Thomas and Digital devices were seized. The seized items were forensically examined and child sexual abuse material CSAM containing images of HB were located on digital devices belonging to Mr. Thomas, end quote. So obviously this is incredibly horrifying. It's just horrifying. I Did some digging on Tyler Nike Thomas. His middle name comes up as Nike. He's a listed otherware as a Tyler N. Thomas. There's a lot that I found that I'm not going to report on because it's just not confirmed at this point. I don't feel good about relying on public records on the Internet sometimes because they can get it wrong. Tyler Thomas is a pretty common name. Sometimes when you do kind of a grab of different information that you're able to find that is publicly accessible, they accidentally give you the wrong person. So like a Kevin Greenlee, you know, might come up for Kevin, even if it's not him.

[B]

Yeah, I've certainly seen that happen. When I've looked up periodically just as a check, I look up public records on myself. I see all sorts of inaccurate information. You have a very uncommon name. But as I've. I've also seen inaccurate information come up when I've run your name.

[A]

Right. So I just, I'm. I'm not going to report anything unless I see it confirmed somewhere. But I was able to find a couple things. Some. Someone actually sent this to me. There was a. And I double checked it too. So there was. He comes up in the Mecklenburg General District Court in Virginia, someone with the name Tyler N. Thomas as speeding. And in that one, that was from December 11, 2015, it was filed December 22, 2015 and he's listed there as living in San Diego, California. So obviously speeding is not something where you know that's a huge deal. He was found guilty. He had a fine of $96. But San Diego would is where the person with this name was listed then I did not find any records for San Diego though I did look at a couple other places where he was listed in Michigan, specifically Ann Arbor. I looked up Washtenaw county, no records there that I could find. And I also looked up Lexington, Kentucky. Cause that was another place that kept coming up. I found one thing, but their website is weird and I could not get on the phone with the clerk today because they never picked up. So that's in Hardin County. The thing that I saw, what I did was I like I plugged this guy's date of birth into the search. So that may be him or maybe the website's just being weird. But the address that this guy is listed with, this Hunter Avenue address takes you to a residence in the Victorian village of Columbus, Ohio. This is a historic neighborhood. 19th century Victorian style homes, think tree lined streets. Very pretty.

[B]

It's a pretty nice neighborhood.

[A]

Yeah, well I Mean, like I, I don't know it, but it looks, you know, a lot of cities have this kind of historic neighborhood and very beautiful homes. So there's that. We also, they, they also mentioned Hawking county in Ohio. That's a very rural county. He's supposed to have had some kind of short term rental there involved in this case.

[B]

So I believe the population of that county, the population for the entire county is less than 30,000. So it's not a very densely populated area.

[A]

No, no, it's not. So those are some locations at this point. And again, Ohio authorities have the case now, I guess. Can you talk about why that would be? Obviously she was abducted from Indiana. Why would then Ohio take over?

[B]

Well, it would appear from what was said yesterday that the murder of Haley actually happened in Ohio. So the jurisdiction is assigned based on where the crime took place.

[A]

That's right. So the thing that's happening right now that we wanted to mention or at least like look at this is something that Haley's family has been advocating for. And I'm going to read from a petition that was set up around that. So, so it's solicited as. And this is from Change.org I'll include the link in our show.

[B]

So this is a petition that Haley's family is advocating for?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And were they advocating for this even prior to this press conference the other day?

[A]

Um, I don't know. Off the top of my head, it looks like this was set up. I'm trying to look at like when the date was. I don't know.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Our friend Megan who's been on the show before, who is with Silver Linings of Hope, she set it up on their behalf. So this is an attempt to. I assume it was set up before this horrible news, but this is, this is. I'll just read it. Quote the issue. Create the pink alert and mandate predator awareness education in Indiana. On January 5, 2000 2026, 17 year old Haley Busby went missing from Fishers, Indiana. She was immediately classified as a runaway because there was no confirmed physical abduction. An Amber alert was not issued because she did not have a qualifying disability. A silver alert did not apply. But 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 leads a dangerous gap. When a minor goes missing under suspicious or high risk circumstances that don't meet existing alert criteria. That gap can delay public awareness during the most critical early Hours. We are calling for Haley's Law, which would. One, create a pink alert system for missing persons and children where credible risk indicators exist even if Amber Alert or Silver Alert criteria are not met. Two, ensure timely public notification when disappearances involve unusual or concerning circumstances. Three, mandate modern predator awareness education in Indiana schools. Focus on online grooming, digital manipulation, and coercive tactics used today. 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, all our laws, alerts and education standards must reflect this reality. Pass Haley's Law. End quote. This has gotten 38,000 signatures so far. And it's something that I think is very necessary. And apartment Amber Alerts serve a specific purpose and they're really designed for situations where we think that this kid is in active danger and we know the car the perpetrator is driving. That is what an Amber Alert is for. It's not just whenever a kid goes missing. It is a specific, actionable thing. And you don't want to put too many alerts with Amber Alert, especially with vague information where there's no action, because the public will start tuning it out. That being said, there should be a different kind of alert for something like what Hailey went through, like the pink alert they're suggesting, because it still puts it out there for people, maybe puts her face out there and people could help in the early hours when moments are critical. So I think this is a great idea. I think updating education is necessary because I think when you make kids think perpetrators will be obvious versus someone you come to trust, I think that's a mistake. So for the update on her body, again, this is reported through the media so far. Well, first of all, Thomas appeared remotely this morning. And these, again, charges are not directly tied to the murder. But what's been reported is that Busby's remains have today been found in Perry county in Ohio. And the Judge set a 1.5 million cash surety bond for Thomas. His next next hearing is going to be February 10th. And Thomas now has a lawyer. It's Sham Shimansky. And at the hearing, his. He said that, you know, Mr. Thomas basically turned himself into authorities. We turned him into authorities on Saturday. And there's no.

[B]

Per the request of local police.

[A]

Yeah, there's no intention to make this bond. And he was the one who told the local News wns that Busby's body has been found in Perry County. And yeah, so he also said that he anticipates additional charges would be made. He spoke with Angela Ganote of Fox 59, and she directly asked him, did Thomas commit this murder? And he said, don't assume that. Wait till all the evidence comes forward. And he said he was not ready to disclose how Hailey Busby died. So obviously we'll be paying attention to this case and looking at further charges being filed, further details coming out. I would really like to know what gaming platform Hailey connected with this defendant over. And I would like to know, you know, are there other people involved or is this limited to, you know, one perpetrator?

[B]

And it's entirely possible they connected over a gaming platform and then he moved their communications to a different platform or a different venue.

[A]

Online spaces have a real problem with predators, child molesters, people who produce and collect CSAM using them in order to lure children. And it seems like it is very difficult for parents who are not as familiar necessarily with all the technology or all of the platforms that their children are on. We're in a rapidly changing environment. And to put the onus entirely on parents to deal with that, I think is a dereliction of society's duty to protect children. And I think that more onus needs to be put on these companies that are making money off of children and also putting them in direct contact with pedophiles. And I have a lot of strong feelings about this, but I guess suffice to say that if there was a local business in your town and kids kept going there, say an arcade, kids, kids like games, say an arcade, and kids kept going there and then disappearing or being harmed by child molesters or peddlers of csam, then I think the outrage toward that business would be immense and nobody could be faulted for that. And I would like to see that directed at some of these online companies that again, are making money off of your children, making money off of any children and putting them directly in harm's way, and seem to be acting as if, you know, there's so little to be done about that. You know, the, the, this has happened so many times to so many families. It does not always lead to a death, but it can, whether that is a suicide or a homicide. And certainly it's led to a lot of anguish and harm done to children. And I, I think more needs to be done about this legislatively because obviously these companies are not going to do it themselves. And it's our Children on the line. It's children. You know, like there's. There should. There should be no politicking around this. It's a pretty straightforward issue, I think. But I hate to see people subtly or not so subtly, victim blaming a victim's family and not calling out perhaps the systemic issues here. The issue is not, we do not need at this time to place anything on this family. You know, they're going through an unimaginable hell. And I just think, you know, victim blaming is no place anywhere. But if we want to look to blame somebody, blame the perpetrator first of all. And then secondarily look at what were the environments that led this young girl to be in contact with this guy and how was that allowed to happen? And why are there no safeguards? Why do there seem to be so few safeguards for kids? That's what we need to be looking about at and talking about. In addition to the proposals from the petition that I think are apt. Was there anything else you wanted to say about this case, Kevin?

[B]

No.

[A]

I want to say this. Tyler Thomas is not really all over the Internet in a way that I could find. If somebody knows him, if you knew him in Hawaii or Columbus, Ohio, or anywhere else in Ohio or Illinois or Kentucky or Michigan or California or Virginia or wherever, wherever this guy's been, if you know who he is, if you know what he's been doing, if you know his family, if you know what names he games under, you know, whether you know that personally or you've been able to dig that up yourself, please contact murdersheetmail.com we would be very interested in knowing that information. And again, our hearts go out to Haley, her family, her loved ones, her classmates, her friends. The whole thing is so awful. I wish we had a better update for you, but hopefully there can be accountability and justice for them down the line. But thank you so much for listening.

[B]

Thanks so much for listening to the Murder Sheet. If you have a tip concerning one of the cases we cover, please email [e-mail]. if you have actionable information about an unsolved crime, please report it to the appropriate authorities.

[A]

If you're interested in joining our Patreon, that's available at www.patreon.com murdersheet if you want to tip us a bit of money for records requests, you can do so at www. Buymeacoffee.com murdersheet we very much appreciate any support.

[B]

Special thanks to Kevin Tyler Greenlee, who composed the music for the Murder sheet and who you can find on the [e-mail] if you're looking to talk with.

[A]

Other listeners about a case we've covered, you can join the Murder Sheet Discussion group on Facebook. We mostly focus our time on research and reporting, so we're not on social media much. We do try to check our email account, but we ask for patience as we often receive a lot of messages. Thanks again for listening.