This week on Barely Famous, Kail talks to Sarah Turney, a true crime advocate and host of Voices for Justice, to discuss the heartbreaking disappearance of her sister, Alyssa Turney. Sarah reflects on her family’s complicated history, her father’s troubling behavior, and her relentless fight for justice. She also shares how she rose to prominence on TikTok and uses her platform to advocate for unsolved cases, turning tragedy into meaningful action. Sarah's Socials: www.tiktok.com/@saraheturney www.instagram.com/saraheturney https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/voices-for-justice/id1469338483 Please support the show by checking out our sponsors! Hers: Start your free online visit today at forhers.com/FAMOUS Hiya: Receive 50% off your first order. To claim this deal you must go to hiyahealth.com/FAMOUS Nutrafol: Nutrafol is offering our listeners $10 off your first month’s subscription and free shipping when you go to Nutrafol.com and enter the promo code FAMOUS Quince: Go to Quince.com/famous for 365-day returns, plus free shipping on your order! To watch the full episode + other exclusive content, join my Patreon community! Patreon.com/kaillowry See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Chapter 1: What is the focus of Sarah Turney's advocacy?
Welcome to the shit show. Things are going to get weird. It's your fave villain, Kale Lowry. And you're listening to Barely Famous. Welcome to another episode of Barely Famous Podcast. Today we have Sarah Turney. You may have followed her story on Family Secrets on Peacock.
There was a documentary done on her story and she also has acquired over a million followers on TikTok because she believes that her father had everything to do with her sister's disappearance. And we're going to talk to her about her story and... how she came to that conclusion. You guys can find this documentary on Sarah Turney, Alyssa Turney on Peacock. It's called Family Secrets.
So I'm going to welcome her in right now. Hello, Sarah. Welcome to Barely Famous Podcast. Hi. Thank you so much for having me. And from my understanding, you also have a podcast. Is that right? I do. Yeah. It's called Voices for Justice. Okay. And what do you guys cover on your podcast? Obviously, we'll get into your whole story, but I'm assuming that that is sort of what inspired your podcast.
Yeah, absolutely. I started with my missing sister's case and then I moved on to other cases that just need justice. So unsolved true crime cases. Absolutely. Who do you think killed JonBenet Ramsey? Oh, my gosh. I don't know. I feel like that one is so tricky, to be honest, and I could probably argue every side. Do you know? Do you have a theory?
It's definitely someone in the family. I definitely think it was someone in the family. But I just thought maybe because it was unsolved, maybe you had some theory. But we can dive right into your story. I originally came across you on TikTok. And then one of my girlfriends sent me the documentary that you did on Peacock called Family Secrets. And I had never heard of a case like this before.
And so I sort of don't even know where to start because, I mean, your story is very unique, right? So you are a child when your sister goes missing.
Yeah, yeah. I was just 12 when she went missing. So this has been like a lifelong journey for me. Right.
And your dad was in law enforcement. Is that right? And your mom unfortunately passes away when you are a toddler. Yeah, yeah, that's exactly right. Okay. And so walk me through sort of basically what, you know, I know you guys covered this on the documentary, but walk me through what is going on in your childhood at this time after your mom passes.
You have a blended family of, you know, your dad came into marriage with kids, your mom came into, you know, the family with kids, and then they had you together. Walk me through sort of what's going on after your mom passes away.
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Chapter 2: What happened to Alyssa Turney?
You know, I lost so many people in my life that they didn't want to take away my dad, too. So I get it. I do wish people had told me earlier, to be totally honest. But I get it. It was crazy.
So I don't want to villainize anyone else in your life. Obviously, that's not my place and that's not why we're here. But is there a reason why they didn't feel the need to sort of get you away from him if that's what they all suspected?
That's a great question. And, you know, I don't want to villainize them either. You know, I think, you know, out of six kids, we were all on very different journeys. But yeah, I do think about that all the time. Why was I left in that house when they knew what was going on? I don't know.
I'd like, you know, I struggle with my own childhood stuff and I go back and forth with like resenting them for not doing something about it. And so I just wonder if you ever went through a period. And again, we're not here to villainize them. I in hindsight is always 2020. But have they ever explained why or have they given you a reason why they didn't try to take you from him?
So I will say that at one point, one of my brothers did try to take me. They tried to convince me to like move back east. But that came with a lot of rules. And when I'm 15 and the choice is going with my brother who wants to give me structure or staying with my dad where I can be absolutely feral and do whatever I want, I'm going to stay with my dad.
But yeah, you know, I do certainly have some resentment. I'm not going to lie. It's hard now. that I'm closer to their age. And I think I would never do that to my little sister. So yeah, you know, it's a mix. They tried. And I think one of the biggest factors too is that Alyssa wasn't his biological daughter. And I was. And they always told me that they never thought that he would hurt me.
So that was sort of their reasoning. And I guess it's so weird. I just, I did an interview with Gypsy last week and I just think under certain like different circumstances, you become a different person. And so maybe he was sort of a different person with Alyssa. And obviously that doesn't justify anything, but it just is so fascinating to me that humans work in that way. So when you had the, the,
Like the moment that you were like, OK, maybe he could have had something to do with Alyssa's disappearance. Did you go to your siblings and talk to them immediately about it? Do you still have conversations with them about it?
Yeah. I mean, I went to them right away and I was like, you guys, like, what are we going to do about this? And again, they were just kind of like, we already knew this. And, you know, at that point, I didn't know that they had told this to the police. Many of them had said what they saw. They just didn't tell me. Because you were so young. Yeah, exactly.
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Chapter 3: How did Sarah's childhood impact her relationship with her father?
A thousand percent. I think that would have made all the difference, you know, because nobody came. I didn't speak with police for like six years. And if somebody came out to the house that day, they could have seen, oh, my gosh, well, there's a camera here. You know, did it capture anything?
They could have spoken to my dad and, you know, felt him out a little bit and probably got those weird vibes that almost everybody did. I think it would have changed everything. And one of my new initiatives is creating Alyssa's Law. where essentially when a child is reported missing in Phoenix, I love for it to be everywhere, but I got to start local.
When a child is reported missing in Phoenix, an officer has to come in person to take a report. That's it. I don't think it's a lot to ask.
Well, I'm wondering, did your dad know that they wouldn't come out? Because I'm just wondering, based on how sort of smart he was in that way, would he have Did he take the cameras down before he made the call with the anticipation that they could come out? Or did he know they weren't going to come out?
Or because of the note and her being a runaway, that's something that they wouldn't necessarily look into. It reminds me a lot of Scott Peterson when Lacey went missing and nobody came out for, I think, days or even a week or longer. That is so much time to hide any and everything that could have possibly...
been evidence that i feel like that makes a huge difference and then with you moving rooms i feel like that also is strange because how soon after did you move rooms It was a few months after.
So it wouldn't have been anything the police saw that day. I got it. Yeah. But yeah, I mean, because of his experience in law enforcement, I think that's exactly what happened. He called and said, my rebellious teenage daughter who smokes weed, she's on drugs. She ran away to her aunt's house in California. Like that's he called the non-emergency line. And he spelled it all out.
Yeah, this is a rebellious teenager who is mad at me because she wants to do drugs. And I know where she's at. I know that she's somewhere safe. So, yeah, the police aren't going to come out and investigate that. Did he ever give a reason for why he would say that? No, he says that's not how it happened, that the police are lying in their police report.
yeah that's what he says he he says i'm like well what about this well the police made up that document the police lied that's always his excuse the footage and i hate to even bring it up but in the documentary there's footage it may be recreation i don't know of alissa with a guy that she was hanging out with dating your dad was taking videos of that through the vent in the in the house did he ever explain those why he would have those
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Chapter 4: What role did recording devices play in Sarah's home life?
Yeah, you're so sweet. No, just thank you. And to be honest, I've followed your journey since the beginning, like I'm sure a lot of your guests have. And you were always so inspirational to me because I always felt like you were also on your own at a young age. And I remember watching your journey and thinking like, I can do it too. I don't even have like a kid strapped to me, right?
So I felt like I could do it too. So I just wanted to thank you because you've always been a really big inspiration to me.
So thank you so much. I didn't even know if you knew who I was or anything. I just was like, let me help her get her story out there. But yeah, I mean, like I said, anything you need, I'm here. My team is here. If you ever want to like, I can share your stuff. If you have a break in the case, like whatever you need. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. This is incredibly helpful.
Thank you.
Yeah, absolutely. Thank you.
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