The boyfriend of missing Oklahoma teenager Faith Lindsey has been arrested on a first-degree murder charge in connection with her murder, officials with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation confirmed to Dateline on Friday.
The Del City Police arrested 24-year-old Tanner Washington on the evening of December 19, 2019, at a 7-11 in Del City, Oklahoma.
Faith, 17, was last seen on October 28, 2019, and was reported missing on November 4 by her family members. Faith’s case was featured in Dateline’s digital series Missing in America.
Throughout the investigation, agents developed probable cause that Tanner Washington was responsible for Faith’s murder, according to the OSBI.
Faith’s sister, Justice, told Dateline in early December that Faith had been living with her boyfriend, Tanner, in Pauls Valley and worked at the local Sonic. She explained what happened on the night her sister went missing.
“He texted me Monday night saying that he can’t find her; she’s missing, freaking out,” Justice said. “She’s always contacted me. She knows my number by heart.”
Shortly after, Justice said she began receiving strange messages from her sister.
“She was misspelling a lot of things that night, and Faith, she has very good punctuation and spelling and that just wasn’t her,” Justice said. “She kept trying to call me a lot, but hung up as soon as I answered, which is kind of suspicious.”
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation has been investigating the teen’s disappearance since requested by the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office in November.
The investigation is still open and ongoing as the OSBI works to locate Faith’s body. The OSBI is offering a $5,000 reward for information that leads to the location of her body.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Faith is asked to contact the OSBI at (800) 522-8017 or tips@osbi.ok.gov.