UPDATE: On February 1, 2026, the Fishers Police Department provided an update in the case. Chief Ed Gebhart confirmed 39-year-old Tyler Thomas of Ohio has been identified as a suspect and is in police custody in Ohio on charges related to Hailey’s case. On February 2, Thomas’s defense attorney confirmed that his client had assisted police in locating Hailey’s remains in Perry County, Ohio, and her body had been recovered.
On the night of January 5, 2026, Beau and Ronya Buzbee said goodnight to their 17-year-old daughter, Hailey, and turned in for bed.
But the next morning, Beau and Ronya, Hailey’s stepmom, woke up to find Hailey’s room empty. It seemed that she had left their Fishers, Indiana, home sometime in the middle of the night.
“It just really caught us off guard,” Beau told Dateline. “We didn’t really see her as being in a place where this was even a remote, slight chance of a possibility.”
Hailey’s family reported her missing to the Fishers Police Department that morning, January 6. Beau says he also made contact with the local chapter of the FBI, as well as the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
Hailey’s family describes her as a “dependable” student and employee, earning good grades while working a part-time job as a server at a local restaurant. “She’s a very sweet girl,” Beau told Dateline. “She has a piece of everyone’s heart.”
The Fishers Police Department issued a statement on their Facebook page on Tuesday, January 20. “Hailey did not act alone,” the statement read. “Hailey left her house willingly and with a plan, which categorized her as a runaway. We do not believe she acted alone in leaving.” Dateline contacted Fishers PD for comment on Hailey’s case and a detective stated that the information posted on Facebook was the most current information available regarding Hailey’s disappearance.
Beau says it appeared as if Hailey “intended to leave her entire life behind” when she left the home. “She left a lot of the items behind that she would need to do this on her own,” he added.
According to Beau, the whereabouts of Hailey’s cellphone are unknown, and the last ping was at the Buzbee home address.
“Based on the facts of the investigation, which we cannot share with the public at this time,” the Fishers Police Department Facebook post states, “Her case has now been upgraded to an endangered missing juvenile.”
Hailey’s family has found support within the Fishers community, which has responded to Hailey’s disappearance by actively sharing Hailey’s information across social media and posting thousands of flyers in the surrounding areas. “It’s been amazing how many people have supported and shared information,” Beau said. “It gives us so much strength and hope and continues to keep us in the fight with trying to find Hailey.”
Beau and Ronya shared a letter they wrote to Hailey in the hope she is able to read it:
“Dear Hailey,
If you are reading this, please know how deeply loved you are. You have not left our thoughts for a single moment.
You are not in trouble, and we are not angry, the only thing that matters to us is knowing you are safe. We can face anything together. We miss you so much — everything feels incomplete without you.
Love, Dad, Ronya, and Lil Sis #findhaileybuzbee”
Hailey is 5’3”, 120 lbs., with brown hair and eyes.
She is believed to be wearing a black puffer jacket. She has dimples and a nose piercing.
If you have any information regarding Hailey’s disappearance, please contact the Fishers Police Department at 317-773-1282.
If you have a story to share with Dateline, please submit it here.
