On the afternoon of January 8, 2023, deputies from the Jersey County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to a trespassing call in Dow, Illinois. A landowner reported seeing two men riding across his fields: one on a four-wheeler and the other driving a blue Buick. When deputies caught up with one of the men, he explained that he was searching for his girlfriend, 39-year-old Kaila Vincent Vatole, who had left their residence earlier that day. He said he didn’t know which direction she had gone, but he was worried about her and told deputies she might be suicidal.

Given the seriousness of the situation, a search for Kaila began immediately. Deputies arrived on scene shortly after 2 p.m., and, with daylight already fading in the winter months, a helicopter was requested to cover as much ground as possible before nightfall. Several other agencies were called in to assist with the search efforts. Deputies went door to door, asking neighbors if anyone had seen Kaila, but no one had. It was as if she had simply vanished without a trace. The sheriff then contacted the Illinois State Police to request an aircraft equipped with heat-sensing technology, hoping it could locate Kaila. The pilot identified several heat signatures, but each proved to be an empty well or a culvert.

They began pinging Kaila’s phone. A deputy also attempted to call her several times, and that's when it was heard ringing inside the house under a pile of clothing. At that point, investigators realized Kaila had left without her phone, eliminating what might have been their strongest digital trail. In the days that followed, deputies returned to the area to search, but no trace of Kaila was found. More than three years later, what happened to Kaila Vincent Vatole remains unknown.

If you have any information about the disappearance of Kaila Vincent Vatole, please contact the Jersey County Sheriff’s Office at 618-498-6881.

If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form.

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Kay-Alana Turner’s episodes first aired in November 2023. On March 9, 2023, 27-year-old Kay-Alana Turner left a friend’s home in Silsbee, Texas, and began driving toward Austin, about four hours away, apparently to visit a friend. In the days leading up to March 9, Kay-Alana had not been sleeping well and did not seem quite like herself. In the early morning hours of March 10, witnesses in Hockley and Tomball, Texas, interacted with Kay-Alana after she asked if she could sleep in their driveways. By that time, her phone had died.

Around 6 a.m., a homeowner in the Holly Creek Estates subdivision in Tomball noticed Kay-Alana’s car parked in their driveway, with Kay-Alana asleep inside. The homeowner contacted someone from the homeowner’s association and nearby neighbors. As several people gathered around the vehicle and attempted to wake her, Kay-Alana became frightened. When she tried to leave, her car was blocked. An officer from the Harris County Sheriff’s Office then broke the driver's side window of her vehicle.

Kay-Alana fled first by driving through a yard and across nearby farmland, then into a wooded area where her car became stuck. Deputies pursued her on foot. Kay-Alana ran into the woods, dropping her phone along the way and later removing her shoes, which were filled with glass from the broken window. In the days that followed, her loved ones compared accounts and came to believe that Kay-Alana had been experiencing a mental health crisis that night. Despite extensive searches of the area where she was last seen, no further trace of her was found beyond her phone and shoes.

On April 19, 2024, after more than a year of searching, Kay-Alana Turner’s remains were found by Texas Equusearch in Montgomery County, Texas, less than 1,000 feet from where her car had been abandoned on March 10, 2023. She was positively identified through dental records. Due to the condition of her remains, the medical examiner ruled the cause of death as undetermined, with the manner classified as accidental, noting no evidence of foul play.

In the months that followed, body camera footage from Kay-Alana’s initial encounter with Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputies was released, sparking concern and controversy. In the footage, deputies were heard making joking and disparaging remarks about Kay-Alana, including comments about her appearance after viewing her identification. The footage intensified scrutiny of the response to Kay-Alana on the day she disappeared and raised broader questions about how law enforcement handles encounters involving individuals experiencing medical or mental health crises.

Kay-Alana Turner was laid to rest in November 2024. Her family continues to seek accountability and hopes her story leads to meaningful change, believing that compassion and understanding could have made a critical difference that day.

Photo Credit: James Blaign Rambo

If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form.

Follow The Vanished on social media at:

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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Kay-Alana Turner’s episodes first aired in November 2023. On March 8, 2023, 27-year-old Kay-Alana Turner stayed overnight at a friend’s home in Silsbee, Texas. Her friend noticed that Kay-Alana hadn’t been sleeping well and that something appeared to be troubling her. The following morning, Kay-Alana was believed to be asleep when her friend left for work, but as the day wore on, attempts to contact her raised concern. When Kay-Alana was briefly reached by phone, something didn’t seem right, and no one knew where she was. Loved ones later learned that Kay-Alana had planned to drive to Austin, about four hours away. Her loved ones began searching for her, but by the next morning, troubling reports about her behavior began to surface. These were accounts her family and friends felt were completely out of character. What was clear was that Kay-Alana was missing, and they needed to find her.

On April 19, 2024, after more than a year of searching, Kay-Alana Turner’s remains were found by Texas Equusearch in Montgomery County, Texas, less than 1,000 feet from where her car had been abandoned on March 10, 2023. She was positively identified through dental records. Due to the condition of her remains, the medical examiner ruled the cause of death as undetermined, with the manner classified as accidental, noting no evidence of foul play.

In the months that followed, body camera footage from Kay-Alana’s initial encounter with Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputies was released, sparking concern and controversy. In the footage, deputies were heard making joking and disparaging remarks about Kay-Alana, including comments about her appearance after viewing her identification. The footage intensified scrutiny of the response to Kay-Alana on the day she disappeared and raised broader questions about how law enforcement handles encounters involving individuals experiencing medical or mental health crises.

Kay-Alana Turner was laid to rest in November 2024. Her family continues to seek accountability and hopes her story leads to meaningful change, believing that compassion and understanding could have made a critical difference that day.

Photo Credit: James Blaign Rambo

If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form.

Follow The Vanished on social media at:

Facebook

Instagram

Patreon

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.