Vanished Without a Trace
Seventeen-year-old Faith Lindsey had her whole life ahead of her. A bright, soft-spoken young woman from Ada, Oklahoma, Faith was a proud member of the Chickasaw Nation and known for her kindness and loyalty to those she loved. Standing 5’2” and weighing about 120 pounds, she had brown hair, blue eyes, a small cross tattooed on her thumb, and a key inked on her abdomen bearing the initials “JL” and “SM.” Three distinctive freckles dotted her right cheek — tiny markers of a life that should have stretched far beyond her teenage years.
But on October 28, 2019, everything changed. That afternoon, Faith was living in Pauls Valley with her boyfriend, Tanner Dean Washington, and working at a local Sonic. She was supposed to start her shift that day. According to Washington, he dropped her off at 2:50 p.m. and returned a couple of hours later to bring her a drink — but Faith was gone. Her coworkers, however, told a different story: she never showed up at all.
A Dangerous Relationship
Faith’s friends and family knew that her relationship with Washington was troubled. Even her supervisor at Sonic reported that Washington would show up while she was working and “bother” her and other employees. Washington himself admitted the relationship had “become physical” and that he could be controlling. At the time she vanished, he was already on probation for assaulting her. Faith, he told investigators, had been planning to leave him.
Shortly after she was reported missing, Faith’s sister began receiving text messages from her phone — messages that claimed she was with someone who refused to take her home. But the spelling and punctuation were unlike anything Faith would write. Repeated calls came in from her phone as well, each one hanging up as soon as the line connected. Investigators now believe Washington was behind those messages and calls.
Washington also falsely told police he’d received a text claiming Faith had been shot — a lie that led to charges of false reporting and obstruction.
A Chilling Confession and Damning Evidence
The day after Faith was last seen, Washington confessed something horrifying to an ex-girlfriend and her husband, a minister. He told them Faith had been shot in Sasakwa, Oklahoma — and that he was the reason she was dead. They noticed what appeared to be blood on his shoes, pants, and cell phone. Washington said it was Faith’s blood.
Initially, the couple dismissed his words, attributing them to his history of drug use. But when Faith’s disappearance hit the news, they immediately contacted law enforcement.
The investigation that followed revealed even more disturbing evidence. Blood — later confirmed by DNA to be Faith’s — was discovered inside Washington’s pickup truck, including on the back seat and a pair of sunglasses. He had sold the truck shortly after she disappeared.
Justice Without Answers
By December 2019, prosecutors charged Washington with first-degree murder. But a Supreme Court ruling complicated the case, stripping Oklahoma of jurisdiction over crimes involving tribal citizens. The charges were dropped, only to be refiled in federal court.
In August 2022, Washington pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Faith’s death. Despite his admission, he has never revealed where her body is. In May 2024, he was sentenced to life in federal prison without the possibility of parole.
Today, Faith’s remains are still missing. Authorities believe she may be somewhere in Seminole, Garvin, or Pontotoc County, Oklahoma. Her family continues to live with the ache of not knowing — and the hope that one day, she will come home.
