She Mysteriously Disappeared After Visiting A Texas Bar With A Male Friend, And She Reportedly Was The First Person To Note That Vanessa Guillen Went Missing
Haleigh Murphy, a 22-year-old Army veteran and mother of a 2-year-old son, was reportedly the first person to note that Vanessa Guillen went missing on April 22, 2020, from Fort Hood, Texas.
While serving three years in the Army, one of her duties was to visit the barracks and check in on female soldiers.
This led her to realize that she hadn’t seen Vanessa and ultimately prompted the investigation into the tragic case.
Haleigh was later medically discharged from the Army after suffering from hip problems. Yet, in 2023, she also went missing in Austin, Texas.
At the time, she lived in Bell County, Texas, and had recently begun her first semester pursuing a business degree.
She was simultaneously working to obtain her real estate license and had a very close relationship with her younger sister, Harley.
“We’ve always been really close, ever since we were kids because we’re only two years apart,” Harley said.
On June 16, 2023, the sisters also started off their day by talking on the phone at about 6:30 a.m. During this conversation, Haleigh reportedly said that she wanted to change her cell phone number– claiming that “too many people” had it.
Additionally, she discussed her plans to visit her ex-boyfriend and attend his birthday party that weekend.
Facebook – pictured above is Haleigh
Then, later that day, Haleigh and Harley saw each other around 9:00 p.m. At that time, Harley drove Haleigh to Slick Willie’s, a bar located on Burnet Road in Austin, and dropped her off. Afterward, Harley watched as her sister got into a different car with a male friend.
But, while this was the last time Harley ever saw Haleigh again in person, they did speak one more time that evening.
“It was raining that night. And about an hour after I left, she [Haleigh] had called me and was checking to see if I had gotten home safe because it was raining so bad,” Harley recalled.
“The power at the bar she was at had gone out.”
Still, from the noise in the background of the phone call, Harley could tell that Haleigh was still inside the bar when they spoke.
Haleigh’s mother, Becky, also claimed that Haleigh had planned to stay out that night and sleep at a friend’s house.
Then, the next morning, Haleigh intended to pick up a rental car in order to travel to her ex-boyfriend’s birthday party.
But she never actually made it to pick up the rental car and never showed up for the celebration.
Given Haleigh’s plans for the weekend, though, her family did not expect to see her for a few days. So, when they hadn’t heard from her, they weren’t initially concerned.
However, once Sunday rolled around, and Becky still hadn’t heard from her daughter, her worry began to grow.
“My mom had called me, and she was like, ‘Have you heard from Haleigh?’ And I was like, ‘No, but I texted her yesterday.’ I just figured she’d get back to me when she can because I know she was out of town,” Harley explained.
Yet, soon afterward, text messages stopped delivering to Haleigh’s phone. This pushed both Harley and Becky to begin “blowing up” her social media accounts, saying that if Haleigh did not get in touch with them, they were going to file a missing person report.
Haleigh never reached out to her mother or sister, either, so Becky contacted the Austin Police Department and filed a missing person report on Tuesday, June 20.
The following evening, Haleigh’s case was turned over to the Texas Rangers, who did not begin a missing person investigation until June 25.
As of now, the investigation into Haleigh’s disappearance is still underway, and her family has hung flyers throughout Austin as well as spoken out on social media.
Since Haleigh went missing, Becky claimed that some people had come forward– saying that they allegedly saw Haleigh at a different bar known as Eddie’s Tavern Round Rock, which is 15 miles away from Slick Willie’s, on June 16. She was reportedly playing darts.
“They recognized my daughter’s picture from all the flyers and stuff and said that they left Eddie’s Tavern around 11:30 at night,” Becky detailed.
The people who came forward also alleged that Haleigh was still with the same male friend whose vehicle she’d entered at Slick Willie’s.
One of Haleigh’s close friends Darin believes it is very uncharacteristic of her to just disappear without telling anyone.
He even couldn’t believe it when he learned that Haleigh had gone missing via social media– reaching out to Becky to confirm the situation.
“She [Haleigh] was in contact with someone that was close to her on a daily basis. That really piqued my curiosity as to what was going on,” Darin said.
“And so that’s when, as I said, I reached out, and that was one of the things that I said to her mother when we spoke was: That’s completely out of character for her.”
Since Haleigh vanished, there has been no activity on her social media accounts, bank account, or phone. Nonetheless, her family is continuing to search for any answers in her case, especially for her young son.
“She is a good mom. Her son was everything to her. Everything was about him. Everything she ever did in her life was for him,” Becky said.
Haleigh is five feet tall, weighs 130 pounds, and has hazel eyes and short blonde hair. She also has numerous colored tattoos, including the initials “GSM” behind her left ear and a fairy with large feathers on her chest.
Prior to her disappearance, she was last seen wearing light-colored jean shorts, a light purple t-shirt, and light purple vans sneakers. Haleigh would be 23-years-old today.
If you have any information regarding Haleigh’s disappearance or whereabouts, you are urged to contact the Texas Rangers at (512) 424-2160.
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