Faith Lindsey

• Missing Since 10/28/2019
• Missing From Pauls Valley, Oklahoma
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Female
• Race Native American
• Date of Birth 04/27/2002 (22)
• Age 17 years old
• Height and Weight 5'2, 120 pounds
• Distinguishing Characteristics Native American female. Brown hair, blue eyes. Faith has a tattoo of a cross on her thumb and a tattoo on her abdomen of a key with the intiials "JL" and "SM". She has three moles or freckles on her right cheek. She is a registered member of the Chickasaw Tribe.

Details of Disappearance

Faith was last seen in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma on October 28, 2019. She is from Ada, Oklahoma, but at the time of her disappearance she was living with her boyfriend, Tanner Dean Washington, in Pauls Valley, and worked at a Sonic restaurant. A photo of Washington is posted with this case summary. They had been living together for about four months.

According to Washington, he dropped Faith off at Sonic at 2:50 p.m. on the day of her disappearance, then returned two hours later to give her a drink, but she wasn't there. Her coworkers told police she never arrived for her shift at all that day.

Faith's supervisor, when interviewed, told police that there had been some problems between Faith and Washington that affected her work; Washington would go to the restaurant while she was working and "bother" her and other employees. Washington admitted to investigators that on several occasions their relationship had "become physical", acknowledged that he could be controlling, and said he thought Faith had been planning to leave him. At the time of her disappearance, he was on probation for assault and battery against her.

After Washington told Faith's family she was missing, her sister got texts from her phone number, saying she was with someone who was refusing to take her home. The texts had poor spelling and punctuation, which is not characteristic of how Faith wrote. Faith's phone also made repeated calls to her sister's phone, but would hang up as soon as her sister answered.

Investigators think it was actually Washington who wrote and sent the texts. He told police he'd gotten a text saying Faith had been shot, then later admitted he'd lied about receiving the text. As a result, in November he was charged with false reporting of a crime and obstruction of an officer.

On the day after Faith was last seen, Washington told an ex-girlfriend and her husband, a minister, that Faith had been shot in Sasakwa, Oklahoma and he was the reason she had died. The ex-girlfriend noticed he had apparent bloodstains on his shoes, pants and cellular phone, and Washington said it was Faith's blood.

Because of Washington's history of drug use, his ex-girlfriend and her husband didn't initially take his statements seriously. But when she found out Faith was missing, the ex-girlfriend she contacted police.

Law enforcement subsequently discovered additional bloodstains in Washington's pickup truck, which he sold shortly after Faith's disappearance. There was blood in the backseat and on a pair of sunglasses, and it was later proven by DNA to be Faith's.

In December 2019, Washington was charged with first-degree murder in Faith's case. The charges were subsequently dismissed because, due to a recent Supreme Court ruling, the state of Oklahoma does not have jurisdiction over crimes committed against tribal citizens. However, the case was refiled in federal court. In August 2022, Washington pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Faith's death, but he did not disclose where her remains were.

In May 2024, Washington was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Faith's body has never been found, but foul play is suspected in her case due to the circumstances involved. Her remains may be in Seminole County, Garvin County or Pontotoc County, Oklahoma.