Faith Lindsey | mmiw Chikashsha (Chickasaw)

June 2019: 17-year-old Faith Lindsey moved in with her 24-year-old boyfriend Tanner Washington. That same month, Tanner was arrested for domestic violence.

October 27, 2019: Faith Lindsey was last seen by friends in Ada, Oklahoma around 10pm. According to text messages, she and Tanner Washington were planning to meet up later that night.

October 28, 2019: Tanner contacted his ex girlfriend and said Faith had been shot to death. She saw blood on Faith’s cell phone and Tanner’s shoes and told him to speak with her uncle who was a minister.

October 29, 2019: The minister’s wife called the police to report that Tanner told her husband that Faith had been shot. The police spoke to Tanner that day and he said he didn’t witness this but was rather sent a message telling him she had been hurt.

That same day, Faith’s family received snapchat messages from her account looking for a ride home. The messages were riddled with spelling and grammatical mistakes uncharacteristic of Faith.

November 5, 2019: Tanner Washington was arrested for obstructing a police officer after he claimed Faith wasn’t realy missing and hadn’t been shot. She simply had left him.

November 6, 2019: The police searched Tanner’s car and found blood on the passenger’s side.

November 16, 2019: Tanner sold his truck that he had been storing on someone else’s property.

November 20, 2019: A search of the truck found two 6x12 blood stains in the back.

December 19, 2019: Tanner Washington was arrested and charged with the murder of Faith Lindsey after the DNA results from the blood stains came back a match for Faith.

May 2021: State charges against Tanner Washington were dropped due to the Supreme Court ruling in McGirt v Oklahoma. The federal government then charged him with murder in Indian Country. Read the decision here.

August 31, 2022: Tanner Washington entered a guilty plea for 2nd Degree Murder in Indian Country.

May 6, 2024: Tanner Washington was sentenced to life in prison in part because he refused to tell authorities where Faith Lindsey’s body could be recovered.