New information in the Hailey Buzbee case has shed light on her purported relationship with 39-year-old Tyler Thomas. Hailey disappeared from her home in Fishers, Indiana, in early January 2026. Nearly a month later, investigators confirmed they’d found her remains in Ohio, and they believe Thomas killed her. Thomas reportedly told police he’d been in contact with 17-year-old Hailey for more than a year. Thomas now faces federal charges in connection with Hailey’s disappearance.
According to court documents obtained by WTHR, Thomas admitted to investigators that he communicated with Hailey for more than a year via gaming platforms. He also said he used an encrypted messaging service called Session. Through the platform, Hailey and Thomas reportedly planned her escape and his involvement in picking her up. Thomas told police that Session requires a code to access the data. He stated that deleting that code would prevent law enforcement from accessing the information.
Thomas reportedly admitted to picking up Hailey in a black 2014 Acura RDX and driving her from Fishers to a rental cabin in Logan, Ohio. Police believe Thomas killed Hailey a short time after arriving at the rental property.
On February 10, the US District Court in Columbus charged Thomas with sexual exploitation of a minor and traveling in interstate commerce with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, The Columbus Dispatch reported. The filing revealed new details in the case, including clues Hailey’s parents found following her disappearance.
Court documents note that Hailey’s parents found a note on January 6, stating she’d run away. When investigators tried to ping her cellphone, it was reportedly in airplane mode, making it undetectable. Within days of her disappearance, Hailey’s family accessed her Snapchat account and reportedly found conversations with an adult male.
The affidavit also notes that Thomas’ cellphone carrier showed him traveling from Ohio to Indiana on the day Hailey disappeared. The phone stayed in the area of the Logan rental until January 7, the Dispatch reported. Police noted that Thomas’ bank and phone records showed he’d been in the area where Hailey worked in June 2025. When investigators asked if she was alive on January 21, he had a strange answer.
“When CPD asked Thomas if he would tell them if he did kill her, he responded, ‘I think she is alive and safe …,’” the affidavit states.
Investigators with advanced knowledge of how predators keep and hide files found disturbing images on Thomas’ phone that appear to include Hailey and an adult male engaging in sexual acts, the Dispatch reported.
“Other than the cached Snapshot screenshot, which was a device-created file that an average user would not know how to delete, no communications between Thomas and (Buzbee) could be located on the device,” the affidavit reads.
Thomas has yet to be charged in Hailey’s death, but his lawyer, Sam Shamansky, expects those charges to come soon.
This story is a cautionary tale to parents. Even when you think you know what your child is doing, you may have no clue. There are too many sick adults in this world, and you can never be too careful.
