In the summer of 2005, 21-year-old Ashley Marie Parlier was living with her parents in Battle Creek, Michigan. Described by her family as functioning at the level of a young teenager due to a mild mental disability, Ashley was known to be shy and quiet with few friends. She had recently graduated from Battle Creek Central High School and was working at a local Taco Bell, saving money to buy her own car. On June 12, 2005, Ashley’s life took a tragic turn. After her parents confronted her about a suspected pregnancy, an argument ensued. Following the confrontation, Ashley left her home on North Bedford Road to take a walk and never returned. At the time she went missing, she was believed to be about three months pregnant. She left with around $700 in cash but had no driver's license, car, cell phone, or credit cards.
The initial investigation into Ashley's disappearance yielded few leads. Her friends reported they had not seen her for months prior to her disappearance. An ex-boyfriend, who was suspected of being the father of her unborn child, was looked at by investigators, but the case quickly grew cold. For years, her family held out hope, but as time passed, the chances of finding her alive diminished. The case remained stagnant for over a decade, a painful mystery for her loved ones. Both of Ashley's parents sadly passed away in 2020, without ever knowing what happened to their daughter. A significant break in the case finally came in 2021 from an entirely different investigation in Pennsylvania, where police were looking into the murders of two other women, Tianna Phillips and Erica Shultz.
The suspect in the Pennsylvania murders, Harold David Haulman III, unexpectedly brought up Ashley Parlier's name during an interview with investigators. Haulman, who had lived in the Battle Creek area between 2002 and 2009, confessed to killing Ashley. He told police that he and Ashley had an argument at a residence in Emmet Township, during which he knocked her unconscious. He then drove her to a remote area in Newtown Township, where he struck her in the head with a piece of wood until she died. In February 2023, Haulman pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of Ashley Parlier. As part of a plea deal to avoid the death penalty in Pennsylvania for the other murders, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole. For Ashley's murder, he received a sentence of 37.5 to 60 years in prison. Despite his confession and efforts to lead authorities to her remains, Ashley's body has never been found. The case, which began as a missing person report after a family argument, was ultimately solved through the confession of a serial killer, bringing a tragic and long-awaited, albeit painful, conclusion to a 16-year-old mystery.
Ashley Marie Parlier was a 21-year-old White female when she was last seen on the morning of June 12, 2005, at her family’s home near the 400 block of North Bedford Road in Battle Creek, Michigan. She was young, vulnerable, and believed by her family to be pregnant when the final known moments of her life unfolded. That morning, her parents confronted her about the possibility that she was expecting a child and urged her to seek medical care. The conversation became upsetting, and Ashley left the residence on foot, reportedly going for a walk. She did not take a vehicle, and she never returned home.
Ashley was described as about 5 feet 9 inches tall and approximately 100 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. Public missing-person records state that she was wearing a checkered shirt, jeans, and leather sandals when she disappeared. Some case summaries note that her teeth were crooked, and family members have described her as mildly mentally disabled, functioning at the level of a much younger teenager. That detail made her disappearance especially frightening, because Ashley may not have had the ability to fully protect herself, advocate for herself, or safely navigate dangerous situations without help. Her family believed she was several months pregnant at the time, although the exact stage of pregnancy has been described differently in public sources.
At first, Ashley’s disappearance centered on the argument at home and the idea that she might have simply walked away in distress. But as the days passed, it became clear that something more serious had happened. Friends reportedly told investigators they had not seen her in months, and there was no confirmed sign that Ashley had gone somewhere to begin a new life. Her disappearance was investigated by the Battle Creek Police Department, and her case was entered into public missing-person databases as endangered missing. The lack of sightings, the absence of contact, and the circumstances surrounding her possible pregnancy all increased concern that she had met with harm soon after leaving home.
For years, Ashley’s case remained unresolved. Her family lived with the pain of not knowing where she was, whether her unborn child had survived, and who might have had the answers. Public missing-person profiles noted that an ex-boyfriend and possible father of the child had not been ruled out as someone who may have had information about her whereabouts, but no arrest came from that lead. Searches and appeals continued, but Ashley remained missing, and the case became one of Battle Creek’s haunting long-term mysteries: a young woman walked away from home one morning after a difficult family confrontation and seemed to vanish without a trace.
The case changed years later when Harold David Haulman III, a man who had lived in Battle Creek and was later connected to multiple killings, became the focus of investigators. While he was being investigated in other homicide cases, Ashley’s name surfaced. Authorities eventually charged Haulman in connection with her death, and public reports state that he admitted involvement in killing her. According to reported accounts of the investigation, Haulman said he had been intimate with Ashley and believed he may have been the father of her unborn child. He claimed that he took her to a remote area in Newton Township, south of Battle Creek, and killed her there after an argument.
In 2023, Harold David Haulman III pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Ashley Parlier’s death and was sentenced to 37.5 to 60 years in prison. By then, he was already serving life sentences in Pennsylvania for the deaths of other women. Ashley’s case became one of those rare and painful prosecutions in which a murder conviction was obtained even though the victim’s body had not been recovered. Authorities searched for Ashley’s remains, including with information tied to Haulman’s statements, but public reports indicate that she has still not been located. For her family, the conviction brought a measure of accountability, but not the full peace that comes with bringing a loved one home.
Ashley Marie Parlier’s disappearance began as a family’s worst fear and became a confirmed homicide case nearly two decades later. She was a 21-year-old woman last seen leaving her Battle Creek home on June 12, 2005, after a confrontation about her suspected pregnancy; she was vulnerable, on foot, and never made it back. Years passed before Harold Haulman was charged, admitted responsibility, and was sentenced for her murder, but Ashley’s remains have not been recovered. In overview, her case is the story of a young woman whose life was taken after she disappeared from Battle Creek, a family that waited years for answers, and an investigation that ultimately identified and convicted the man responsible while still leaving the sorrowful final question of where Ashley is unresolved.
Last Seen: Jun 12, 2005
