Stacey Lynn Hazelton Missing Person Case

Stacey Lynn Hazelton was 21 years old when she was last seen in Bolivar County, Mississippi, on May 21, 2004. Online missing-person records list her as a white female with brown hair and brown eyes, about 5 feet 1 inch tall and approximately 150 pounds, with pierced ears, a tattoo of flowers on the lower part of her neck, and a tattoo on her chest. Some agencies spell her first name as Stacy. She was associated with a green Chevrolet Blazer that was later accounted for, and one source lists her clothing as a white T-shirt and glasses. Her case is connected to Alligator, Mississippi, including the Alligator Place Apartments and an address on Fava Street, after she had left Pennsylvania and traveled south with her boyfriend, James Arthur Fannings Jr.

Before Stacey vanished, she had been living far from the family who knew her patterns and worried when those patterns changed. Sources describe her as having moved from Kinzers, Pennsylvania, to Mississippi earlier in 2004 with Fannings, while still keeping in close contact with her family back home. They reportedly lived with Fannings’s longtime friend, Chevaun Pierre Mack. The situation deteriorated after the move: the couple began running out of money, and reports later described Fannings as unfaithful and abusive, including allegations that he sometimes locked Stacey in their bedroom. In May 2004, Stacey spoke with her parents and asked them to send money so she could leave Fannings and return to Pennsylvania. Her parents sent the money, but Stacey never came home and did not contact them again.

For Stacey’s family, the silence was alarming because it was out of character. After months of trying to reach her, her parents reported her missing in December 2004. Investigators later focused on what had happened in Mississippi, and in January 2006, James Arthur Fannings Jr. was arrested and charged in connection with Stacey’s death. Chevaun Mack told authorities that he saw Fannings shoot Stacey in the head during an argument and that Fannings then forced him to help dispose of her body. According to the account later summarized by multiple missing-person sources, the men placed Stacey’s body in a plastic barrel, loaded it into her own green Chevrolet Blazer, drove around with it for two or three days, attempted to burn it in the barrel, and then buried what remained in woods near a creek in Duncan, Mississippi.

Afterward, sources say Fannings and Mack drove Stacey’s Blazer to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Both men were later arrested on unrelated charges, and Stacey’s vehicle was impounded. When police interviewed Mack after Stacey’s parents reported her missing, he gave the account that became central to the case, saying he had not come forward sooner because he was afraid for his life. Fannings was tried in 2006, and although the case was described as largely circumstantial aside from Mack’s testimony, a jury convicted him of first-degree murder after only 16 minutes of deliberation. He was sentenced to life in prison, and his conviction was upheld on appeal in 2008. Texas EquuSearch also documented planned and ongoing search efforts in 2007, including work with the Bolivar County Sheriff’s Department and searches of areas believed to be connected to where Stacey’s remains may have been placed.

Despite the conviction, the most painful part of Stacey Hazelton’s story remains unresolved for those who love her: her remains have not been located. The Mississippi Repository for Missing and Unidentified Persons lists the repository status as open and states that, despite several police searches, her remains were never found. Stacey’s case began as the story of a young woman trying to make a life away from home, then trying to get back to safety, and it became a devastating investigation centered on what happened after her last contact with her family in May 2004. In overview, Stacey Lynn Hazelton was a 21-year-old Pennsylvania woman last seen in Alligator, Bolivar County, Mississippi, on May 21, 2004; she had moved there with James Arthur Fannings Jr., reportedly sought help returning home, disappeared before she could do so, and although Fannings was later convicted of her murder and sentenced to life in prison, Stacey herself has never been recovered.
Last Seen: May 21, 2004

Stacey Lynn Hazelton