Texas Woman Who Vanished During Walk Found Slain in "Haunted House," Before "Stunning Confession" Is Made
After Rhonda “Chantay” Blankinship was found murdered in the cellar of an abandoned Texas farmhouse known as the "Haunted House,” the investigation unexpectedly led to a house of worship.
Rhonda “Chantay” Blankinship was found murdered in the cellar of an abandoned Texas farmhouse known to those in the area as the "Haunted House,” but the investigation into her murder would unexpectedly lead to a house of worship.
The shocking case will be featured in an all-new Dateline airing Friday, February 28 at 9/8c p.m. on NBC. The episode, titled “The Haunted House Confession," is reported by Blayne Alexander, who makes her debut as an official Dateline correspondent.
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"This report took me to Brownwood, Texas, where I really got a sense of how Chantay and her murder impacted the community," Alexander told NBC Insider. "Even years later, some people I spoke to were brought to tears reliving some of those moments from nearly a decade ago. With this being my first official story as a correspondent, it’s one that will always stay with me.”
As the episode's synopsis explains: “After 25-year-old Chantay Blankinship’s remains are found at an abandoned building that locals call the Haunted House, investigators sort through dead-end leads until a stunning confession during a church service changes everything.”
What happened to Chantay Blankinship?
Blankinship mysteriously vanished on Friday, May 13, 2016, while out on her usual nightly walk through her family’s rural neighborhood in Brown County, Texas.
Two days later, her body was discovered on the cellar stairs of an abandoned farmhouse located off a backcountry road.
Elisha Bird, an assistant district attorney with the Brown County District Attorney’s office, told Dateline that the farmhouse was "straight out of a horror movie."
Blankinship’s murder left investigators baffled.
“This was an innocent girl who hadn’t done anything wrong and then we find her in the bottom of a cellar,” Texas Ranger Jason Shea told Dateline.
Linda Lemond, a friend of Blankinship who attended the same church, remembers what she was thinking after learning of Blankinship's murder. "I was like, 'No, this doesn’t happen here, not at all.'"
As authorities delved into the disturbing case, they began to wonder whether there was any significance to the timing of the killing.
“You think, Friday the 13th, you start wondering, 'Is there something more sinister than just somebody got murdered?'” Bird explained to Dateline.
The remote location of the body led investigators to believe that it was likely someone familiar with the area.
“The killer was probably among them,” Alexander noted in a voiceover heard in a preview of the episode.
The case look a surprising turn when a confession came during a church service.
“I grabbed the pew and I was like, 'How?'” said Russell Lemond, a friend of Blankinship, who also attended the same same church.
It all led to a stunning conclusion.
“Had evil made it’s way there too?” Alexander asks in her voiceover.
The Dateline broadcast will also include interviews with Chantay’s sister Destinee Jarvis, her mother Michelle McDaniel, and Brown County Sheriff’s Office Captain Scott Bird.
To find out more about how the case comes together and the man behind the brutal killing, watch Dateline on Friday February 28 at 9/8c p.m. on NBC or stream the episode on Peacock after it becomes available the next day.
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