Haunting 911 calls reveal how slain hiker Lauren Heike was found, and her alleged killer spotted after his face was plastered across the news.
Heike, 29, was found dead on the Reach 11 trail in North Phoenix on April 29, 2023, the day after she disappeared during a hike.
Prosecutors alleged she was ambushed on the trail by Zion Teasley, 23, in a random attack, chased to a deserted area, and stabbed 15 times in the back and neck.
Cops who found Heike said she’d been ‘chased through or over a barbed wire fence’.
Phoenix Police Department released several 911 calls on Thursday covering the moment Heike’s body was found, and tips that followed.
The woman who made the first call said she found a body in the desert while she was walking along the trail herself.
‘I was just going for a walk, and she’s there. I didn’t touch her… but it looks like she’s been there for a while,’ she said.
She said it didn’t look like Heike was breathing and the 911 operator asked if she could see her chest moving up and down.
‘No, and there is blood coming from under her workout bra,’ she said.
The operator replied: ‘Blood coming from her bra? Does it look like she was stabbed or shot?’ The caller said she couldn’t tell.
A well-placed camera captured the suspect following Heike, and eventually returning to the area where her body was found before hopping a fence.
The footage was publicly released, and calls started coming in from people who thought they recognized the man.
‘I just noticed a guy who looks vaguely familiar to the guy on the news,’ one of Teasley’s neighbors said.
Another Phoenix local called with a possible sighting, saying, ‘Maybe it’s nothing but my gut is telling me, I gotta tell somebody.’
Teasley was ultimately linked to crime by DNA found on Heike’s shoe, as well as forensic evidence such as phone location data from the scene.
An ex-con with a record dating back to 2020, Teasley was quickly arrested – five months after finishing a three-year jail sentence for robbery with a deadly weapon.
Maricopa County Attorney’s Office filed the notice of intent to seek the death penalty – a move Heike’s family said they ‘supported’ seven months after the brutal killing.
‘We received word late this afternoon that the MCAO has filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty for Lauren’s murder,’ Lana and Jeff Heike said.
‘Our Family supports MCAO’s decision and we are grateful for the work of both MCAO and Phoenix PD.’
The couple added of Teasley’s looming trial next October: ‘We know that our journey through the criminal justice system is just beginning, but we will be there every step of the way to ensure that Lauren receives justice.’
Teasley – whose laundry list of crimes came after he dropped out of the Marine Corps boot camp in San Diego after just four months – pleaded not guilty to the murder.
Police said that upon being picked up, Teasley ominously told detectives ‘he wanted to look like Heike,’ suggesting that he saw her at some point before allegedly carrying out the attack.
Heike’s family, however, maintained their daughter did not know her attacker – bolstering cops’ belief that she fell into Teasley’s sights while out on the trail.
A probable cause affidavit later revealed the suspected killer had recently been fired from his job at a nearby sports store for being ‘aggressive’ to female employees – further bolstering investigators’ yet-to-be-proven narrative.
They claimed Heike, who was found dead on the Reach 11 trail, was chased over a barbed wire fence as she relentlessly worked to escape her attacker.
In airing this theory, investigators cited how they found the woman’s belongings strewn along the trail, and several tears to her clothing.
DNA matching Teasley’s was also recovered on a shoe that Heike discarded as she attempted to scale the fence, which the suspect was later filmed returning to and hopping over after allegedly committing the murder.
Phone records also allegedly placed Teasley at the scene of the crime – adding to the DNA and video footage.
In his indictment, prosecutors wrote their belief that Teasley knew his conduct could cause injury or death, and said the DNA match stemmed from a sample secured from a prior felony conviction.
Maricopa County officials further explained how the murder-one charge counts as ‘a dangerous felony’ due to the allegation that Teasley repeatedly used a knife to injure the esthetician – stabbing her 15 times across her body and hands.
In addition to first-degree murder, he has been charged with breaching the terms of his probation agree upon after his release from prison in November.
The stint – started roughly 36 months earlier, – stemmed a guilty plea to robbery with a deadly weapon, disorderly conduct and robbery offered in June 2020, court records show.
Teasley was identified in the surveillance footage by his probation officer, as well as his former employer, who confirmed to cops that the accused killer regularly carried a pocket knife consistent with the murder weapon.
His probable cause affidavit also stated that when arrested by officers, Teasley also identified himself as being the man in the footage, before telling officers he recognized Lauren from the news and ‘wanted to look like her’.
He went on to claim he was ‘walking to a nearby movie theatre’ when he had been seen traversing the trail near Libby Street and Mayo Boulevard, and admitted to officers he knew Lauren was attacked but ‘struggled to admit she was murdered’.
When asked if he had planned to kill Lauren, he told officers: ‘I am definitely not the person who plans to kill another person.
He added: ‘If I was going to do something like that it wouldn’t be premeditated. ‘
During his first court appearance, he was given a $1 million cash bond for the violation, but was remanded into custody with no bond.
Explaining that decision, prosecutors told the court that there was ‘photographic evidence’ linking him to the crime.
Teasley remains in custody, after officials ruled he should not be released due to the fact he was already out on probation for a previous conviction.