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Watch the Dateline episode “The Haunted House Confession” now

Blayne Alexander reports on the 2016 murder of Chantay Blankinship outside Brownwood, Texas.

It was easy to keep 25-year-old Chantay Blankinship happy.

She loved music.

She loved church.

She loved going on walks. 

Everyone in the neighborhood knew that about her.

So when she didn’t return from her walk on the evening of Friday, May 13, 2016, panic set in.

It seemed like the whole community was part of the search for Chantay after church that Sunday.

That afternoon, a couple of searchers called 911.

They’d found Chantay’s body at old abandoned farmhouse.

She’d been murdered.

Nobody knew who would want to kill Chantay.

Neighbor doubted neighbor.

At Chantay’s funeral, investigators even recorded the crowd, looking for any unusual behavior among the mourners.

Turns out, there was someone at the church that day who had the answer.

And when he finally chose to reveal it, it would be in front of the congregation…

To find out what happened, watch the full episode “The Haunted House Confession” on Peacock now. 

You can also watch on the NBC app or listen to it on our podcast

After you’ve finished the episode, watch Chantay’s family and friends reflect on her life and the things she loved. 

You can also listen to this week’s episode of Talking Dateline with Blayne Alexander and Josh Mankiewicz, in which they take you behind the scenes of filming the episode.

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