Dateline: The Haunted House Confession - 5 harrowing details about the murder of Chantay Blankinship, revealed 

Dateline Season 33 Episode 17, titled, The Haunted House Confession, re-investigated the case of Chantay Blankinship, whose body was found in May 2016 in an abandoned 'haunted' house in Texas.

The official synopsis of the episode, which was released on February 28, 2025, reads as follows:

''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 very stunning confession, during a church service, changes everything''

Here are five details about Chantay's murder.

---

Dateline: 5 harrowing details about Chantay Blankinship's murder

1) Dateline victim Chantay had a disorder

Chantay, a 25-year-old woman from the Brown County region in Texas, was diagnosed with a pervasive developmental disorder, which made her dependent on her family members. She lived with her grandfather and other family members.

She went on her regular walk at night on May 13, 2016, but never returned. Her family members reported her missing. The police finally found her body two days later, which shocked the tight-knit community.

---

2) Victim's body was found in a 'haunted' house

Two days later, the police found Chantay's body in an abandoned house on the backcountry road. Her body was found on the cellar's stairs. What's more sinister is that the community believed that the abandoned house was haunted, and horror stories about that house were prevalent in that area.

The date and day of Chantay's death, Friday the 13th, added an extra element of horror, as Elisha Bird, an assistant district attorney, noted for Dateline:

“You think, Friday the 13th, you start wondering, 'Is there something more sinister than just somebody got murdered?'”

---

3) Autopsy details of Dateline victim

On-scene evidence confirmed that it was a homicide case and that somebody had murdered Chantay. An autopsy revealed that she had been strangled to death and faced trauma to the head.

What's more shocking is that the report also revealed that Chantay was also s*xually assaulted before her murder. This urged the police to take on a different direction. They collected DNA samples from the crime scene. However, the samples did not match with any men from the victim's community.

---

4) Dateline victim's murderer was identified via DNA phenotyping

While the police had no matches to the DNA sample found on the crime scene, they deployed a new DNA phenotyping method. The method revealed key physical details about the suspect from the sample, which helped the police develop a digital sketch of the murderer.

The sketch was useful and led them to Ryan Riggs, a member of the community who attended the same church as Chantay. It was also reported that he also had a romantic inclination towards the victim. When the police reached Riggs' home, his family revealed that he had been missing for a few days.

---

5) Ryan Riggs confessed to Dateline victim's murder

In November 2017, Riggs approached his community church and confessed to killing Chantay in May 2016. He then took the pastor and his parents to the police, where he finally revealed the details of the murder.

According to Riggs, he met Chantay while she was on a walk and convinced her to get into his truck with him, which he then drove to a secluded place. He s*xually assaulted her before finally murdering her in the abandoned house.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Also Read: What happened to Emmett Corrigan? Details of the 2011 love triangle leading to murder

---

For the latest scoops on your favorite TV shows and movies, follow SoapCentral.