What are they hiding?: Henderson police didn’t share key details before wide search for teen

When Henderson police announced that Jennaleah Hin was missing and endangered, they did not disclose that the 17-year-old was suspected of taking her stepfather’s handgun when she disappeared days earlier.

There was also no mention that Hin had left behind a suicide letter.

That information appears in a Henderson police report released Thursday, four days after Hin was found dead of a gunshot wound in a desert area southwest of a Henderson subdivision on Sunday. The death was a suicide, the Clark County coroner’s office said.

The North Las Vegas Police Department said Thursday that Jennaleah’s stepfather, Corey Swanson, is a North Las Vegas police officer who has been with the department for seven years.

North Las Vegas police spokesperson officer Roberto Vaquera said in an email Thursday that the gun used in Jennaleah’s death was not a service weapon issued by the department.

“There is no investigation into this incident by the North Las Vegas Police Department,” Vaquera said.

According to reports released by Henderson police on Thursday, Swanson told Henderson police on Dec. 30 — the night Jennaleah was last seen leaving her home near Horizon Ridge Parkway and Kind Avenue — that he believes she had taken his gun.

“Corey Swanson stated he believes Jennaleah took his Gray Glock 43 handgun, because he saw it this morning and noticed when Jennaleah was gone so was his firearm,” the report stated.

Four days later, on Jan. 3, a large-scale search effort that included more than 50 people, including law enforcement and volunteers, was mounted for Jennaleah as Henderson police announced in a press release that day that Hin was missing and endangered.

The Review-Journal reported then that 30 to 40 Henderson Police Department officers and Red Rock Search & Rescue volunteers canvassed a swath of the open desert while volunteer residents helped search parks.

‘You don’t have to worry about me anymore’

In a press briefing that day near the search site, Jennaleah’s stepfather and mother, Jennifer Swanson, made distraught appeals for the girl to come home while Henderson police Lt. Charles Hedrick told reporters that Jennaleah had never run away from home and had no history with law enforcement, and that it was standard procedure to launch such a search for a person in distress.

Also that day, Mark Speer with Red Rock Search and Rescue told reporters that when Jennaleah left the home, she said something to the effect of “You don’t have to worry about me anymore.” Speer also noted that home surveillance footage caught the teen leaving without a backpack or water. The police report also said Jennaleah didn’t have her phone.

When asked Thursday whether Red Rock Search and Rescue was aware of the possibility that Jennaleah may have been armed and suicidal, Speer told the Review-Journal that he could not comment on the matter, given that the case is still open.

‘They should have secured their guns better’

In the days since Jennaleah’s body was found, Henderson police have declined to comment on the case, or the allegations made by Hin’s biological dad, Hina Hin, that the firearms in the home Jennaleah shared with her mother and stepfather and sisters should have been more secured.

“This is a death that could have been easily avoided,” Hina Hin said Tuesday, after providing a portion of the Henderson police report. “They should have secured their guns better.”

In an email to the Henderson Police Department on Thursday, the Review-Journal asked why the public was not informed that Jennaleah may have had a gun, among other questions. A police spokesperson didn’t answer the questions but instead instructed a reporter to submit a records request through the city’s online records portal.

In an emailed statement Tuesday night, Henderson police declined to comment on the case and said the investigation was still open.

“We understand that this situation has raised many questions within our community, and we want to assure you that the Henderson Police Department is committed to transparency,” the department said in the statement.

Henderson police also twice denied the Review-Journal’s requests to interview its chief, Hollie Chadwick, about the circumstances of Jennaleah’s death. Instead, a public information officer said the department was “committed to providing necessary information” and would work on “getting a statement.”

Distressed daughter

Hina Hin also told the Review-Journal that his daughter was distressed by an argument between her mother and stepfather. The police report said the dispute was about a relationship with her boyfriend.

Afterward, Jennifer and Corey Swanson left the home for approximately an hour; when they returned, Jennaleah was missing, according to police.

The Swanson family denied interview requests from the Review-Journal on Thursday and declined to comment on the contents of the police report.

On Sunday, after Henderson police responded to multiple potential sightings of the teen and were unsuccessful in locating her, an off-duty Metropolitan Police Department corrections officer found “a person lying against some rocks” while hiking in the desert, according to a police report. When he went to check on the person, he discovered an “Asian female juvenile” with a gunshot wound and called 911.

The report also said that Jennaleah’s body was found with an ID belonging to her and two “suicide notes intended for her best friend and boyfriend.”

Henderson Mayor Michelle Romero and the City Council also issued a statement Thursday about the death.

“Every suicide, including this tragic death, is heartbreaking. That’s one of the reasons our City leaders invest in mental health support in our schools and through other initiatives. We grieve alongside our community,” the statement said.

If you’re thinking about suicide, or are worried about a friend or loved one, help is available 24/7 by calling or texting the Lifeline network at 988. Live chat is available at 988lifeline.org.

Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com. Review-Journal staff writer Katie Futterman contributed to this report.

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