A missing mom and traces of blood

Rob Stafford Correspondent • Profile

HANFORD, CALIF. - If there’s a color that makes them think of Debbie Hawk, her friends say, it’s purple.

Taryn: She was very regal and to us. She definitely fits the bill as the princess.

Eliza: She should have been a Kennedy (laughter)

But Debbie became a household name in a different way: from the missing posters hanging in her small town. Since June 13, 2006, the day 46-year-old Debbie Hawk disappeared, purple ribbons have served as reminders of a dear friend, and the hope she’ll be found.

Debbie Hawk was born in Pittsburgh and spent her teenage years in California’s Bay Area.  In 1988 a job selling mattresses brought her to Hanford, California, outside Fresno. Friends there set her up on a blind date with a man named David Hawk.

Rob Stafford, Dateline correspondent: What’s your first impression of Debbie?

Dave Hawk, ex-husband:  Firecracker.  She was short and  attractive.  And a lot of fun.  And pretty good sense of humor.  You know, you’d say something and man, she’d pop back with something that you didn’t quite expect. 

Dave was drawn to Debbie’s quick wit and vivacious energy. They married a year after their first date and settled in the farmlands of the Central Valley, where Dave comes from a family of almond growers. Debbie’s dream was to be a mom.  And she got her wish — three children, a boy and two girls.

There were plenty of happy times, like family Christmas celebrations.     

Dave Hawk: Little kids were wrapping and boxes and family all around, those are the images that I remember.

The children had a good life and their futures seemed well-provided for with trust funds set up by Dave’s parents.  But after nearly nine years together, like so many marriages, this one fell apart. 

Dave Hawk: We might have been a little bit more different than we were willing to admit early on.

The couple separated in 1998 when their son was 7 years old, their daughters 6 and 2. The divorce was finalized in 2000.

Dave Hawk: Since 1998 we’ve gone our own ways.  With the exception of what involves our children.  And she has her life.  And I have my life.

After the divorce, Debbie worked as a pharmaceutical representative; Dave for his family’s almond farm.  And the children split their time between their parents.

It wasn’t easy, but they made it work until one evening in June 2006, when the Hawks’ lives changed forever.

The children had been with Dave all weekend, and Debbie was supposed to pick them up Tuesday evening, June 13th. When she didn’t show, Dave dropped the children off at her house and drove away.

When they walked inside the children found a frightening scene—pools of blood and disorder. And Debbie was nowhere to be found.

The girls ran to a neighbor, and Debbie’s son called 911 from her house. At 2 a.m., Dave was called down to the Hanford police station.

Dave Hawk:  They said that Debbie did not come home.  And they have a missing person.  Do I know where she might be?  Or do I know of anything that might have happened to her?

Stafford: You hear Debbie is missing.  What goes through your mind at that point?

Dave Hawk:  Well, that’s unusual.  Because she’s never gone missing before.  And I’ve never been in a police station answering those kind of questions before.  So I’m a little apprehensive.

Debbie’s friend Teresa Voyles feared the worst.

Teresa Voyles, friend: I knew something horrible must have happened because there’s no way she would not pick up her kids.

Two days after her disappearance, police discovered Debbie’s van 40 miles away, in southwest Fresno. There was blood inside, and the license plates had been replaced with stolen ones.

Investigator Darren Mattison: I believe someone went into her house specifically to hurt her.

Hanford police investigator Daren Matteson believes Debbie was surprised by her attacker in the house — incapacitated — and taken away in her van.

Mattison: Her van was transported to a place where it would either not be recognized or possibly be stolen.

Weeks passed and there was still no word from Debbie. Her friends handed out fliers with her picture and purple ribbons. Police and community volunteers combed through miles of fields and rivers for any sign of Debbie.

The case was reclassified from "missing person" to "homicide investigation."

Stafford:  Do you believe there’s any chance she’s alive?

Mattison:  No.

What had happened to Debbie Hawk? And who was responsible? Police weren’t sure.  But they did have a “person of interest”—Debbie’s ex-husband, Dave Hawk.  And some new, disturbing, information was coming out about his relationship with Debbie.

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