April 28, 2026

Chapter 140: Anchored in Evil - The Murders of Tom and Jackie Hawks

On the coast of California, in November 2004, retired couple Tom and Jackie Hawks thought they were closing a new chapter, selling their yacht and preparing for a quieter life. Instead, they were lured into a meticulously planned trap.

What began as a routine boat sale quickly spiraled into one of the most disturbing maritime murders in true crime history.

In this episode, I broke down the calculated scheme that led to their disappearance, the shocking method used to silence them, and the investigation that unraveled a cold and calculated plot driven by greed. From false identities to a horrifying final act at sea, this case is a chilling reminder of how quickly trust can turn deadly.

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Featuring a promo for Box in the Basement
Box in the Basement" is a compelling new podcast created by Arlene, a woman whose life was forever changed by a family tragedy. The unsolved murder of her Uncle Leon Laurales serves as the catalyst for this investigative series. Disturbed by the lackluster investigation and the mystery that still surrounds his case, Arlene dives deep into the details of her uncle's story, uncovering the many problems that plagued the investigation. Her journey doesn't stop there, as she expands her focus to other unsolved cases in Central Texas. Each episode of "Box in the Basement" promises to shed light on the overlooked and forgotten mysteries in her local community, hoping to find answers and justice for those who have been silenced.

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Center, D. P. I. (2026, January 15). Twenty years since last execution: California remains under execution moratorium as advocates push for mass clemency grant. Death Penalty Information Center. https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/twenty-years-since-last-execution-california-remains-under-execution-moratorium-as-advocates-push-for-mass-clemency-grantCup of Coffee and Crime. (2026, April 16). The Murder of Tom and Jackie Hawks: Sold a yacht, then vanished at sea. Medium. https://medium.com/@coffeecrimeandcosmetics/the-murder-of-tom-and-jackie-hawks-sold-a-yacht-then-vanished-at-sea-a08ea086b637Dirmann. (2009, March 5). Murder. Just because. Orange Coast Magazine. https://orangecoast.com/news/murder-just-becauseDziemianowicz, J. (2024, January 2). Tom and Jackie Hawks Killed in Yacht Murder By “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” Actor and His Wife. Oxygen Official Site. https://www.oxygen.com/the-real-murders-of-orange-county/crime-news/skylar-deleon-kills-tom-jackie-hawks-in-yacht-murderFera, L. L. (2022a, November 29). HARDCORE GANG MEMBER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER-FOR-PROFIT KILLING OF COUPLE ON THEIR NEWPORT BEACH YACHT. Orange County District Attorney. https://orangecountyda.org/press/hardcore-gang-member-sentenced-to-death-for-murder-for-profit-killing-of-couple-on-their-newport-beach-yacht/Fera, L. L. (2022b, December 6). BACKGROUND ON THE THREE CRIMINAL CASES INVOLVING SKYLAR DELEON. Orange County District Attorney. https://orangecountyda.org/press/background-on-the-three-criminal-cases-involving-skylar-deleon/Gottlieb, J. (2019, March 2). What happened to Tom and Jackie Hawks? - Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-may-23-me-yacht23-story.htmlHanley, B. C. (n.d.). “He did it. I know he did it,” man says of son - Los Angeles Times. https://web.archive.org/web/20081010005928/http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-deleonold1,0,6683554.storyLea, J. (2021, July 16). After the murder of their loved ones, the O’Neill and Hawks families reflect. News-Herald. https://www.news-herald.com/2009/08/09/after-the-murder-of-their-loved-ones-the-oneill-and-hawks-families-reflect/O. (2024, May 22). From Power Rangers Star to Cold-Blooded Killer | True Crime. Medium. https://medium.com/@mromysteries/from-power-rangers-star-to-cold-blooded-killer-true-crime-30f9679d550aPeople v. Henderson, No. G039432 (Cal. Ct. App. Jul. 17, 2009). (n.d.).Perkinson, J. (2023, November 11). Skylar Deleon: From Power Rangers to Heartless Assassin. True Crime Time. https://truecrimetime.com/skylar-deleon/Register, O. C., & Welborn, L. (2008, October 5). Victim: Jon Peter “JP” Jarvi. Orange County Register. https://www.ocregister.com/2008/10/05/victim-jon-peter-jp-jarvi/Richards, T. (n.d.). The new owners — the gruesome yacht murder case of Thomas and Jackie Hawks — Crime Library. https://www.crimelibrary.org/notorious_murders/celebrity/hawkes_deleon/6.htmlSerna, J. (2018, December 20). Main witness testifies in court - Los Angeles Times. Daily Pilot. https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/tn-dpt-xpm-2008-10-08-dpt-deleon10092008-story.htmlWelcome to the Orange County DA Office - Press Releases/Media advisories. (n.d.). https://web.archive.org/web/20090210084528/http://www.orangecountyda.com/home/index.asp?page=8&recordid=387Yang, A., & Paparella, A. (2020, January 18). A receipt from Target, a stolen car in Mexico and a third unsolved murder: Investigation into yacht murder of California couple. ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/US/receipt-target-stolen-car-mexico-unsolved-murder-investigation/story?id=68204176

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Stay safe, stay curious, and stay vigilant.

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Every story has a beginning, but not everyone has an ending.

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In the shadows of headlines and buried police reports lay

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the voices of the missing, the murdered, and the forgotten,

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is The Book of the Dead, a true crime podcast

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re visit haunting disappearances, and uncover the truths buried beneath

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the years of silence. I'm your host, Courtney Liso, and

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every week we turn to another chapter, one victim, one mystery,

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Sometimes there is nobody left to remember or to speak

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up on behalf of the victim.

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Thursday for new episodes of Box in the Basement wherever

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you find your podcasts.

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Hello, Hello, and welcome to the next chapter in the

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Book of the Dead. Off the coast of southern California,

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the Pacific Ocean stretches out in every direction. It's a

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thing of beauty, but also of danger, where things can

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vanish without a trace, and even the largest secrets can

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sink below the surface, never to be seen again. However,

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to a couple who had spent years of their lives

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planning to set out on the adventure of a lifetime

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to reward themselves after decades of hard work, the ocean

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wasn't something for them to fear. It was the freedom

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they had been waiting for. When their retirement finally came,

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they set out on their beloved yadd leaving goodbye to

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their friends and family and began a new life, traveling

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along the coast of California, spending their days basking in

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the piece they had waited so long for, described as careful, thoughtful,

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and experienced by their loved ones. When the time came

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to come back to reality and start a new adventure

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with the next generation, they looked to sell their yacht,

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approaching it as they did everything else in their life,

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by the book. But something when terribly wrong. This is

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the murder of Tom and Jackie Hawks. Now I do

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want to propose this before we begin, that one of

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the convicted murderers in this case is transgendered male to female.

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So I will be using gender neutral pronouns when referring

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to them out of respect for the trans community and

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to mitigate any confusion for you as the listener while

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talking about this case. In nineteen eighty six, according to

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an article for the News Herald, Tom Hawks, thirty nine

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years old, newly divorced and the father of two boys,

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was at a cookout when across a crowd of people,

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he spotted a beautiful woman and he was smitten. He

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had never seen her before, and he kept staring just

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mesmerized until the woman noticed him and smiled. Of course,

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he was embarrassed that she had caught him staring, but

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he went up to her and struck up a conversation.

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The woman he was talking to was Jackie O'Neill, a

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twenty nine year old from Ohio who had lost her

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husband the year before. Jackie and her husband, Lester Newell,

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had moved to Arizona and were married for eleven years

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when a few days before the New Year in nineteen

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eighty five, they were riding a motorcycle when a drunk

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driver crashed into them. According to Jackie's mother, Gail, quote

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Lest laid the bike down and put himself between her

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and the truck. He was killed instantly. This action saved

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Jackie's life, but she was left with a damaged leg

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and a serious injury to her pelvis, which prevented her

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from having children. After recovering from her injuries at her

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parents' home, Jackie moved back to Arizona, where she and

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Tom met and he courted her with hoggendaws. According to

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Gail and jack O'Neill, and Jackie wasn't home when Tom

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came by. Tom would leave an empty court behind so

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she would know what she had missed out on. Ryan.

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Tom's sons said that his father did silly things like

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this often quote he was a joker. He's always been

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the center of attention at a party. He exudes confidence.

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He made you feel good. Jackie and Tom were very

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well matched. According to the La Times, Jackie and Tom

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were incredibly into fitness. Tom, a probation officer at the time,

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spent an hour and a half working out every day.

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He was an Arizona arm wrestling champion, and he dabbled

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and body built it, while Jackie was a frequent Jim goer.

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On July twenty ninth, nineteen eighty nine, after a few

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years together, Jackie and Tom married, and Jackie finally had

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which she always wanted children, as Tom had Ryan and

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his younger son Matt, and these boys loved Jackie as

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another mother. Jackie doated on them, and the four of

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them built a very beautiful life together, one that many

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people aspired have. According to family friend Tricia Shoots, Tom

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quote would walk on water for her. I've never experienced

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a couple that much in love, that compatible working together.

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The family went on frequent vacations so they could go boating,

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Tom's passion, and they would bring Tom's power boat out

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to a local lake every other week so they could

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go out on the water. Jackie and Tom started saving

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up for a yacht in anticipation of Tom's retirement. Eventually,

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ahead of retirement, they purchased a yacht that they named

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Well Deserved, and they spent around fifty thousand dollars making

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changes and modifications to it. In October of two thousand

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and two, when they were officially empty nesters and Tom

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had finally retired, the happy couple set sail, embarking on

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an adventure at sea for the next year and a half.

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According to an article for Latitudes and Attitudes, a yachting

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magazine reference in the La Times, Tom had said, quote,

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the sea was calling us and we couldn't wait any longer.

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Life is just too short to put things off, and

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one cannot discover new oceans unless they have the courage

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to loose sight the shore. On their trip, they sailed

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the coast to Baja, around Cabo San Lucas and into

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the Sea of Cortes, sending emails to friends and family

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about their adventures. How they went diving for clams, swimming

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with sharks, and how they even docked in Mexico and

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spend Christmas with a local family they had met. They

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were truly living a dream. In one of their emails,

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they said, quote, we are so happy that we are

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finally in the Sea of Cortes. This is what we

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have been waiting for. The weather is wonderful. The sea

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is like a lake. We just had a whale surface

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beside us. Wow. Tom and Jackie sailed around living their

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dream life for about two years until they got news

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that would bring them back to land. Matt, their younger son,

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had called to tell them that he and his wife

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were expecting their first grandchild. Tom and Jackie were overjoyed

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and decided it was time to come home. They made

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plans to sell Well Deserved and buy a home to

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be close to their growing family. According to ABC News,

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On November twelfth, two thousand and four, they took one

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final trip to Santa Catalina Island, which is off the

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coast of Los Angeles, and they told friends and family

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that they had found potential buyers after listing the yacht

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for sale in a fishing magazine for a round a

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half million dollars. The potential buyer was a former child star,

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but then no one could get a hold of the couple.

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Ryan expressed to ABC that this wasn't like his parents

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at all. They were very close with family and friends

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and always communicated. Soon after the proposed sale, Ryan had

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spoken to his father about attending a party they were

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throwing to say farewell to well deserved. Tom had also

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made plans to meet up with his friend Donnie Trufferin,

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who was going to help him move some belongings Prescott, Arizona,

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but Tom never showed up. According to an article for

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Crime Library, Donnie called Ryan and asked if he had

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heard from his father because Tom's phone was turned off,

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and when Ryan gave Donnie Jaggie's number, they discovered her

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phone was turned off as well. Ryan checked with Tom's

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brother to see if he had heard from the couple,

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but he hadn't, and Ryan assumed that they had taken

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one final trip and waited a few days to see

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if they would reach out. After about a week of

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no contact, on November twenty second or twenty third, according

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to the La Times, Tom's brother Jim, who was a

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retired Carlsbad police chief, drove out to Newport Harbor with

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Donnie to look for them. Jim met up with the

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ledo Isle Yacht Club, poor Captain carter Ford, who knew

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the couple and had liked them very much. He reported

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that the dinghy that the Hawks used to go between

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Balboa Peninsula and the Well Deserved was quote tied sloppily

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to the dock and was still in the water. This

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was something that Carter knew Tom and Jaggie would never do.

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They did things properly, and leaving the dinghy ha shazardly

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tied where it could potentially come loose was careless. Tom

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and Jackie were not careless. Jim and Carter head to

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the Well Deserved via Carter's Harbor cruiser. When they made

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it to the yacht, they circled it a few times,

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noting that the green canvas that covered the equipment for

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the yacht was half off and a towel was hanging

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out of the porthole. This was concerning again, because Tom

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and Jackie were meticulous about caring for and maintaining the

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boat that they had worked so hard to get. Jim

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climbed aboard and looked around, noticing the disarray, and he

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figured that maybe the sow of the boat had gone through,

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so he left a note for the new owners to

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call him. The next day, Jim received a call from

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a woman named Jennifer Henderson, who claimed that she and

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her spouse, Skuyler de Leon, had purchased the Well Deserved

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from Tom and Jackie ten days prior and that they

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hadn't heard from the Hawks since. She then asked him

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to relay a message to Tom that he needed to

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contact Skyler about changing the fuel tanks. Now, before we

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get back into the case and what was going on

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with the investigation, I'm going to tell you about Skyler

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and Jennifer. According to court records, Jennifer and Skyler met

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on the Internet, and their relationship seemed to burn bright

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before cooling off for a while. Jennifer was described by

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family and friends as being kind, loyal, loving, religious, naive,

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and trusting, while they described Skyler as being immature, irresponsible,

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and manipulative, prone to telling crazy stories about their life.

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Skyler allegedly claimed to not have a family, then claimed

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to have been adopted or raised in foster care before

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being raised by a wealthy family friend. They also claimed

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to be intersex and having a uterus riddled with cancer.

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In reality, Skyler Delone was born to Lynette O'Daniel and

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John Jacobson Senior, and they had a volatile upbringing. According

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to The Daily Pilot, John was a drug dealer and

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very abusive, and Lynnet claimed that she abused cocaine and

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participated in orgi's After two year old Skyler had been

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put to bed, John would beat Skyler respoons, and witnesses

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claim they had seen him shoved toothpicks under Skyler's nails

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when they bit them. However, from six to ten years old,

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Afalynette separated from John. She and Skyler moved in with

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her new husband, Edward Fisher, who showed Skyler love and

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taught them right from wrong. Skyler also, at least for

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a short time, had aspirations of being an actor, and

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even had a non credited part in an episode of

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Power Rangers. When they got older, Skyler joined the Marines,

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but this was a short lived career move, and they

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went a wall after just over a year of service

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and received a dishonorable discharge upon being found. This story

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would be embellished by Skyler in future tellings, where they

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portrayed themselves as a special courses. Sniper. Jennifer and Skyler

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had broken up for a short time until getting back

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together when Skyler told Jennifer they had been in a

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terrible motorcycle accident, and they resumed their relationship when Jennifer

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came back to take care of them. Jennifer claimed to

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support and trust Skyler even after they had been arrested

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for armed robbery. They married on September twenty second of

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two thousand and one and moved in with Jennifer's parents.

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The Henderson supported the young couple, paying off their seventeen

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thousand dollars in credit card debt. However, their dead continued

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to pile up, and by the end of two thousand

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and three, they owed the Henderson's thirty thousand dollars and

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had an additional twenty five thousand dollars in credit card debt.

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After their arrest for burglary, Skyler pled guilty and the

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Hendersons paid the monthly fee for Skyler to attend a

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Seal Beach City work for a low jail facility. Skyler

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would be required to sleep at the facility during the week,

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but could lead during the day to work. While attending

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this facility, Skyler met Alonzo McCain who was employed there,

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as well as John Jarve who was another inmates sentenced

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for counterfeiting and had a drug problem. Both of these

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men will be important later. Jennifer and Skyler would go

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on to have a baby in January two thousand and four,

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and Jennifer again would become pregnant in the coming months.

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Around November twenty sixth, according to an article for Good

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Morning America, Jim contacted Tricia Shoots, the friend of the

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Hawks who managed their finances while they were out at sea.

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The reason for this was because if they had sold

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the boat, there would be activity in their account of

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a large deposit of money, but there was no activity

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at all, so Jim contacted the police and officially reported

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Tom and Jackie missing. Now police were told that Jennifer

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Henderson contacted Jim and how she and her spouse were

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the supposed buyers of the yacht, so police look into

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the couple as they are investigating the Hawks's disappearance. On

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the twenty seventh, the police arrived at the Well Deserved

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to search the yacht for clues as to where Tom

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and Jackie are, and while there they find a target

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receipt dated ten days prior for two containers of chlorox bleach,

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trash PAGs and TOMPs. Police contacted the target and received

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surveillance footage the transaction records for that purchase that identified

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the buyer of these items as a Stephen Henderson. When

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police go and speak to him, Steven identifies his daughter

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and Skuyler as the buyers of the yacht. He tells

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police that they could find the couple at a local

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church that they were cleaning. When they arrived at the church,

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Newport Beach Detective Sergeant Dave Byington said, quote, when I

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see a family volunteering at a church, I was put

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at ease a little bit with that, thinking, Okay, this

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is going to turn out. Okay, the Hawks are fine.

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I was talking to Jennifer and basically said, we're looking

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for the Hawks. The family's very concerned. And she said,

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and she was very genuine, She goes, we're really concerned too.

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Jennifer goes on to tell police that she and Skyler

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had been trying to get a hold of Tom and

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Jackie because they had left their personal belongings on the

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yacht and she and Skyler didn't know what to do

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with them. According to court records, Jennifer claimed that she,

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who was currently and Skyler had gone to see the

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yacht with their young daughter and friend Alonzo McCain, and

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they had purchased the boat for two hundred and sixty

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00:16:08.440 --> 00:16:12.039
five thousand dollars in cash which they had gotten from

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Skyler's acting royalties and money that they had made from

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real estate investments. She also said that they had all

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the necessary paperwork confirming the sale that she could provide. However,

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when speaking to Skyler, they said that they had paid

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four hundred and sixty five thousand dollars for the boat.

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Skyler also said that they made the purchase in the

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parking lot where the yacht was docked on November fifteenth.

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When asked where all this money had come from, as

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Skyler and Jennifer were living in the converted garage behind

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her parents' home, Skyler admitted to selling narcotics, so admitting

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to a felony, but they also claimed that they were

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on the street and narrow and trying to do right

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by their family. Skyler claimed that the Hawks were paid

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with a briefcase full of cash on November fifteenth, in

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the present of two witnesses. They handed over the keys

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to the yacht, and then Tom and Jackie drove off

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in their nineteen ninety eight silver Honda CRV. Now, while

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there had been no suspicious activity in the Hawks's bank

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account initially, three weeks later there was, and it was

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learned that the people trying to access the money were

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Skyler and Jennifer. This is also when police learn about

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Skyler's arrest for armed robbery. Police, according to Oxygen, are

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presented with documents showing that Tom and Jackie had granted

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durable power of attorney to Skuyler before their disappearance, which

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according to Skyler, was done because they were helping them

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buy a vacation home in Mexico. But the document was

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questionable Jackie's last name was signed with two s's. Despite this, though,

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it seems as if the document was legitimate, as they

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had tracked down the two witnesses named in it, Alonzo

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McCain and a woman named Kathleen Harris, who was a

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notary and friends with Skuyler and Jennifer. Of course, with

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the strange bank activity now the police are a bit

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suspicious of the young couple. There was, at least at present,

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no proof that anything bad had happened to Tom and Jackie,

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but there was a potential financial motive to harm them,

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and it was looking more and more like Skuyler and

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Jennifer were involved in the disappearance in some way. Even

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as the police's suspicion mounted, they hit a dead end

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in terms of an evidence trail, as no one had

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seen any sign of the Hawks or their vehicle in

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the weeks they had been missing. Finally, after a month

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of no answers, Ryan Hawks was urged by his uncle

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to go to the media to garner Leeds. As the

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news broke, a retired couple living in San Miguel, Mexico,

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called the police, informing them that they had seen a

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nineteen ninety eight silver Honda CRV parked near a mobile

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home that seemed to match the reported description of Tom

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and Jackie's car. When Mexican authorities approached the owner of

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the mobile home, according to ABC, the owner told them

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he had no idea who Tom and Jackie were. He

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had never met them, but a friend of his had

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given him the car. This friend's name was Skyler de Leone.

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At this revelation, Byington said, quote, at that moment, any

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00:19:27.599 --> 00:19:31.319
possibility that the Hawks were still alive died right there. Unfortunately,

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when asked about the vehicle, Skyler claims they had never

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00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:38.559
been inside it. Policeman door to door at the mobile

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home park and showed photos to the residents, but not

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00:19:41.880 --> 00:19:45.880
of Tom and Jackie. Rather, they showed pictures of Skyler

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and Jennifer, and they were recognized by countless witnesses who

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00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:53.720
confirmed that they had been in the area and had

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definitely been driving the Honda when they arrived. At this point,

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police knew that Tom and Jackie had den andly being killed.

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There was no other explanation for what had happened, but

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they still had no idea how to prove it. There

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was still an alarming lack of evidence that they needed

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00:20:10.680 --> 00:20:14.920
to gather before they could make an arrest. Additionally, they

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00:20:15.039 --> 00:20:18.160
still had no idea where Tom and Jackie's bodies could be.

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To buy time to find their much needed evidence, Skyler

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was arrested on fraud and money laundering charges on December seventeenth,

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two thousand and four, regarding the money obtained to buy

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the well deserved that they had. If you remember, admitted

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00:20:33.160 --> 00:20:37.319
to purchasing using funds from the sale of arcotics. After

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00:20:37.400 --> 00:20:40.400
they were securely ensconced in a cell with no chance

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of flaying or destroying any evidence. The police searched the

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00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:49.079
Delhion home and found some very interesting things inside. Some

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00:20:49.119 --> 00:20:52.000
of the things they found were the Hawks's laptop, as

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00:20:52.079 --> 00:20:55.119
well as their video camera, which the Delions had used

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to memorialize their own Thanksgiving celebration. Investigators asked Jennifer multiple

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times why they have the Hawk's belongings, even going so

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00:21:11.200 --> 00:21:14.119
far as to offer her immunity in exchange for her

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assistance in the investigation, but she refused, insisting Skyler was

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innocent of any wrongdoing. Also inside the home was another

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piece of evidence that would ultimately help put a much

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more alarming picture together. Newport police discover a business card

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for LAPD detective Joe Bheena, who, according to ABC, was

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a liaison with the Mexican police. In speaking with Detective Bohema,

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investigators learned that he was assisting the Ensignata State Police

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investigate the murder of John Jarvi, who had been found

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with his throat cut in Mexico in two thousand and three.

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As I mentioned earlier, John Jarvey, who went by JP

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to his family, had met Skuyler when he was serving

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his sentence for counter fitting at the Seal Beach City Jail.

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He was a licensed pilot and had suffered with a

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substance use disorder after paying medications had been prescribed following

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multiple back surgeries. According to his mother, Betty, while he

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struggled with this throughout his life, he also found periods

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of success when he was sober. According to the Orange

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County Register, John became a pilot and an announcer for

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a traveling air show called Team America. Later, he would

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also make and sell custom jewelry. According to Betty, her

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son was easy going and made friends very easily, but

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he consistently made friends with the wrong kinds of people.

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One group robbed him of his belongings, another roped him

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into the scheme that would lead to his arrest, and

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the third, according to Betty, was his ill fated relationship

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with Skuyler de Leon and Jennifer Henderson. The more the

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police looked into Jarvis following his connection to de Leon,

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they uncovered a scenario that could explain what happened to

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the Hawks, and they realized that Skyler de Leon had

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in fact killed before. In speaking with Jeff Jarvey, John's brother,

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as well as the Anciata State Police. Newport Police put

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together a picture of what happened to John. In December

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of two thousand and three, Skyler approached John with a

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business proposition in which they would both make a lot

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of money. However, John would need to invest fifty thousand

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dollars to make this happen, so he agreed to take

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00:23:28.279 --> 00:23:31.799

Chapter 140: Anchored in Evil - The Murders of Tom and Jackie Hawks

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