By Tori Richards
September 15, 2006
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (Crime Library) — James Hawks was worried. He was used to speaking frequently with brother Thomas and sister-in-law Jackie as they traveled the Sea of Cortez in their 55-foot yacht, "Well Deserved."
Even though the pair was at sea, they would frequently communicate by cell phone or email. The brothers last spoke on Nov. 14, 2004.
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The Hawks |
Then on Nov. 26, the Hawks family received a phone call from an Arizona bank where Thomas and Jackie had an account. Someone had tried to withdraw all the money. James Hawks filed a missing persons report with the police.
Newport Beach police Detective David Byington got the case and checked the Hawkses' phone records and credit cards but there had been no activity. So he decided to go look for the yacht in Newport Harbor and found it docked there, but no one aboard. He left his business card.
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Hawks' Boat |
"The next day, a witness called named Jennifer," Byington later testified. "She and her husband Skylar were in the process of buying the vessel. She said she had been trying to contact the victims lately and had been unable to locate them."
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