Where is Dave Hawk Now? – On an upcoming episode of NBC’s ‘Dateline,’ viewers will witness the remarkable tale of Debbie Hawk’s disappearance and Dave Hawk’s alleged conspiracy to murder her at her Hanford, California residence back in June 2006. The prosecution theory indicates that this crime was driven primarily by Dave’s desire to conceal the embezzlement of thousands of dollars from their children’s trust funds. However, during a dramatic turn of events, he made an outright statement of innocence during his brief appearance on the show. Many of you want to know about the current whereabouts of Dave, let us find him.
What Happened to Dave Hawk? Where is He Now?
In the late 1980s, David “Dave” Martin Hawk, the son of Stan and Lois Hawk, met Deborah “Debbie” Triantis Hawk through mutual friends who set them up on a blind date. Their relationship quickly progressed, and within nine years, they married and moved into his family’s sprawling almond groves in Lemoore, Kings County, California. They welcomed three beautiful children, Conrad, Chelsa, and Savannah, into this world before Stan established irrevocable trust accounts in October 1997 for all three children.
Stan made his initial deposit into two irrevocable trust accounts in October 1997. In this week’s episode, we discover that Debbie and Dave were co-trustees until court documents revealed otherwise. Their marriage eventually ended when Debbie filed for divorce in 1998. As the divorce proceedings unfolded, Dave’s father set up new irrevocable trust accounts with each of his children, with Dave himself as the exclusive trustee.
During his divorce proceedings, Dave became romantically involved with Mary Royer. Our protagonist runs an in-home daycare for three children and maintains an active household. In 2000, his divorce was officially settled, and Mary moved in with Dave shortly afterward, becoming part of their household in October of that year. Mary’s testimony revealed that Dave believed Debbie deserved more severe punishment for her crimes against him. He held her responsible for causing him pain and keeping them apart from their children.
Court records reveal that Dave was unemployed from 1999 until October 2000. Eventually, in July 2000, he secured employment with the Central California Almond Growers Association. However, he parted ways with the association in the spring of 2001 and remained unemployed until November 2005. Mary took the stand in this episode, providing information regarding a surprising business venture of purchasing the BuyNuts.com domain name. This venture depended heavily on Dave contributing funds to their shared checking account, as Mary asserted that the funds came directly from his investments.
Debbie took legal action against Dave by filing a motion against him, accusing him of withdrawing funds that were intended for their children’s education from the trust accounts specifically set aside for that purpose. Chelsa recently underwent appendectomy surgery, prompting Dave to concede and subtract $1,500 from the total payment amount. Chelsa explained that she had recently undergone chemotherapy treatments to justify his decision. On January 8, 2001, the court issued an unexpected decree ordering Dave to be dismissed as trustee, return all funds with interest, and pay Debbie $45,000 immediately. The court also instructed him to divide specific stocks among himself and cover Debbie’s attorney fees and costs.
In its latest episode, Child Support Services (DCSS) made an astonishing discovery – Dave had consistently paid child support since June 2001. However, at a contempt hearing held in July 2002, it became evident that he was 14 months behind on payments totaling $7,400. In April 2004, Dave took an ambitious step towards financial security when he applied for a $201,000 mortgage loan to refinance his existing property mortgage in Lemoore. The outcome of his application remains unknown. Astonishingly, court documents indicate that Dave is accused of fraud by using his children as registrants in his fabricated business name statement to prove that he wasn’t their employer falsely.
As events unfolded in November 2005, Dave made an unprecedented approach to DCSS with a request to modify child support payments. Dave sought an equitable arrangement between them, believing that his former wife was earning more than him. On January 17, 2006, he filed his response, seeking increased custody and decreased child support payments. Debbie’s attorney issued a subpoena for Dave’s financial records and trust account statements for their children, revealing evidence of him siphoning off thousands from these trust accounts and taking personal money. Per their shared custody agreement, they spend time at his house every other weekend. This week’s episode shows them spending every other weekend at his place.
As Dave and the children waited anxiously, Debbie attempted to call her number unsuccessfully. In response, she offered to accompany the three to Hanford, where they found a trail of blood leading from their mother’s bedroom all the way down to the garage. Police quickly concluded that Debbie must have been murdered based on all the evidence found at her residence.
As seen in court documents, Dave makes incriminating statements to his best friend, Keith Marshall, as revealed by court records. His eldest son, Conrad Hawk, claimed he witnessed a blood-stained envelope but refused to turn it over to authorities. Keith donned a wire to capture more damning dialogue, but unfortunately, his efforts proved futile. Dave’s life became chaotic when law enforcement discovered evidence of his alleged theft and embezzlement of over $300k from the children’s funds in early 2007.
On May 29, 2008, Dave was arrested for the horrific act of murdering Debbie. It remained unknown to them despite law enforcement’s best efforts to locate her body. Dave claimed that the authorities were trying to frame him through various assumptions, asserting, “I was at home all night in another location with my kids, all because of fabricated financial schemes which were never real to begin with.” Remarkably, Dave’s defense counsel attempted to shift blame onto a random drug dealer by using Debbie’s profession as a Pharmaceutical Representative as evidence against him, citing it as proof.
Dave was found guilty of first-degree murder and numerous other charges, including tax evasion, embezzlement, grand theft, and perjury, by a jury of his peers. Now comes the punishment. In December 2009, our protagonist received a life sentence without parole. Following this setback in the proceedings, he dared to appeal his conviction. Unfortunately, his sentencing was upheld in 2014. In March 2016, Dave filed for a forensic reexamination after discovering Debbie’s remains. However, the remains were too decomposed for review, and his conviction remained intact. Our protagonist is now accused of her death and is being held at Mule Creek State Prison near Ione, California.
Must Read: Dateline 5×12 “The Disappearance Of Debbie Hawk”: Debbie Hawk Murder
