Deborah was last seen in Hanford, California on June 12, 2006. She has never been heard from again. After her disappearance, her home appeared to have been ransacked, and a trail of blood was found on the floor.

Two days after Deborah was last seen, her minivan was found in Fresno, California. The doors were unlocked, the keys and a small sum of money were inside the vehicle, the windows were rolled down, and the glove box was empty. There was a bloodstain in the backseat. The van bore a rear license plate that had been stolen from another vehicle. Investigators stated the van had been at the place where it was found since the day Deborah disappeared, and it appeared that whoever left it there hoped it would be stolen. There were marks on the vehicle which indicated it had been driven through rough terrain before being parked in Fresno.

At the time of her disappearance, Deborah, was in the process of a custody battle, and she was on bad terms with her ex-husband, Dave Hawk, whom she divorced in 2000. Photographs of Dave is posted below this case summary. Dave and Deborah shared joint custody of their three children, who ranged in age from 10 to 15 years old. In 2006, Deborah was seeking additional time with the children. She wanted more child support money as well, and claimed Dave had made unauthorized withdrawals from their trust funds, and she disappeared the day before the issues were to be examined in court. Her divorce attorney, L. Kim Aguirre, was shot in the neck before the custody case was to go to court in May 2006. Aguirre survived the attack. He claims that prior to the time he was shot, someone fired five bullets through his office window. Deborah called him after he was shot and suggested Dave was responsible, but several of his clients suggested the same thing about other individuals. Dave is considered a person of interest in the Aguirre shooting but has not been charged in connection with it.

Although authorities initially said Dave was with his children at the time Deborah vanished and had been ruled out as a suspect, they have since reversed their position and named him as the prime suspect in her case. In January 2007, investigators announced they were preparing a homicide case against Dave and hoped to arrest him soon for Deborah's murder. In June, Dave was arrested on five unrelated charges: perjury, grand theft, embezzlement, tax evasion, and possession of child pornography. Authorities stated Dave lied about his income and made $300,000 in illegal withdrawals from his children's trust funds, and that images of child pornography were found on his computer. All of the charges, except the pornography one, are felonies. Dave faces up to ten years in prison if convicted.

In May 2008, Dave was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in Deborah's case. Authorities stated they did not have any new evidence in the presumed homicide, just the same evidence that had been accumulating for nearly two years. They have not described in details the case against him, but they believe the murder was committed for financial gain. He is awaiting trial for murder and for the other unrelated charges.

Deborah was employed as a salesperson for a pharmaceutical company at the time of her disappearance; her job involved going to doctors' offices with samples. Authorities investigated the possibility that she disappeared because someone wanted to steal her pharmaceutical products, but found no evidence to support that theory. Although her body has not been recovered, foul play is suspected in her case due to the circumstances involved.

Above Images: Dave Hawk in 2008