Claude Alexander Hawkins, a 48-year-old white man, was murdered on March 14, 1992, while fishing near Wills Creek Dam in Coshocton County, Ohio. His killing was one of a series of attacks on outdoorsmen between 1989 and 1992 later linked to Thomas Lee Dillon.

Dillon was eventually convicted of five counts of aggravated murder in 1993 and received five consecutive life sentences totaling 165 years without the possibility of parole. Investigators tied him to the murders after a friend reported suspicions and a gun dealer turned over a rifle Dillon had sold that was used in the killings. Prosecutors from multiple counties reached a plea agreement to avoid the death penalty, which the victims families accepted.

Hawkins’ death is part of a case that underlined risks to people in rural outdoor settings and the challenges of coordinating multi-county investigations. If anyone knew Claude Hawkins or observed suspicious activity near Wills Creek Dam in March 1992, please share what you know.