Thomas Charles Hawks, 57, and his wife Jackie were last seen on November 14, 2004, in Newport Beach, California, when they took a prospective buyer out on their 55-foot yacht Well Deserved for a test sail. The couple had been sailing the Pacific for nearly two years and were selling the boat themselves; the interested buyer was Skylar Deleon.

Their vehicle turned up days later in Ensenada, Mexico, and investigators found suspicious activity on the Hawks’ bank accounts. Evidence and eyewitness accounts indicate Thomas and Jackie were tied up and thrown overboard with an anchor, drowning them; their bodies were never recovered. Deleon and accomplices were later arrested, and Deleon confessed and was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death, while others received varying sentences.

The case remains notable for how a routine boat sale ended in a planned robbery and murder. If anyone has information about Thomas and Jackie’s final movements or the Well Deserved before November 14, 2004, please share what is known.