On the morning of May 20, 2023, 53-year-old Dawn Newbauer was found dead in the parking lot of the Retreat Village Shopping Plaza on St. Simons Island, Georgia. Newbauer had just finished a restaurant shift at Nazzaro’s and was discovered slumped over the trunk of her car with two gunshot wounds to the head; family described the scene as particularly disturbing and noted she was missing clothing from the waist down. She had worked in the Golden Isles restaurant industry for about 15 years and was remembered by relatives as a dedicated mother and grandmother.

Glynn County Police identified 50-year-old Ricky Easterling as a person of interest after evidence at the scene and surveillance footage showed a vehicle leaving the area shortly after shots were reported. A traffic stop in Brunswick and subsequent towing of a vehicle led investigators to hotel surveillance that reportedly showed Easterling moving two bags between vehicles. Warrants were executed and officers recovered firearms; ballistics testing tied a handgun to Newbauer’s killing, and Easterling’s fingerprints were found inside her car, which investigators say contradicted his statement that he had only spoken to her from his own vehicle.

Does anyone have information about Dawn’s last hours on St. Simons Island or about the vehicle seen on surveillance that morning?