Slain Newport couple lived their dream at sea

Disappearance of Thomas and Jackie Hawks baffled family

By LAYLAN CONNELLY

Orange County Register

NEWPORT BEACH - Thomas and Jackie Hawks were an outgoing, charismatic couple that would invite anyone to join their adventures along the Pacific Coast aboard their 55-foot craft "Well Deserved."

For the past three years they had berthed out of Newport Harbor, living their life's dream as "cruisers," gliding from port to port, meeting strangers who became best friends within days.

But their affability and approachability might have led to their deaths.

Three men were charged Friday with murdering them for financial gain and, according to Newport police, at least two of them gained access to the couple when the Hawks advertised their boat for sale.

Ryan Hawks, Thomas's 28-year-old son, who lives in San Diego, is baffled at his father and stepmother's fate.

"We can take the worst of the worst," he said. "We just want answers. We want to know why."

Dream of the sea|

Thomas Hawks was 57 at the time of his disappearance. He grew up in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, a small coastal town in San Diego County.

He fell in love with surfing and boating; his father took him and his brother on frequent trips to Santa Catalina Island.

When Thomas reached 16, the Hawks brothers would slip out into the night's darkness for unsupervised ventures to the island -- until they were busted, that is.

At 17, he built a 14-foot dory and took an 18-hour solo sail to Catalina.

Although he adored the water, Thomas moved with his two children, Ryan and Matt, to Arizona after a divorce to be closer to his family.

He met his second wife, Jackie, about a year later. She was using a wheelchair after a motorcycle accident eight months before. Urged by friends to get out of the house, she was introduced to Thomas at a chili cook-off.

Through the years, the family took biannual trips to Catalina and the Sea of Cortez, Mexico. They owned several boats through those years.

Thomas was a probation supervisor. The couple invested in real estate, and Jackie mostly managed their properties.

They had a dream: retire, sell their house and live at sea.

Three years ago, they found "Well Deserved," a 55-foot trawler with a hand-carved teak interior, two rooms and a large cockpit.

"Life is just too short to put things off. One cannot discover new oceans unless they have the courage to lose sight of the shore," Thomas would say.

Life as cruisers|

Thomas was so excited to start his life at sea, he didn't sleep for days.

"All right, old man, see you in two years," Ryan told his father.

When the sons visited the couple on the boat, Thomas was tanned and a thick layer of prickly hair sprouted around his chin.

He was a fit man with salt-and-pepper hair who had the pink-cheek glow of a sailor. He wore Hawaiian shirts and flip-flops.

"He loved the solitude. The beauty of the water, the nature," Ryan said.

While at sea, most communication came from two-line e-mails sent by satellite.

Sad ending|

The lifestyle began to wear a bit thin for the Hawks. A new plan emerged.

They would sell the yacht and buy a smaller boat and a house in San Carlos, Mexico. They'd be 10 hours from family in Arizona, and Thomas could remain close to the sea.

They placed an ad, offering to sell "Well Deserved" for $440,000. The ad attracted the attention of Skylar DeLeon and Alonso Machain, who took several outings on the boat. DeLeon would later say he paid cash for the boat, a deal police now call a fabrication.

After the Hawks' disappearance, family and friends posted fliers in cities along the California coast and Mexico.

Ryan and others created www.tomandjackiehawks.com shortly after the disappearance, updating the Web site with news and giving people a forum to talk about the couple.

Almost 200 submissions of prayers and memories have been written by friends, family and strangers who longed to hear from the couple.

Among those is this message from Ryan on Dec. 24: "Happy Birthday DAD!"

Ryan now believes that the worst has happened and that his father will never get that message. Family members and friends are waiting for the murder trial to begin.

"We're determined to see this through," Ryan said.

"We want our parents' name redeemed in a big way.

"I know that wherever they are, they are together. I know one doesn't work without the other."

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