Missing
Jonathan Aaron Hawkins
Hawkins, approximately 2007
Date and time person was reported missing : 09/25/2007
Missing location (approx) :
Riverview, Florida
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Male
Ethnicity :
White
DOB : 09/22/1978 (42)
Age at the time of disappearance: 29 years old
Height / Weight : 5'9 - 5'11, 130 - 160 pounds
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Caucasian male. Brown hair, blue eyes. Hawkins has a tattoo of an ax on his left shoulder, a burn scar on that shoulder and a vertical scar on his left leg. His ears are pierced and his tongue has two piercings. He goes by his middle name, Aaron, which some Age at the time of disappearance: ncies spell "Arron."
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Hawkins was last seen in Riverview, Florida on September 25, 2007. That day his work van broke down and, at 7:39 p.m., his mother picked him and a friend, Jason Smith, up from a parking lot near State Road 60 and Interstate 75. Hawkins took three bags, containing work equipment and clothes, out of his van and put them in his mother's car.
Once she took him to her home, he asked to borrow his grandmother's orange 2002 Chevrolet Camaro. He said he would buy some parts and make repairs to his van, then return her car the next day. Hawkins's family never saw him again.
According to Smith, Hawkins went to meet a "preppy guy" in Town 'N Country, Florida to buy cocaine for resale, and Smith never saw him after that. When Hawkins's family heard the story, they contacted police. They were unable to report Hawkins missing for two more days, however.
In mid-2008, the case was removed from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office missing persons database and this fact wasn't discovered for two months. The sheriff's office said it had been a mistake and re-listed Hawkins as an endangered missing person.
Hawkins's grandmother's Camaro was found abandoned in the parking lot of a Lowe's store on Gibsonton Drive on October 31, over a month after he disappeared. The police returned it to his family. He left behind his own 1987 Nissan 300ZX, which he cherished. Authorities searched his home at the RV park, but they didn't find anything of interest.
A neighbor reported seeing Smith removing items from Hawkins's RV and into a truck a few weeks after Hawkins disappeared. Smith was later imprisoned on drug charges.
Hawkins has been in trouble with the law before; as a teenAge at the time of disappearance: r, he was convicted of grand theft auto after he stole a BMW from someone he knew, drove it to another state and crashed it. He served time in prison and went through a period of probation.
He cleaned up his life after the conviction, started a carpet-installing business, and moved into Rice Creek RV Resort, where he was seen as a good and quiet neighbor. His case remains unsolved.
Other information and links : ncy
Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office
800-873-8477
September 2021 updates and sources
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
Florida Department of Corrections
The St. Petersburg Times
North American Missing Persons Network
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are not known. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2�5% of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
Several organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and imAge at the time of disappearance: s of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office
Interactive Missing Person Search Map
