Missing
Timmy Ray Hawkins
Timmy, approximately 2007
Date and time person was reported missing : 03/08/2004
Missing location (approx) :
Van Buren, Indiana
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Male
Ethnicity :
White
DOB : 04/15/1971 (50)
Age at the time of disappearance: 32 years old
Height / Weight : 5'9 - 5'11, 145 pounds
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Caucasian male. Brown hair, blue eyes. Timmy may go by his middle name, Ray, or the nickname Tim. He has scars on his abdomen and face and tattoos on his left forearm, left wrist, right leg, left finger, right leg and right wrist. His hair was shoulder-length and he had a mustache and goatee at the time of his disappearance.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Timmy was last seen in Van Buren, Indiana on the morning of March 8, 2004. He worked as an over-the-road truck driver for J.R. Schugel Trucking at the time of his disappearance. On March 9, the J.R. Schugel Trucking got a satellite text messAge at the time of disappearance: , supposedly from Hawkins, saying: "I sorry but I quit your truck is Indiana at I69 at Exit 19 by Subway Tim."
On March 10, Timmy's truck was found abandoned at a Subway restaurant in Pendleton, Indiana, near the Indiana 38/Interstate 69 interchange. This was more than 40 miles from Gas City, Indiana, where Timmy lived. The driver's side window was broken, the truck was unlocked, and the interior appeared to be clean.
A closer examination of the truck, however, revealed that there were marks of something being dragged across the floor of the cab. The mattress inside the truck had parts cut out of it and there were bloodstains on the curtain behind the driver's seat and around the base of the driver's seat. There was a 9-millimeter bullet casing in the dashboard. Diesel fuel was also present in the cab of the truck.
Six months after Timmy was last seen, his ex-wife, Joyce Ann Hawkins, told police she'd accidentally shot Timmy in his truck in rural Grant County, Indiana the day he was last seen. She was in jail on unrelated charges at the time of her confession.
Although Timmy and Joyce had been divorced for three years, they were still living together in Gas City when Timmy disappeared. Their relationship was troubled, and police had been called many times in response to domestic disturbances, including three times in February 2004. During the months prior to Timmy's disappearance, Joyce told a friend and Timmy's mother that she planned to kill him.
Joyce stated she had burned Timmy's body over a period of three to four days on some property she and Timmy owned. She lead police to the spot, but they couldn't find any evidence there. Joyce stated she threw the gun into a river; police searched the river twice but never found it. She admitted she cleaned the truck with hydrogen peroxide, abandoned it in the Subway parking lot and sent the text to Timmy's boss.
In addition to her confession, Joyce wrote about the crime in letters addressed to the minister Billy Graham and the advice column Dear Abby. In her letter to Dear Abby she wrote, "I know what I did, I will never get out." She also wrote a letter to her sons, apologizing for what happened and saying she didn't think the courts would believe her self-defense claim.
Joyce was charged with murder. She was found guilty at trial in February 2007 and sentenced to sixty years in prison. Timmy's body has never been found.
Other information and links : ncy
Grant County Sheriff's Department
765-662-9864
Indiana State Police
765-475-8126
September 2021 updates and sources
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.
Indiana Missing Persons Bulletin
Find a Grave
The Northwest Indiana Times
The Muncie Star Press
The Herald Bulletin
FindLaw
October 12, 2004. April 18, 2018; .
Interactive Missing Person Search Map
