Deborah Diane Owens, a 24-year-old mother of two, was last seen on November 19, 1978, at her home in Oroville, California. Her husband, Marvin Gail Owens, claimed to be the last person to see her that morning. Two days later, Marvin reported his wife missing to the authorities. Deborah had a history of leaving for short periods but would always maintain contact with her daughters. Following her disappearance, Marvin Owens told people that she had been found safe, which was untrue and led to a significant delay in the investigation. It wasn't until a decade later that her family informed the police that she was still missing.
The investigation into Deborah's disappearance remained cold for many years. Investigators had long considered her husband, Marvin, a person of interest in the case. A significant breakthrough came in 1989 when police searched Marvin's residence and found Deborah's wedding rings, which she was known to have never taken off. They also discovered a pair of roller skates he claimed she had with her when she vanished. After his wife's disappearance, Marvin moved to Ogallala, Nebraska.
In February 2015, nearly 37 years after she was last seen, Marvin Gail Owens was arrested in Nebraska and charged with the murder of his wife. The arrest followed a renewed investigation that included fresh interviews with the couple's adult daughters about what they had been told about their mother's disappearance over the years. In March 2015, Marvin pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter. He confessed to strangling Deborah to death during an argument, admitting he "snapped." As part of his plea deal, he was sentenced to four years in prison, which was the maximum sentence for voluntary manslaughter in 1978.
Marvin Owens informed investigators that he had buried Deborah's body in a shallow grave within the Oroville Wildlife Area. Despite his confession and claims to have revealed the location of her remains, multiple extensive searches of the area have not led to the discovery of her body. Marvin was unable to pinpoint the exact location of the grave. Consequently, Deborah Diane Owens' body has never been found, and she is presumed to have been a victim of foul play. Authorities also investigated a possible link between Marvin Owens and the disappearance of another woman, Essie Hiett, who also vanished from Oroville in 1978, but he was eventually ruled out as a suspect in that case.
Last Seen: Nov 19, 1978
