Case Details
- Photo URLs:
-
- Missing Since:
- Missing Since 09/22/2000
- Missing From:
- Missing From Oceanside, California
- Classification:
- Classification Endangered Missing
- Gender:
- Female
- Race:
- Race White
- Date of Birth:
- Date of Birth 09/16/1969 (55)
- Age:
- Age 31 years old
- Height and Weight:
- Height and Weight 5’5, 115 pounds
- Clothing/Jewelry Description:
- Clothing/Jewelry Description A light brown uniform.
- Distinguishing Characteristics:
- Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Red hair, blue eyes. Denise’s ears are pierced.
- Details of Disappearance:
- In September 2000, Denise Vasseur, an animal keeper at the San Diego Wild Animal Park, disappeared. Her husband, Charles, last saw her at 5:00 a.m. on September 22nd, when he left for work. Denise said she was going to a sleepover at the park with a friend.
Police discovered her co-worker, Patrick Hamilton, also vanished that same day. It turned out Denise and Patrick were having an affair, and she’d gone to his house to break things off.
Hamilton was caught trying to run away on September 27th and even tried to kill himself in jail. In November 2001, he confessed to killing Denise. He said an argument broke out when she tried to leave, and he accidentally strangled her. He claimed he buried her body in the Anza-Borrego Desert. Despite his help, her body was never found.
Hamilton pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison in 2002, even though he later tried to take back his confession. Denise and Charles had met while she volunteered with primates in Africa and he was stationed there. The case remains unsolved as Denise’s remains have never been located.
- Agency:
- Oceanside Police Department 760-435-4900
- Source Links:
This person was missing Missing Since 09/22/2000