Case Details
- Photo URLs:
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- Missing Since:
- Missing Since 11/19/1978
- Missing From:
- Missing From Oroville, California
- Classification:
- Classification Endangered Missing
- Gender:
- Female
- Race:
- Race White
- Date of Birth:
- Date of Birth 05/01/1955 (69)
- Age:
- Age 24 years old
- Height and Weight:
- Height and Weight 5’0, 100 pounds
- Clothing/Jewelry Description:
- Distinguishing Characteristics:
- Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Blonde hair, blue eyes. Deborah has a scar on her abdomen. Her nickname is Debbie and some accounts spell her name “Debora.”
- Details of Disappearance:
- Deborah Owens disappeared from her Oroville, California home on November 19, 1978. Her husband, Marvin, was the last person to see her. Although Deborah sometimes disappeared briefly, she always contacted her daughters. Marvin falsely claimed she was found safe, misleading the police for ten years.
Police searched Marvin’s home in 1989 and found Deborah’s wedding rings and roller skates—items Marvin said she’d taken with her. He moved to Nebraska after her disappearance.
In 2015, Marvin was arrested and charged with Deborah’s murder. He admitted to killing her during an argument, pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter. He said he buried her in the Oroville Wildlife Area, but despite searches, her body has never been found. He received the maximum sentence for voluntary manslaughter in 1978: four years in prison.
Police investigated whether Marvin was also involved in the disappearance of another woman, Essie Hiett, but he was cleared in that case. Deborah’s disappearance is considered a murder due to the evidence against her husband.
- Agency:
- Butte County Sheriff’s Office 530-538-7434
- Source Links:
This person was missing Missing Since 11/19/1978