Charges Altered in Missing-Pair Case

One charge was dropped and a new one filed Tuesday against a 25-year-old man who bought a yacht in Newport Beach from an Arizona couple before they disappeared nearly eight weeks ago.

Money laundering charges were dismissed against Skylar Julius Deleon of Long Beach, but a felony complaint of grand theft was filed against him, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Matt Murphy.

According to prosecutors, Deleon stole $7,000 from Mo Beck Stern Drive Co. in Costa Mesa, a boating business, on April 24. Officials said that allegation was not related to the missing couple. During a hearing in Harbor Justice Center, Orange County Superior Court Judge Craig Robison ordered him held in lieu of $200,000 bail.

Deleon’s privately hired attorney, T. Edward Welbourn, declined to comment, saying he had not read details about the new charge.

The missing couple, from Prescott, Ariz., are Thomas Hawks, 57, a retired probation officer, and Jackie Hawks, 47, a homemaker. They have been missing since Nov. 15, the day they took Deleon and a woman on a test ride around Newport Beach, police said.

The couple’s 55-foot yacht, Well Deserved, was returned to its berth near 15th Street that night, but they have not been seen since. Their car, a silver Honda CRV with Arizona plates, was found in Mexico last month.

Deleon, who paid $400,000 cash for the boat, was the last known person to see or hear from the couple, police said. The couple, married 17 years, had met Deleon and the woman once before to negotiate the deal, said the husband’s son Ryan Hawks.

The missing couple have not used their cellphones, credit cards or bank accounts, officials said.