She Never Made It Home: What Really Happened to Dawn Mozino? | Forensic Files

Hi, crime junkies. I'm your host, Ashley Flowers. And I'm Brit. And this is our new friend who literally just came to me
from a shelter in South Texas at 5 a.m. So, my lovely new little girl doesn't even have a name yet. Feel free to drop
suggestions in the comments. Um, this is our new audioch pup. We love her. She came from a shelter called Who Saved
Who. if you want to make a little donation in the name of our old friend Chuck. Um, but she's already bringing a
lot of like healing to my heart and to the office. And so, >> she seems pretty chill. Again, I'm only
2 hours into this new form of motherhood. Uh, and if she is, I think you'll be seeing her on a lot more
recordings. >> So, with that, I think we should just jump into today's story. >> Yeah. The story I have for you today,
truly mysterious disappearance of [music] a 23-year-old woman from southeastern Pennsylvania. And if you
just skim the headlines, you would think police [music] have had a strong suspect
for decades, a twice convicted killer who actually knew our victim. [music] However, we got our hands on this
woman's diary, and she wrote of not one, but two [music] love triangles that might actually lead to a break in this
case. This is the story of Dawn Mosino. One day in June 1989, a woman in the Philly [music] suburbs named Kathy sees
a report of a missing young woman. And Kathy studies the picture of a girl with curly brown hair. And something about
her is so familiar. Her name is Don Mosino. And apparently, per this report, she's been missing since May 22nd.
Dawn's last known to have clocked out of her shift at Binmar Hospital where she serves food to patients, [music] and it
would have been sometime at around 3 or 4 p.m. that day. And Kathy like can't believe what she's seeing [music]
because never in a million years does anyone expect that they might have information on a case, right? She
doesn't know Dawn at all, but she does remember seeing a girl who looked just like her at a bus stop near the hospital
a few weeks ago. At the time, she was driving her two boys home from school. And one of them actually pointed to this
group of women waiting for the bus who were all dressed the same, gray skirts, maroon vests, and a [music] black bow
tie. And that is actually one of the hospital's uniforms. And here is the kicker. She specifically remembers
seeing Dawn in that group of young women. But Dawn wasn't talking to the other women. She was talking to a man
standing nearby. Now Kathy isn't 100% positive of the date that she saw Dawn because the days can totally like bleed
together if you have the same routine like picking up your boys from school and driving them home. But she doesn't
want to risk not giving the information to police, especially if it could be valuable. and she definitely does know
it was at least around May [music] 22nd. So she tells police about seeing Dawn, gives them the vague description of a
guy that she thinks she was talking to. This [music] black man maybe in his 30s,
Detective Luther Leighton, who everyone calls Lucky is the lead on Dawn's case. And so he wants to ask Kathy if she'll
identify [music] him in a photo lineup. And she's like, "Absolutely." Wait, how?
Well, because a couple of weeks after Dawn [music] had gone missing, police already had someone on their radar.
Through their investigation, they came to realize that in Dawn's address book, there was an entry that said Tom Hawkins
with a number beside it. Now, his full name was Thomas Hawkins Jr., and Thomas Hawkins Jr. is a convicted murderer. 9
years before he sexually assaulted, stabbed, and strangled a 15-year-old girl named Karen Stubs. [music] This was
in 1980. And Brit, he only served 6 years for that. Six? I know. It seems like prosecutors couldn't prove premeditation
for firstdegree murder. Like that's why they ended up offering him like a deal for third degree in exchange for a
guilty plea. But still, 6 years is astounding to me. like this man is clearly dangerous.
>> So, okay, did Don just run into this guy once or did she like know him? >> She knew him. I mean, at least that's
what her mom said. Like, they actually worked together 3 or 4 years before [music] at a local rehabilitation
center. And what's wild is like when they worked together, this dude bullied her. Like one day, Dawn's sister Kath
had to come pick Dawn up from work because quote someone was being nasty to her. Turns out it was this guy. After
this, Kath like went and gave Hawkins a piece of her mind. And then shortly after, Dawn left that job to go work at
the hospital. So before this witness, Kathy even called the police, they had already brought Hawkins in. And his
story was weird because he says that 2 months before Dawn went missing, she had offered to help him get a job at the
hospital she worked at. >> Him, the guy who bullied her at their last job together. Yeah. And he says
that Dawn had even set up an interview for him on May 12th, which would have been 10 days before she goes missing.
But he says that he never actually showed up for that interview and that Dawn was really angry with him about it.
But other than that, when they talked to him, he's like, "Listen, I have not seen
or heard from her since that whole thing, like again, weeks before." But guess what? They came to learn that that
story was BS. The hospital had no record of an interview even being scheduled for
Hawkins. Why would he even lie about the interview? >> Well, that's a good question, right?
Like I'm thinking maybe he was actually near the hospital like Kathy the witness
said and he wanted to have a reason for that if police ever figured it out. But I also don't know because it wasn't even
on the same day. So I don't know like if you're going to make up a lie, why make
up one that's so easy to dispute and also doesn't even make any sense or actually explain anything away. I mean,
I could see him probably trying to like distance himself from her and specifically from her on that date cuz
the interview that he missed was 10 days earlier, right? >> Maybe. But like they didn't know it was
a lie at the time and then they didn't have anything on the guy. So at that time they had to let him go.
>> Okay. So this guy is already on the radar. When Kathy calls, they offer this like photo lineup. Does she recognize
him? >> So she agrees like yes, let's do this photo lineup. [music] But by the way,
just 3 days after police had originally talked to him about Dawn, but before he comes in for like this lineup or
whatever, this guy actually committed another murder. >> What? >> Hawkins sexually assaulted, strangled,
and stabbed his niece, Andrea Thomas, with a meat fork and staged the scene to look like a burglary. [music]
Now, what is interesting is police did not know that it was him who did this at the time. Like it ends up taking several
months for him to get arrested for that. But I just wanted you to know like we're
talking about a bad bad guy here. A bad guy that Kathy does ID as the one she said was talking to Dawn.
>> Which if if like [music] that's the guy that she saw, then Dawn probably isn't
just a missing person at this point. >> No. No. Everyone kind of fears the worst. But honestly, Hawkins or no
Hawkins, the worst case scenario was already playing out in the minds of Dawn's family because they know it's not
like her to just disappear and not contact them. [music] I mean, it took them only hours to report her missing
because even though Dawn was 23, [music] she had some learning differences. She actually lived at home with her mom and
her sister. Now, she's described as high functioning but developmentally delayed.
and her sister Kath told us that [music] because of this, Dawn followed a pretty
strict schedule. And if anything changed, she would always let her mom or her sister know. So that day that she
went [music] missing, her sister Kath said that Don was supposed to come home after work, let the dog out, and then
her plan was to either walk the 20 minutes to her boyfriend [music] Dan Cul's apartment in Wayne, Pennsylvania,
or maybe just hop on like another bus over there. Now, Dan also had some learning differences, and the two of
them had been dating for like 3 years. They were both super dedicated to the Special Olympics. Dawn actually won
medals in like all these different events and the Special Olympics was something that she really took
seriously. So when she was going over to his place, the two of them were supposed
to be like getting together so that they could go to a practice together down at
the local YMCA. But when Cath got home from work early that evening, she noticed that the dog had not been taken
out and there were like half a dozen voicemails from Dan asking why Dawn hadn't met him, why she hadn't come to
practice. So, all that to say, Don's family [music] was adamant that something was wrong when they filed a
missing person's report. And police actually heard their concerns. They took the report and then immediately started
looking into where she could be, who she could be with, all of that, which is how
they wound up at Tom Hawkins. And now that he has been IDed by their witness, the detective on Dawn's case gets a
search warrant for his apartment in Philadelphia. Now, there's nothing they find [music] there that directly ties
him to Dawn, but they do seize [music] a stack of detective magazines. And it's interesting because they say that
they're all underlined and like dogeared on articles about new police practices and tactics, stuff like that. So,
[music] Detective Lucky thinks that maybe this guy was like making notes on how to get away studying
>> with murders. Right now, fast forward a little bit. They end up connecting Hawkins to the murder of his niece, and
he finally gets arrested and taken to trial on that, which only makes everyone more suspicious of him in connection to
Dawn's disappearance. So much so that Dawn's family attends every single day of the court hearings because they are
fully convinced that Hawkins did something to Dawn. And if police can't get him on that, at least they hope
he'll go away and pay for this crime, right? He'll be off the streets, which he does. The jury convicts Hawkins of
firstdegree murder, which like [music] in my mind, you must have been a terrible study of those magazines, which
by the way, [music] they fully brought up at trial because his DNA and fingerprints were all over the crime
scene. And so after the verdict, Hawkins is sentenced to death. And this gives Detective Lucky an idea. He sees this as
kind of a unique opportunity. He basically goes to the prosecutor, Bruce Caster, and says, "Look, I think this is
our guide, but [music] I got nothing. Would you be open to taking the death penalty away if he gives us information
about Dawn?" Like, her family just wants some closure. >> And Bruce agrees, which to me, like,
this is an offer that even the dumbest criminal would take if they could. Like, if I was facing the death penalty for a
case where they have me dead to rights, like forget appeals. I try to be confessing to anything.
>> But I don't think it's just like a confession they want, right? What they said is they want information. I think
they want to know like where she is, what happened. >> But he says he has no information to
give because [music] he had nothing to do with Dawn's disappearance. He's sticking to that. Now, Hawkins to this
day is still sitting on death row because Pennsylvania's governor put a moratorum on the [music] death penalty.
But in all this time, he has never come close to confessing to anything relating
to Dawn's disappearance. You know, it is interesting to me that Don's case seems
to be so different. And I say seems cuz I guess we don't really know what happened to
her, right? We She's never been found. We can't say that it's like not the same mo, but his other two victims like
>> they were found quick. Yeah. >> Found quickly. Not even hidden. Like, >> and you're right. So, I know we don't
know what happened to Dawn, but we do know a lot about his other crimes. And what we know is like he knew both of the
victims, which is the same for Dawn, right? And like his first victim, Karen, she lived in the same apartment complex
as his parents. And so, like they met each other on a few different occasions. [music]
And then obviously, Andrea was his niece. We know that he sexually assaulted and killed both of them in
their homes and [music] then staged both crime scenes to look like robberies. And
so, like I said, while he knew Dawn in that piece is the same, her home doesn't appear to be any kind of crime scene.
>> He didn't, as far as we know, he didn't stage anything. >> Yeah. Honestly, it seems like she never
even made it home afterward. [music] >> Right. >> And interestingly, Dawn is about a
decade older than his two other victims, which I think could factor in if Hawkins
crimes are [music] sexually motivated toward adolescent girls. But is that enough to rule him out for Dawn? not to
Detective [music] Lucky. He is still convinced of Hawkins guilt. But what if he didn't do it? I mean, I get why they
would think that. What are the odds that she knew a now twice convicted killer and he didn't have anything to do with
it, but like what if they were right and wrong? What if a convicted murderer did
have something to do with her disappearance, but they were just looking at the wrong one?
>> [music] >> I am popping on to start a conversation about a case. I cannot get it out of my
head. A true mind [music] bender. A huge twister your way. You gut check all your
assumptions cuz this is a case that starts [music] like so many before. >> Hi crime junkies. [cheering]
In 2001, Detective Lucky [music] gets the shock of his career when he reads the front page headline of the Delaware
County Daily Times and it says, "Did Bennett kill Dawn?" Now, per this article that he's seeing for the first
time, >> the detective, >> yes, >> cool. It's basically saying that a guy in prison named Gerald Bennett had
written a letter to the paper confessing to Dawn's [music] murder. And let me preface this by saying Gerald is the
actual worst. He's in prison for strangling his 33-year-old girlfriend, Roxanne [music]
Carolyn Lighty, to death and then sexually assaulting her 13-year-old daughter at knife point for nearly 5
hours right after. And this was in 1999, so like 10 years after Dawn's disappearance. And this I don't know
that I've ever dropped an mfer like on an episode, but this man even self-published a book arguing that he is
innocent of the crime and accusing the 13-year-old, a literal child, of killing her own mother.
>> Okay. When you said the actual worst, I thought that was hyperbolic, but the actual worst. Now, in this letter that
he writes to the paper, he says that he met Dawn in May of 1989 [music] while he was applying for a job at the
hospital where she worked, which is eerily similar to Hawkins story. >> Yeah, >> I don't know what to make of that. It
seems like just a weird coincidence. Now, there aren't a ton of details in the letter. And even though they clearly
didn't reach out to Lucky, the detective, the paper did get Bruce Caster, the prosecutor, responding on
record saying, quote, "If Bennett takes authorities to the body, then I will publicly apologize to Tommy Hawkins for
indicating that I think he's the killer of Don Mosino." >> That's [music] pretty bold.
>> Yeah. especially for a guy who like would go on to ascend the political ladder. I mean, he eventually became the
acting [music] attorney general of Pennsylvania. And it turns out Bruce called this guy's bluff. Gerald isn't
able to lead them to Dawn's remains. He can't really even give them any verifiable information on what he says
happened. And according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, police determined that he was in an entirely different
state when Dawn disappeared. Then why lie out of the blue like that? >> He was looking at life in prison or the
death penalty and I think trying to save his skin by giving false information in
a highprofile missing person's case. The judge in Gerald's case called him quote
the most dangerous, remorseless, callous defendant I have seen in [music] my 20 years as a judge, unquote,
>> which I feel like I can't disagree, but now with Don's case, they're back to Hawkins. Honestly, never really got off
him. And again, I get why, but I also again ask, what if the obvious thing distracted police from the real thing?
What if for all these years people ignored the one clue that Dawn herself left behind, her diary? In this diary,
which she seems to have started just three months before her disappearance, Dawn doesn't mention Hawkins once, and
she certainly doesn't say anything about Gerald Bennett. What Dawn does write about is cheating on her boyfriend, Dan.
From her writings, it seems like Dawn had been getting a little bored in her relationship with Dan. [music] And
somehow while in this unsatisfied state, she meets this guy named Nick Katona. I don't really know how, but she devotes
most of the pages of her diary to venting about her complicated feelings for Dan and Nick. We actually have a
copy of Don's diary, which we're going to put in the fan club app [music] if you want to see it. But Dawn's sister
Kath actually read some parts of her diary aloud [music] for us to share. Wednesday, the 22nd of March, 1989.
The day after I saw Nick. I like him so much. The only thing is I still [music] have feelings for Dan. I love him. The
25th of April, 7:51 [music] p.m. But really, what do I do? I'm lonely. Dan will never come up here. I know now. He
said he will, but I know he won't. And I feel so bad. When he finds out that all
this time I've [music] seen Nick, he'll be so angry. Oh well, he won't find out.
I'll keep it from him. No problem. As long as he doesn't see this diary. Wow. Look at how many entries I've made.
Wowee. Well, I know I would keep on writing. It's not fair though to my ulcer, and that's why I'm writing this.
I hope my mom comes home soon. I'm so hungry. I only had a small salad and some coke. Well, I guess I'll go.
Tomorrow is another s so day. Uh, bye. >> Did her sister know about Nick? >> No one in her family really knew about
Nick. I mean, Kath said that like they knew who he was. He came to the house a couple of times. She knew Dawn was
friends [music] with this guy, but she had no idea that Dawn was involved with him romantically. Here's the catch,
though. Police did. They had this diary from the jump. And sometime in the 2010s, so this is after Detective Lucky
had retired [music] and this new guy was on Don's case, Detective Maguire, he lets Kath see the diary. [music] That's
how she found out for the first time. >> Wow. >> Which I'm sure was like so disorienting
for her because for as long as she remembers, she believed the [music] same thing as police that Hawkins probably
did something to her sister. But these writings, I don't know. She sees something more in
them than police clearly do. Like, call it a sister's intuition, whatever. But she saw that Nick was clearly dominating
Dawn's thoughts from March 1989 right up until her disappearance in [music] May.
And it's clear from her entries that Nick did not treat her very well. Wednesday the 12th of April, 1989, 9:38
p.m. Hi. Well, now Nick is on my list. [music] He told me he was going to see me and he didn't call me or stop by. He
had done this I don't know how many times he stole my heart and now I want it back [music] if he's going to keep on
doing this. I mean, I really liked him and so he has to do this all the time. I'm sick of it. Wednesday, [music] the
19th of April, 1989. Nick called me at 9:30 a.m. this morning and [music] told me he was going to call me later, but he
of course not. It pisses me off so much. It seems like Dawn would drop everything
to be with Nick. And Nick kind of just kept stringing her along, basically like booty calling her. He's not taking Dawn
on wholesome dates. He's taking her to hotels to have sex. So, Don talks in her diary about [music]
how she's getting frustrated, like she is clearly infatuated with Nick, but she knows that she shouldn't be treated like
this. She also can't stop. There's this moment where Don writes that she's listening to the song Every Rose Has Its
Thorn by Poison on repeat, which is like something a tape she said she bought because it reminded her of Nick, which
just like sends me back. >> I would say is such a relatable moment. I mean, >> it's like you and I like when in middle
school, we'd like lay in your guest room and just sing Carolyn Don Don Johnson. >> I [laughter] was saying complicated.
>> Okay. Yeah. Anyway, so after who knows how long of this, but at least 3 months
of entries, she and Nick seem to be on the fritz come May when she disappears. >> And police never talked to this Nick
guy. >> So, no, here's the thing. They did once. Rner police confirmed to us that they
brought Nick in for an interview, but they wouldn't tell us when that was or what was asked or what was answered or
not answered >> or anything. >> Yeah. And we tried to get the case file for Dawn's [music] case, but our foyer
was denied because police said that it is an active investigation. >> Okay. Then what about Dan? Like did they
look at him at all? Like maybe he found out about Nick, confronted Don, things got out of hand.
>> No. So Dan isn't really considered a suspect at all like by anyone including Kath. He has a solid alibi. I mean a
there are all those voicemails that he left on Don's answering machine. Keep in mind this is the8s so they're either
coming from his apartment or pay phone >> landline. Yeah. >> And then someone at the YMCA confirmed
that Dan did attend the Special Olympics practice [music] that night. And Kath told us that she knows Dan really well.
He is this really sweet man [music] who, get this, still calls Dawn's mom every single evening for the past 36 years to
say good night. >> And the thing that really sticks with me that I was so surprised by [music]
is he wouldn't even have a motive because Kath says that to this day Dan still doesn't know that Don was cheating
on him. >> As Kath told us, like they didn't want to break his heart. And I like when I
heard that I was like like we're we're putting this out. >> I was going to say like do should we be
saying this? >> I checked with our reporter and she checked with the family. I was like
listen like someone needs to tell him before this episode comes out. But we talked this up and down with Kath and
she says he doesn't even know what a podcast is. He doesn't have a smartphone. So he is living in a very
like sheltered bubble. So all this to say that Dan was and is quickly ruled out. Nick, on the other hand, is a
different story. After Kath reads her sister's diary, she really pushed police to explore the lead
on Nick [music] more. Like, in all this time, things with Hawkins hadn't progressed at all. And it's not like he
was going anywhere. So, like, let's just be sure, right? Make sure every other avenue is explored to ensure nothing was
missed. And that if Hawkins is still where we end up, like in the end, so be it.
>> Yeah. He's right here. We know where he is. >> Yeah, but like might as well, right?
>> But when she's pushing for this, Detective Maguire drops a bombshell. He tells Cath that Nick [music] had
actually taken his life in September 2011, which is before she is now coming to him asking for this. So now they're
like, there's nothing we can do. >> I mean, that seems like it might be like relevant information to have before now.
At the time they didn't have any details for Cath about the circumstances around
or leading up to his [music] death, which mind you was over 20 years after Dawn disappeared. But yeah, I mean to
say that Kath didn't have [music] some follow-up questions like that seem to have not been asked like that's an
understatement. And so this in 2013 is where she kind of becomes at odds with [music] not just police, but her own
family a little because Dawn's mother is still in the Hawkins camp with police. And Kath thinks that they've been so
focused on Hawkins that they've been neglecting to follow up on other important leads like this one. So, by
2023, Cath ends up working with a former social worker turned civilian criminologist named Clark Williams,
who's pretty legit. Like, he's helped solve some cold cases. And Clark starts his investigation with Dawn's diary
[music] and methodically tracks down almost everyone Dawn ever mentions, including [music] Nick's family since
Nick isn't around. And really, he was reaching out to them most of all to find out what contributed to Nick's death.
and his family told Clark that he was in love with a woman who [music] had a serious illness and when that woman
died, Nick just couldn't go on. They also say, and I find this part real interesting, that he never mentioned
anyone named Dawn to them ever. Okay. I mean, even if Nick didn't want to get into like his sex life with his
parents, you're telling me someone you know goes missing. Yeah. >> They're all over the news. Didn't even
mention her as like a friend and you don't say anything. It makes you wonder. Yeah.
>> Right. Like why wouldn't Nick go to the police when his [music] friend goes missing? Like why not tell your family
that your friend is missing? Like you were clearly like in the same orbit. Like even if you didn't do anything,
like could you offer information? >> Yeah. I mean, it doesn't sound like [music] from the diary at least Nick was
taking the relationship seriously. So maybe he wasn't taking it seriously at all. Like he didn't think that it
mattered. He thought like that little of Dawn. >> Maybe. But it also makes me think about
the fact that Nick would sometimes randomly like show up at her house unannounced when [music] it was
convenient for him. So like I don't know, maybe he showed up at the hospital or the bus stop and picked her up that
day she disappeared. And you know, because of her strong feelings for Nick, it's possible that Dawn might blow off
other plans to hang out with him and then maybe something happened between them. They got in a fight or Dawn
confronted him about like being a total flake. I mean, all these are just like I'm just like spitballing. These are
theories. But I mean, as we know, theories that no one even looked into by this point. And it's all speculation.
There's nothing to suggest that's what actually happened. But again, we have to speculate because [music] police did not
do the leg work that we can actually like cross any of this off. Like, did they search his car? Did they search his
place? Did they do anything but talk to him one time, TBD? Who knows when? >> I mean, did Nick have any kind of record
over the years? Anything that would indicate he was capable of doing something to Dawn?
>> We look we tried looking it up, so I don't know a whole lot about Nick or who
he was in the years after 1989. on his like official record, we found that he got a DUI in 1992, which is
three years after her disappearance. And then in 1996, Nick's charged with reckless endangerment, simple assault,
and terroristic threats. I'm not sure what the story is behind these charges because our attempts to get the records
were denied. And Nick's father [music] has passed away. His mother didn't respond to our request for comment. So,
we're here. We were here. So, actually, I mean, this is a good point to call out. Like if anyone out there listening
knew Nick Katona in Coatsville, PA in 1989, like would love to hear from you. tips@audiochuck.com.
Now, the one problem I have with this Nick angle is motive. I mean, he seemed like a kind of gradea a a-hole, right?
Like who I wouldn't want my sister to date. But I mean, like everything we know just kind of makes it seem like
like you said, he didn't care about Dawn. [snorts] >> Yeah. almost to the point where he
wouldn't have done something like this because he didn't care about her enough to act
on anything. Does that make sense? >> Yeah. And that's what I'm saying like I don't know if he had another partner
like was he having an affair or like you know the way she had a boyfriend >> but we don't see any evidence in her
diary or anything that Don was like threatening him in any way. So it doesn't feel like there's a real reason
that he would need her out of the picture. [music] But there was someone else mentioned in Dawn's diary who was
having an affair, who Dawn had threatened to expose and who really needed Dawn to go away. From her
writings, it is clear to the criminologist Clark that for the most part, Dawn lived out her life in like
this 5m radius. She would hang out at the Kmart with a group of friends near Dan's apartment in Wayne, [music]
Pennsylvania, and at the local Wawa. Our reporter Jennifer Al even took a drive with Kath to all the areas that Dawn
would [music] frequent. And they trace the route that Dawn would usually take from her house, her shortcut through the
park, past where Dan lived, and then to [music] Kmart. And this was the hub of her social life. That is where she met
her best friend, Carol, who has a similar learning disability. Now, Carol is mentioned in Dawn's diary. And
basically what happens is Dawn finds out a few months before her disappearance that Carol is seeing a married man named
[music] Hampton. Now, one thing I haven't mentioned about Dawn is that she was quite religious. [music] She grew up
Catholic and she would go to church often and belong to a few Bible studies. And it's interesting because Dawn never
wrote about her own affair with Nick behind Dan's back as something sinful. But Cath thinks that Dawn would have
probably viewed Carol's affair with Hampton as something more serious because he was married.
>> So Dawn actually had gone to, per her diary, gone to Hampton's wife and told her about the affair.
>> Oh, and I can't imagine Carol and Hampton were like thrilled about that. >> No, I mean, Don probably thinks she's
doing the right thing here because Carol and Hampton are really mad at her for this. So Kath thinks that maybe there
was some kind of confrontation about this between Hampton, his wife, and Dawn. But there is no solid evidence of
this, and Dawn doesn't write about any specific incident in her diary. We do know, however, that Dawn's very last
entry before she disappeared is about this situation. Her last diary entry is on May 17th, 1989. This is 5 days before
her disappearance. and B, I'm going to have you read it for me. >> Well, these few days have been hell with
Carol and Hamp. They're getting more in trouble. Plus, his wife is asking for things I know, [music]
which really isn't that much. Other than that, everything is okay. Dan is such a
honey. Nick is a bastard. That's all it is. Well, I guess I'm going to go. Talk to you later, Don.
So, the literal last thing Dawn writes is that Hampton's wife is trying to get more information out of [music] Dawn
about her husband's affair. >> And by the way, it's worth pointing out that Hampton had an apartment right down
the road from Dan and the Kmart where we know she hung out. And Hampton is a black man. So, if the witness Kathy
really did see Dawn on the 22nd and she really was talking to a black man and it
wasn't Hawkins, could it have been Hampton? >> Do they ever find out if Dawn got on the
bus that day or like talked to any of the people who would have been waiting at the stop at the same time? They were
all like in the same hospital uniform. I assume they knew each other. >> We don't really know. So, because we
don't have the files, all we know is that police did interview the bus driver, like the guy who did that route.
He didn't remember seeing Don get on, but like I mean that's just relying on a guy's memory who sees probably hundreds
of people passing each [music] day. And would Hampton have known where Dawn live? Because if she did get on the bus
and made it to Wayne, like she could have been intercepted before she even gets home.
>> I Here's the thing. I know Carol, who is best friends with Dawn, definitely knew
where she lived. So she could have told Hampton whether he knew outside of that or not. So yeah, if Dawn made it to
Wayne, as she usually would after work, Hampton would know exactly when and where to like bump into her on her walk
home. >> But yeah, to your point, it would have had to have either been at the bus stop
like before she got on or at the bus stop after she got off before she got to her house because the consensus is she
never actually made it back inside her house the day she went missing. >> Right. Cuz the dog hasn't been let out,
the voicemails, etc., etc. >> And did the police ever question Hampton? So Kath told us that police
have spoken to both Carol and Hampton several times over the years, though, by the way, the two have long stopped
seeing each other. But she told us that police recently interviewed Hampton and said that they are currently not looking
into him any further, but have not officially ruled anyone out. Kath also tells us that Carol's brother is
actually a detective in the next town over. So, Carol would cooperate with police whenever they wanted to ask
questions, but she would always bring her brother with her and being a good brother and hip to police tactics and
sensitive to Carol's disability. Her brother has advised her to say like as little as possible, which I understand.
>> And what about Hampton's wife? Like, we still have another player here. Did Did
they stay together? >> Uh, I actually want to talk to her more than anyone since like she's the one
trying to get Don to give her more information right before she went missing. The thing is she [music] passed
away in 2021. In her obituary, her family said that she was diagnosed with diabetes when she
was nine and it was like she was in and out of nursing homes all her life due to
that. And despite Hampton's unfaithfulness, they actually stayed together until her death. And we tried
to get a hold of Hampton, of course, but we [music] weren't able to. Kath also told us that over the years she would
run into Carol around town. One time actually in the grocery store, Kath like turned into the aisle, saw Carol. Carol
like stopped dead in her tracks, stared at Kath, and then like turned around like quickly to avoid her. I don't know
what Kath makes of this other than it was odd, and it's like stayed with her, but like it was something that she
brought up to us, so I just wanted to share. And listen, I think these new lines of inquiry coming from the diary
are really interesting. But Clark doesn't want to get tunnel vision. So, he's still working on even more
different [music] leads. Like, he learned from Dan that he used to work at the Kmart they all hung out at. And
apparently, there was this guy called Maurice Beal who worked there, too, and would hang around their group. Dawn knew
him, but not super well. But it turns out that Maurice had a long criminal history. From 1990 to 1994, Maurice was
convicted of drug possession, criminal conspiracy, and assault. He also had reckless endangerment and false
imprisonment charges, but those ended up getting dropped. And then in 2003, he's charged with the
most serious crime, sexually abusing his then girlfriend's 8-year-old daughter and stabbing her big sister multiple
times when she tried to escape him. Thankfully, big sister survived. Maurice went to court for these charges, but was
never convicted because the judge declared a mistrial. And I find this interesting because on the surface when
you look at the victim type, you're like, "Oh, eight-year-old girl, 20some woman, very different, right?" But I've
seen in past cases that a certain type of predator preseaker [music] or like easily manipulated. So you might
see the same per go after the elderly and children and those who are disabled. So, what if Maurice thought that he
could target Dawn because of her disability and then maybe really underestimated her? I don't know. As of
now, Maurice is incarcerated for another assault and harassment charge. We did reach out to him as well, but he hasn't
[music] responded. And we also sent a letter to Tom Hawkins in prison, but we didn't hear back from him either.
Ultimately, there's no solid evidence tying any of these people to Dawn's disappearance.
So, where does that leave the case? Kath, her sister now. >> Well, I mean, like I said, the
old-timers still have their money on Hawkins. And I get why, because if Cathy's ID
really was right, and she really saw Hawkins on the 22nd, then he is one of the last, if not the
last person to see Dawn alive. Bruce, the prosecutor, even has a framed newspaper clipping of the Hawkins trial
with the headline, "Hawkins sentenced to die." So, it's not like it's water under
the bridge for him. And Bruce told us that he is still convinced to this day that Hawkins abducted and killed [music]
Dawn. He is just confidently waiting to be proven right. Now, there is a new detective on Dawn's case now, Detective
Brian Bell. And Cath tells us that this guy's finally going down all the rabbit holes that police should have gone down
back when this was still fresh in people's [music] minds. And though Detective Bell declined to comment on
the record, my impression is that while he respects where the investigation has been, he is also trying to come at this
from like a very different angle [music] and explore the unexplored, so to speak.
And the Mosino family is thrilled to have a detective who is doing the hard work to look at past previous biases.
The reality is it's been 36 years and the Mosino family still doesn't know where Dawn is. They know nothing more
today than the day she stepped out of work and vanished. So, they're taking every tip that comes their way, even the
ones that might seem far-fetched to some people, like one that came about 2 years
ago. That's when Kath was contacted by what's called a remote viewer, which is a person who says they'll psychically
find where missing loved ones are located. And listen, like Kath was skeptical, but like what does she have
to lose at this point? Well, this remote viewer zeroed in on one particular park
and gave this very detailed description. And Cath thinks that the park that this
remote viewer described was an exact match to the one that Dawn would cut through [music] to get to the Kmart or
the Wawwa. The park that's nestled between the apartment buildings where Dan and Hampton lived. It's also right
down the street from the house that Carol lived in. >> And did they know anything about this
park beforehand? >> No. According to Kath, not much. Like all she says the remote viewer was given
was the FBI's VCAP report which had Dawn's name, picture, height, weight, that's it.
>> And just to be clear, is the remote viewer saying that Dawn's remains are in this park or just something happened
there? This is like an important park to the case. Like what? >> She thinks that's where her remains are.
And listen, I'm in the nothing to lose camp. >> If we can get a search done in this
area, what would it hurt? I mean, the park isn't too big. There's like a playground and a baseball diamond and
it's a highly residential area. There are pockets of dense foliage where human remains could possibly be hidden. But
also like committing a crime here and not having anyone see or hear anything is pretty far-fetched unless it was in
the middle of the night or it happened somewhere else and maybe she was just disposed of there cuz whatever happened
to Dawn we know had to have happened in the late afternoon. [music] For her part, Kath is a bulldog for her
sister's case. She actually contacted us to cover this story, and I'm glad that we can do our small part to bring
awareness to Dawn's case. Kath says that she has had this recurring dream. She's
driving through this neighborhood in Wayne, just past the park, and there, walking up the hill, is Dawn. Cath pulls
the car over, tells her sister to get in, but for some reason, Dawn won't answer. won't even like look at her. She
just keeps walking up the hill and then Kath wakes up. If you have any information on the
disappearance of Dawn Mosino on May 22nd, 1989, please contact the Rner Township Police
at 610-688-5600. You can find all the source material for this episode on our website,
crimejunkypodcast.com. And if you want to listen to more episodes like this and all of our
episodes completely adree, be sure to join our fan club. You can also get early access to new episodes every week.
And you can follow us on Instagram >> [music] >> @rimejunkie podcast. We will be back
next week with a brand new episode and with this pup who will hopefully have a name by then. [laughter]

Today, we investigate the mysterious 1989 disappearance of 23-year-old Dawn Mozino, who vanished after her shift at Bryn Mawr Hospital in Pennsylvania. With multiple convicted killers tied to her case, including Thomas Hawkins Jr. and Gerald Bennett, and shocking revelations uncovered in her personal diary, Dawn’s story is one of tangled love triangles, false confessions, and frustrating dead ends.

Following breakthroughs that came from Dawn’s diary, questions arose about her ex, Nick Katona, and new insights into her best friend Carol’s affair with a married man named Hampton emerged, including the detail that Dawn threatened to expose them. Is a jealous love triangle the cause of Dawn’s disappearance? Or could someone hiding in plain sight be responsible? Join us as we share our exclusive original reporting, dive into witness accounts, and hear the lengths that Dawn’s sister Cath has gone to in search of justice for this case that remains unsolved.

For even more stories like this one, join the Crime Junkie Fan Club today: https://crimejunkiepodcast.com/fanclub?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=episode_description&utm_campaign=signupfanclub

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Brief Summary

Dawn Mosino vanished in 1989; suspects include Thomas Hawkins and Nick, revealing complex relationships and ongoing investigations.

Key points

The Mysterious Disappearance of Dawn Mosino. A young woman goes missing, leading to a complex investigation involving love triangles and a convicted killer.
Gerald Bennett's Confession. A man in prison writes a letter confessing to Dawn's murder, but his claims unravel quickly.
Kathy's Familiarity with Dawn. A woman recognizes a missing girl from a bus stop, sparking a police investigation.
The Convicted Killer's Alibi. Tom Hawkins, a twice-convicted murderer, claims he hadn't seen Dawn since a missed job interview.
Dawn's Secret Diary. Dawn's diary reveals her complicated feelings for two men, raising questions about her disappearance.
Dawn's Frustration with Nick. Dawn's diary reveals her emotional turmoil over Nick's treatment.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

If Bennett takes authorities to the body, then I will publicly apologize to Tommy Hawkins.

Bruce Caster's bold statement regarding Bennett's confession.

1:35WatchSep 10, 2025

Tension

65/ 100Some tension

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