Deanne Hastings: 11 Years Missing — An Update on a Spokane Cold Case

On the evening of November 3, 2015, Deanne Hastings left her home in Spokane, Washington to go to the grocery store. She never came home. Her last confirmed activity was November 4. This November 4, she will have been missing for 11 years.

Nobody has published a real update on her case in a long time. I made Deanne a promise that I would never give up on her. So this is the update.

Her case is active with the Cold Case Foundation. It has not been closed, and it has not been forgotten.

Days after she vanished, her private Facebook page, which had been taken down, reappeared. It is one of many things in this case that has never been explained.

She Called Me Her Wings

I met Deanne in San Diego in 2010, and she became one of the closest people in my life. She called me her "Wings." It is why I have wings tattooed on my back, and why I will never have them filled in. This is how she remembered them.

Deanne's handprints, pressed into the paint on my studio floor canvas during her last visit.

Deanne used to tell the story herself. Saint Michael is the protector, the one who stands between people and the dark. She believed that is who I was for her. She believed I would never give up on her. She was right, and that does not end because 11 years have passed. And still, I carry this. I failed her. I was not there for her, and I do not have answers yet.

Deanne inspired some of the most important paintings I have ever made. As The Caged Bird Sings is the large wings painting she always wanted me to make for her, and she saw it before she disappeared. If you want her full story, start with Missing Wings. This post is where her case stands now.

As The Caged Bird Sings, the large wings painting she always wanted me to make for her.

The show card from Midnight Dancer (Take Me Away), my 2010 exhibition dedicated to Deanne.

Echos Of Angels

What I Believe Happened

Foul play is suspected in Deanne's disappearance, and I will say this plain: I am 99.9% certain Deanne was murdered.

I knew her as well as anyone because I knew the good and the bad of her, and I loved her for all of it. I knew her patterns. I knew her signals. She had given me a signal that the call was probably coming, that she would come to me, or have me come get her. The call never came. After a certain point, I knew. I have no doubt.

Before she vanished, Deanne was trying to get clean and sober. She was trying to turn her life around, and she was trying to leave an unhealthy relationship.

An email I sent her around the time she disappeared was answered, but not by her. Her email was being monitored by somebody else. The simple things were never checked. To my knowledge, the police never searched her car or her cell phone.

I do not believe the men who were arrested were involved in her disappearance. I would love to have a conversation with them one day. Not to accuse them of anything. I believe they could help a great deal, and I know the accusations against them did real damage to their lives. I have tried to reach them, through her brother. I have had no luck getting through to them.

The Witnesses Who Went Silent

More than half a dozen people reached out to me over the years with what they said was key information about Deanne. They were confident in their stories. We had many conversations, back and forth, and underneath all of them ran the same thread.

Then came the moment to actually do something. Investigators with the Cold Case Foundation, people with FBI and investigative experience, were ready to sit down and take their statements. Most of them would not do it. Most of them went silent. For some of them, it was fear. For others, I do not know what it was.

I still ask myself what the point was. Sharing their stories with me, over and over, for years, reaching out again and again, just to go silent when there was a real opportunity to do something. What was it all about?

One woman did try to take what she knew to the police. She was told to leave it the fuck alone.

Wrong Information Made It Worse

Over 11 years, information came to me from every direction. Much of what I was told, and much of what was shared with me, is now in question. I cannot say for sure what was correct and what was not. There is less clarity now than there ever was. Honestly, I do not know anymore what to think: what is real, what is not, what happened, and what did not.

People claiming to be psychics reached out to me again and again. Every false lead stirs everything back up: the hope, the frustration, the boiling emotions. I know exactly what that costs, because I have paid it.

Who I Reached Out To

This past month, I reached out to more than 60 people and organizations about Deanne's case. Here is some of what came back.

Spokane City Councilmember Kate Telis answered. She forwarded my email to Police Chief Kevin Hall and asked him to brief her committee on Deanne's case.

The Spokane Mayor's Office answered. They will not step in.

The CUE Center for Missing Persons answered. Registering Deanne with them takes her family's sign-off. The family members I have spoken to have said they are not willing to do it. They are letting it go.

Project Cold Case answered. Their cases must be submitted by an immediate family member. That door is closed the same way.

The Center of Hope spoke with me by phone.

And many more — news stations, podcasts, and missing-person organizations — never answered at all.

What This Case Needs Now

Deanne struggled with mental health and addiction, and she asked for help. She screamed out for help. She asked the police for help. She asked the people who should have been able to help her, and they literally turned their backs on her. A woman who asked for help should not be forgotten, and she never should have been overlooked in the first place. Here is what would actually help her case now.

If you know something, come forward. Call the tip line at (509) 456-2233, or speak with the Cold Case Foundation's investigators in confidence. You do not have to carry it alone anymore.

Podcasts, tell her story. Eleven years in, her case needs new ears.

News media, cover this update. Her story belongs in the mainstream news, not only in true crime.

People with money and power, back this case. Attention fades. Resources are what keep a cold case alive: searches, billboards, and the people who do this work.

Donate to the work. The Cold Case Foundation is actively working on Deanne's case. You can also reach out to me for direction.

Missing-person organizations and investigators, take up her case. She is one woman. She deserves a full team.

Spokane, share this where it matters. Somebody there knows something.

Her Kids Deserve Answers

Her family has told me they are stepping back from this. I do not hold that against them. I know what the noise does to a person, and they have carried this for 11 years.

Some doors in a case like this only open with a family member's signature. I have asked her brother for the family's authorization to act as her representative, so I can continue doing the work. I have not heard back yet. The work needs to be done. She cannot be forgotten. I will not allow somebody to get away with this, and I will not allow the system to fail her like this. She deserves better. Things like this cannot be allowed to just pass. When they are ready, I am here, and I will do the work.

Deanne's kids are grown now. They deserve answers. Her family deserves answers. Her loved ones deserve answers.

November 4 on CBS 8

Thank you to Jeff Zevely and the Zevely Zone at CBS 8 for telling Deanne's story. The segment airs November 4, the 11-year mark. Deanne deserves to be seen, and Jeff helped make sure she is.

If You Know Anything

If you know anything about what happened to Deanne Hastings, call the Spokane Police Department tip line at (509) 456-2233. One call can still change everything.

If you would rather not go to the police, you can speak with the Cold Case Foundation's investigators in confidence. That route exists, and it is safe.

Help Me Keep Her Name Out There

Her case is also listed with The Charley Project and on Uncovered, where you can read the full public record.

Share this post. Visibility is not a small thing in a case like this. It is the thing.

Keep sharing her stories. You can read my other posts about her here: Missing Wings, An Artist's Missing Muse, As The Caged Bird Sings, and Shining A Light On Deanne Hastings.

Somebody has to continue fighting for her. I will fight for her until my dying breath.