Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Killers Amongst Us: Real Life "Hell's Kitchen," Gorgeous Restauranteur Disappears. What happened to Dawn? (part 3)

Episode Date: October 20, 2020

Not only has Dawn Viens disappeared, but her husband David has apparently moved on. He has a new girlfriend who has taken Dawn's place in David's restaurant and his home. Some things just don't add up, especially after the new girlfriend is seen throwing away Dawn's clothes. Is Dawn's drinking to blame for her vanishing act? Will she come back after ski season as David Viens suggest? Police begin to look at all the evidence again. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Hi guys, Nancy Grace here. Welcome back to Killers Amongst Us, a production of iHeartMedia and Crime Online. Do you ever pull up at a red light and look around at the cars beside you also waiting and wonder who are they or walk through a mall as people pass you you may or may not catch their eyes and you wonder who are these people i'm nancy grace thank you for being with us and joining us killers amongst us. What happened to Dawn Vins? Beautiful, young, healthy, and a fun, exciting marriage. Just starting off a brand new hot restaurant, the place to be there in the California community where they relocated. Then suddenly she disappears. Take a listen. As the investigation continues,

cops talk to Dawn's friends. Was she unhappy lately or depressed? More exhausted. It's a tough business. Did she ever mention like wanting to leave or leaving? All the time. So you feel it's unusual for her to disappear like this? Yeah, unusual, but understandable. Where do you think she might be? I'm hoping a ski lodge with a boy toy. Friends basically back up what David says. They're really sure that she took off on her own, that she's somewhere with a margarita on hand and enjoying herself.

And she'll come back when she's ready. If Dawn really has taken a trip somewhere, then police should be able to track her. They run her credit card, see if there's any credit card history. Investigators also check U.S. Customs to see if maybe Dawn had taken a flight out of town. There was no sign of Dawn. You're hearing our friend Bill Graves over at The Perfect Murder. So did she just take off for the beach? Is she somewhere right now enjoying an awesome margarita?

Take a listen to what we learned from a friend named Monica. Finally, a friend named Monica comes to police with a real clue. Hi. What can we do for you? My husband and I have been friends with David and Dawn since they got here. We're regulars at the restaurant. Anyway, I know that she's disappeared, but I actually just got a text from her. What does it say?

It says, I'm okay. I'm in Florida. I'm starting over. Pixie. Can I see that? Pixie, which is the nickname that david gave dawn that text message in of itself would explain where dawn was and it should relieve the worry from her friends so she texts a friend that she's quote starting over but of course the first place you start with any missing person investigation is talking to the spouse. Here's Dave Mack, CrimeOnline.com. The investigation into Dawn Vien's disappearance began weeks after she was last seen. Her sister, Dana Pappin, and friends went to the police on

November 18th, 2009 to report her missing. Police talked to Dawn's husband, David Vienz. He tells detectives that on October 18th, he argued with his wife about her excessive drinking. He said that earlier in the day, they'd gone to eat at California Pizza Kitchen and that he dropped her off at home and returned to work. When he got home from work that night, Vienz tells police that Dawn wasn't home. Says he takes an Ambien, goes to bed. He also says Dawn wasn't home the next day. And Vienz tells police that he texted and

called her a number of times. Police asked why he didn't contact police. Viennes says that maybe a week or two after, he got a text message from her saying she was okay and that she was with a friend. Viennes says that he talked to Dawn on the phone and that she came home on October 25th, begging him to leave Lomita and run away to the mountains. David Viennes claims that he told her to check into rehab, and the next day, she was gone. Where is Dawn Viennes? Joining me, an all-star panel. First of all, crime reporter Daily Breeze at the time. Now, freelance journalist Larry Altman.

Professor of forensics, Jacksonville State University. Author, Blood Beneath My Feet. Star of Poisonous Liaisons on the True Crime Network, Joseph Scott Morgan. Former Police Chief, Johns Creek, 25 years on the force, now PI and polygrapher, Chris Byers at chrisbyersinvestigationsandpolygraph.com. Renowned psychologist, adjunct professor, Columbia University at DebbieJoffieEllis.com. Former prosecutor, now defense attorney, joining me out of the Atlanta jurisdiction, Daryl Cohen. And special guest joining me, the brother and sister of Dawn Vins, David and Dana Pappin. David and Dana, especially to you and all our guests, thank you for being with us.

When you learned, Dana, that Dawn, according to the husband, had been drinking a lot, were you surprised? No, I wasn't surprised. To David Pappin, was she having a drinking problem? I definitely think the restaurant business has something to do with that. You know, I think our heredity has something to do with that. It was, you know, always around growing up. She definitely had a drinking problem. Her and I discussed it numerous times.

But, yeah, she definitely did. I'm thinking about that. You said hereditary. Why did you say that, David? You know, growing up, you know, growing up in the 80s, you know, our family, you know, we drank, you know, well, not us then. But, you know, the aunts and uncles, everybody having a good time at Christmas parties and da-da-da-da-da. But I think, you know, I personally, you know, had a drinking problem in my 20s. Fortunately, I stopped in my late 20s and haven't had a drink in a number of years, but I definitely feel like there's something in the bones of the Pappins that, you know, that, you know, we like to have fun. I hear you in the background. Why

are you in, Dana? You know, David's right. We have a big family and we had lots of get-togethers growing up and it was always a part of it. You know, there's numerous relatives who have had drinking problems who no longer drink, you know, an aunt of ours, we find out later in life that Don would hang out with her when she was a teenager at a local bar. So it was just something that we were exposed to early on. And I think also for Dawn in the late in the last few years, I noticed that she wasn't ever drunk, but she was constantly drinking. So it became a way to stay balanced and normal, not necessarily to be drunk, if that makes sense. But it was a need that needed to be filled. What is that called? Dr. Debbie Jaffe Ellis, psychologist, joining me,

adjunct professor Columbia at debbiejaffeellis.com, where you may not be drunk, but you always have a drink in your hand. You're always drinking. Well, it sounds like addiction to me, you know, that the body will crave what it's become used to. It becomes a habit. And then it sometimes takes more of the substance to maintain the equanimity that the person temporarily feels as a result of ingesting whatever substance. What about it, Joe Scott Morgan? Jump in. Yeah, there's, I think that in order to maintain kind of a balance in life, this dependency develops over a period of time. And also, I think that witnessing generations before you engaging in the same behavior to kind of cope with what's going on, particularly in times of high stress. It's something that's, that is part of a learned behavior. I don't know, some people put forth the

idea that there's a genetic predisposition to it, maybe to addictive behavior. But I think that, you know, this, this learning, you know, you're seeing how to cope with these stresses. And man, I've got family members that own restaurants and it is a high pressure environment. To Larry Altman joining me, former crime reporter for the Daily Breeze at the time of her disappearance, currently freelance journalist. Larry, I just wonder if her drinking

didn't have something to do with the way the case was treated. It was almost just like a, you know, a throwaway. Ah, she's out having a margarita somewhere. Well, it may have been. And I think what her husband told the police that, you know, he wanted her to go to rehab. She didn't want to go. And, you know, so she took off.

And I think they took took that face value guys we were talking about the disappearance of a beautiful young woman Dawn Vins with her world in front of her they had just started she and her husband David a hot new restaurant it was the place to be there's one in every town that that's the place everybody seems to want to go. But I want you to take a listen to reporting on HLN. Deborah, the recent information that we got over this past weekend is that after our show Friday night, cops have now gone out and started re-interviewing people, interviewing friends. We also learned about the possessions being thrown in a dumpster, the Jeep being towed away almost immediately after she goes missing. About a week and a half later, Nancy, after she disappeared,

a friend of hers saw her husband's daughter and his new girlfriend taking her stuff. They were in a car. They drove to the restaurant, took stuff out of the car, and started throwing things into the dumpster. Allegedly, you know, there was a few things they decided to keep, but most of the things were just thrown away. Okay, so you're telling me that they basically went shopping in the missing woman's closet? They kept some of her belongings for themselves? I have no idea if it was for themselves, but they certainly did keep some things. What? I mean, she's only been gone a couple of weeks, not even two weeks. And you see Don Vian's husband, daughter, and his what?

New girlfriend throwing her stuff away? Take a listen to our friends over at Perfect Murder. In the missing persons case of Don Vian's, detectives now suspect David's new girlfriend, Nancy, who replaced Dawn at the restaurant. If someone's gonna go into rehab and come home, you don't throw away her clothes, you put it in storage. Dave was not ashamed of the relationship and it was just part of life.

When they talk to the hostess, they confront her. You know he has a wife. Of course. Do you know she left him? Is that why you threw her clothes in the dumpster out back? Let's say I'm a little crazy jealous. Investigators are taken aback themselves by her candor, but you can't arrest someone for being the jealous type and you can't put someone behind bars for dating a missing woman's husband. Well, they're right about that. But I'm curious about so many things, too.

Larry Altman, crime reporter for Daily Breeze at the time, now freelance journalist. Larry, your reporting alerted me about the case. Why did it take our reports to heat up the cops' investigation? Well, that's where I say, you know, I didn't believe they were doing a lot. And I think all of the publicity that that I provided initially and then that you did made them have to do something. And there was a point along the way where I went into the restaurant and and I spoke

to David. And I think that what he said and the way he spoke of Dawn, that all led to the police realizing they have to do something. And then you did the story. And that's when it all really came together. You know, I'm thinking about the girlfriend saying that she was jealous. Daryl Cohen, how many times have you had a case where a jealous husband throws out the wife's stuff or a jealous wife takes all the husband's clothes and burns them in the front yard? That's not that unusual, actually.

It's not unusual at all. It reminds me of the husband who takes off and the wife is unhappy. And the husband says, please have the porch painted before I come back. And the wife has his Porsche painted by a house painter. Yeah. Vindictiveness is not at all unusual. It's I'm shocked. And then I'm going to be vindictive. And vindictiveness means throwing out his stuff, throwing out her stuff, destroying his life, destroying her life. And now social media can do the same thing. So, yeah, Nancy, it's not at all unusual.

It's unfortunately very sad, but it's very commonplace. Yeah. Chief Byers with me, Chief, former chief of police, Johns Creek, Chris Byers, now P and polygrapher, chief, I've seen it a million times. Well, not a million, a thousand, where a jealous girlfriend, jealous boyfriend or spouse will slit somebody's tires, will burn up their clothes, will, I don't know, let their dog go in the park and leave it. Things of that nature. I know you had to see that on the force. Oh, absolutely. I can remember when I was a very young police officer getting called to a fire at a house in a very nice neighborhood here in Metro Atlanta and got there and there was a new girlfriend having a bonfire with the ex-wife's stuff in the front yard. So yeah,

it definitely happens quite a bit. Okay, wait, wait, wait, wait wait wait wait stop right there i gotta hear that whole thing just what happened i got to the scene and there was a pretty good fire burning in the front yard and started looking for stuff and it was a lady's clothing um purses and all type of other things and so i actually wound up charging the girlfriend with arson uh because she was destroying her stuff but yeah this happens all the time. Okay, now you've got that against this dichotomy. Y'all remember the name Drew Peterson, former police officer convicted of killing third wife Kathleen Savio.

Her body was found, looked like she slipped in the bathtub. Oh, whoops. Except her whole body was covered in bruises. She would have had to have a fight with the soap dish. Plus, plus the bathtub was bone dry. Hmm. Then the next wife, Stacey Peterson, she goes missing. Her body's never been found, although I've got a pretty good idea where I think it is. Anyway, turns out officer Drew Peterson had gone through Stacy's closet and taken out her fur coat, lingerie, bikinis, and was giving it to his new girlfriends. Like, why would I want to wear somebody else's underwear? I just, okay, that's a whole nother can of worms that we will not go into right now.

But the point is, you've got this innocent, well, there's no innocent burning somebody's clothes in the front yard, but burning someone's clothes out of spite and then giving away somebody's clothes because you know they're never coming back to get their stuff so cops are stuck here they've got no evidence but they see the girlfriend and they see David Vinn's daughter with the girlfriend throwing out Dawn's stuff. What about that, Dana? You've got the daughter, the stepdaughter in on the act? Yeah, and that is something that's been very

heartbreaking for me. When information came out later that she arrived in California almost immediately after my sister went missing, it was heartbreaking to me that she participated. To Larry Altman, crime reporter Daily Breeze at the time, currently freelance journalist. Larry, that's kind of tough to take. Not only did they throw out Dawn's stuff, clean out her place, and I could see the husband being angry and his daughter piling on because daddy's upset and the girlfriend piling on because daddy's upset, the girlfriend piling

on because she's jealous. But they also kept articles of clothing. Was that for themselves? Well, yes. But I think that if you talk about the new girlfriend, Dawn had just left. And so she was throwing out the belongings that they didn't need anymore. Let's go to our cut 27 Twenty seven guys. Take a listen. He says he expects her to come back after ski season, I believe is what he said. But then he suddenly moves his girlfriend in and props her up as a restaurant hostess where your sister worked. Yeah. Yeah. How quickly did that happen? Very quickly. Too quickly. A month, a week, a day.

I was told it was within a week or two that they were seen together and there was suspicion that something was going on. Wow, something was going on. All right. He moved her in, you know, some rebound. It took him two weeks before he he fired, quote, fired his wife. I don't know how you fire your wife in the restaurant you're running together, but he fires. Dawn tells her to go to rehab she takes off and within two weeks he's replaced her as the glamorous hostess at the restaurant and moved the lover into the home now that's quite the rebound dana pappin were you surprised at the the quickness that he already had a new girlfriend? Oh, no. Unfortunately not.

I really wasn't. David, were you surprised that he, quote, fired Dawn and already had a girlfriend? No. No, no, no. I wasn't surprised at all. What happened to Dawn Vance? We now know that the husband is saying she took off for rehab, but then he also said, Larry Altman, he expected her to come back after ski season.

What does rehab have to do with ski season? Well, a lot of time passed, and we got through the winter. And like I said, I went into the restaurant to confront him one day and I said, where is your wife? And he he blamed her disappearance on the alcohol and said he had expected her to come back after the ski season that she probably had been in the mountains. And so that was his explanation. And when I asked him if, you know, he was concerned about her, he said he just wanted her to be safe. And I asked him, do you love your wife? And he said, I love to my wife. You know,

I want to go to Dr. Debbie Jaffe Ellis. If it were me and my husband was missing, I'd be laying on the front of the courthouse steps begging for help. But isn't it true, Larry Altman, that Vans basically kicked you out of the restaurant when you came asking questions uh yes um i knew when i walked in there that uh you know i had maybe two minutes there was a lot of stuff going on in there too uh he was renovating the place, they were expanding into the next business to make the restaurant larger. And there was construction going on, plumbing. And I walked in there and, you know, I'm only

five foot four, Nancy, and he's a bigger man than me. And I, I'm alone. And I just, I got what questions I could get out quickly and, and went on my way. So, you know, I was a little nervous doing it, but I just felt that day like something has to happen. Well, I mean, first of all, he's got to decide. Did she go to ski, the ski season, or did she go to rehab? But, you know, I can understand if she wants out, she leaves no word left behind. But she didn't call David, Dana or Derek to Dana Pappen.

Did you try to reach her? I did try to call. I knew it was a futile effort, but I did make that effort. Why do you say you knew it was futile? It was a gut feeling, I suppose. The amount of time that had passed by the time that I was notified after speaking to other family members, you know, my gut was telling me that something bad had happened. What about it, David? Did you try to reach her? I did. I did. Um, you know, I called, I texted, you know, did what I could. I talked to David. You know, I called, I texted, you know, did what I could. I talked to David.

You know, he told me, you know, she left. He's like, she finally did it. And, you know, he, you know, he seemed pretty broken up about it. Go ahead, jump in. When I confronted David, it was in march of 2010 so about six months later he broke down in tears which for me was something i'd never seen and he said you know i had nothing to do with this to dr debbie joffie ellis um it has been argued a million times in court and other places that there is no playbook for grief or anger or how people act when their wife walks out on them.

What do you make of that? Well, I agree. Each one of us grieves in different ways. And if David and Dawn had been having issues in their relationship, maybe he wasn't grieving at her departure. Clearly, since he had a girlfriend, he had moved on. So there's no evidence he was grieving, nor that it necessarily meant that there was anything sinister going on. Well, you're right about that. The case goes dead. Listen.

This case lay dormant until we reported on it, and then suddenly cops appoint a brand-new investigative team and start reinvestigating the case, and now suddenly they've dug out the bottom of the husband's restaurant. Right, Nancy. Well, on October 18, 2009, is the last time anybody saw Dawn Vians. Her husband said that he actually fired her. They got in an argument.

Whoa, whoa. Yeah. The husband fires his wife from the family restaurant. Okay, go ahead. Right, right. Her friends claim that he fired her that day. He says she just walked away, took a Louis Vuitton bag with her. That was the last time he saw her.

So what happened to Larry Altman? You told me that there was a lot of construction going on at the restaurant. Now I find out the cops go in and dig up the floor. What happened exactly? Well, the police suspected that Don's remains might be in the concrete in that restaurant. It had gone under a lot of, myself, I saw the new concrete. I saw, you know, workers doing things when I had gone in there. And there was a chance that she had been buried in there. And so they took jackhammers and they just destroyed that place looking for her.

But as it turns out, Dawn is not in the cement in the restaurant. They found nothing but in an unusual twist. Listen. Larry Altman had the big scoop last week when he reported that blood had been found in the couple's home. The husband and his new girlfriend had moved out. Police went in with luminol. They found blood spatter in the house. That was what kind of got this whole new bit of activity going. And as Larry explained, there's been this massive search the past two days trying to figure out if Don's remains were entombed in that restaurant.

Okay, back to Larry Altman, who broke the story about blood spatter being found around the family home. You know, Larry, again, you just can't put a price tag on a good cleaning service. These two, the husband and the girlfriend, move out. Cops go in. I believe you said under the guise they might rent the place. And they do investigative work and find blood spatter throughout the home. Microscopic blood spatter that the husband obviously did not see. Wow, that's some good police work to former police chief of Johns Creek. Chris Byers, they go in pretending as if they're going to rent the home

now here's the legal uh aspect of that nobody was living there it's not like they invaded a private individual's home and start testing with luminol the place was up for rent so they act like they're interested and they go in and test and fly find blood spatter with luminol that's some pretty good police work chris byers yeah it's great i mean as long as you have a legal right to be standing where you are uh any evidence that you obtain is is admissible so yeah that's great great investigative work hey n, this is David. So Detective Rodriguez, I believe, was the detective in charge. He actually, him and his partner, flew from California to Florida to meet with my father and myself. And he told us all of this. And then he said, we're going to call the Daily Breeze and put this in the newspaper.

So he actually pre-warned the family what they were doing. Wow. You know, to you, Joseph Scott Morgan, professor of forensics at Jacksonville State University and star of a new hit series, Poisonous Liaisons on True Crime Network. Joe Scott, explain how Luminol works. Well, Luminol is what we refer to as a reagent. And so let's say, for instance, that someone has wiped away a surface where we suspect there may have been blood staining that occurred. Well, what's blood loaded with? Well, the one reactive agent that it's, or element that it's loaded with

is iron. You know, think about it. How many times do people tell you when you're a kid, eat your vegetables, you need the iron. Well, that iron is actually a big clue because that gives us an indication that blood was present. So that reagent reacts with that iron. And, you know, it's important what you said because microscopically, you might not be aware that, for instance, there was some bloodstain there. Say, for instance, you've left some remnant behind. Maybe you try to wipe it up. Listen, you're never going to get everything

up. So when luminol is applied and it begins to react with that blood, with that iron, it luminesces, hence the term. And what does that allow us to do? Well, we can photograph it. We can photograph that area. It luminesces blue. It's quite remarkable if you've never seen it. And it gives us an indication as to the dynamics of the stain itself. Was it just passively dripped or was it sprayed? Wow. So much to determine from blood found in the home where the husband, David Vienz, and the girlfriend move out. But wait a minute.

Wait a minute. Don't get too excited listen the excitement is short-lived not good what that was the lab the results were inconclusive there wasn't enough there for any DNA or any analysis at all you're kidding me now what let's go through the file again maybe we we missed something. They start going over the cell phone records again, looking at all the text messages that she sent out. Hey, that envelope Jack dropped off. Didn't it have a note in it? Here's the note. Thank you.

Wow. What? Take a look at this. So interesting. Oh, God. No interest. Oh, god. Pixie. Yes. And the note Dawn sent, she spells it P-I-X-I-E.

And the text that Monica got, she spells it P-I-X-Y. So who sent the text message to Monica? And suddenly, investigators get that break in the case they are looking for. You don't misspell your own name, even if it's a nickname. Maybe somebody else had sent the text message. Wow. So the blood takes us nowhere. Why is that, Joe Scott Morgan?

Usually we think we crack the case when we find blood spatter. Well, yeah, and that's one of the things we've run up against, Nancy. You remember what they're saying here is that there wasn't enough for typing. What's better? Well, yeah, and that's one of the things we've run up against, Nancy. You remember what they're saying here is that there wasn't enough for typing. There wasn't enough, certainly, for a DNA examination. So the blood sample that is left behind, there's an indication, like we mentioned, that the iron was there. But there's not what we refer to as a viable sample where you can go in and you can kind of find that genetic roadmap relative to what that information was that was contained in the blood. Because that blood has been compromised. Maybe, just maybe, the individual that was attempting to clean up used some kind of agent that compromised the integrity of the sample that had been left behind.

But here is the kicker dana pappin david pappin the brother and sister of dawn vians with us i would never spell nancy with an i at the end i wouldn't make that mistake n-a-n-c-i it's n-a-n-c-y what about this text that went to friend Monica. I played it for you at the very beginning. Her nickname was Pixie, P-I-X-I-E. But in the text, she spelled it P-I-X-Y. Would she have ever done that, Dana? I don't think so, no. She was a particular kind of person when it came to certain things, very organized, very thorough. And it stood out to me when I found that out for sure. It was weird. It wasn't something that she would have done. Well, the blood evidence may have taken us nowhere,

but it ain't over yet. Nancy Grace, Killers Amongst Us, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.