Essie Margarette Hiett

• Missing Since 02/13/1978
• Missing From Oroville, California
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Female
• Race White
• Date of Birth 11/18/1930 (94)
• Age 47 years old
• Height and Weight 5'5, 130 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A green blouse with a female's face imprinted on the front, a tan naugahyde jacket, white pants, pantyhose, white shoes, a Timex watch with a white metal extension band and a blue face, sterling silver earrings, and a white gold wedding ring set, which included an engagement ring with five imbedded stones and a wedding band with six imbedded stones; the total weight of the gems in the set is one karat.
• Associated Vehicle(s) Brown 1975 Oldsmobile Toronado (accounted for)
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Graying brown hair, green eyes. Hiett has pierced ears. She has a half-moon-shaped scar on her right temple near her hairline and has surgical scars on both of her legs as the result of a varicose vein removal operation. She wears a full set of dentures and wears eyeglasses with photo gray lenses. Her nicknames are Marge and/or Steele.

Details of Disappearance

Hiett worked as a waitress and bartender in downtown Oroville, California. She was last seen leaving at the end of her shift at Rusty Jack's Bar on February 13, 1978. She was driving her brown 1975 Oldsmobile Toronado.

Hiett apparently never arrived home. She disappeared between 2:00 and 4:00 a.m. and has never been heard from again.

That same day, her vehicle was found wrecked and abandoned in a ditch along Palermo-Honeycut Road, less than a mile from her home. Her clothes and personal belongings were scattered on the ground at the scene of the crash, but there was no sign of her.

In 2015, authorities announced Marvin Gail Owens was a possible suspect in Hiett's case. Early that year he was charged with the murder of his wife, Deborah Owens, who disappeared in November 1978 and was never located.

A photo of Marvin is posted with this case summary. In mid-March 2015, he pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, admitting he "snapped" and strangled Deborah to death. He was sentenced to four years in prison.

Deborah and Hiett disappeared in the same year and had mutual friends, which is what lead the police to think Marvin could have been involved in both cases. He was eventually ruled out as a suspect in Hiett's case.

Investigators do have another person of interest in Hiett's disappearance, however. She has never been found and her case remains unsolved.