Husband arrested in 1978 disappearance of California woman

OROVILLE, Calif. -- Nearly 40 years after a woman disappeared from a small central California town, her husband has been arrested on suspicion of killing her and disposing of the body.

Marvin Gail Owens, 62, was taken into custody more than a-thousand miles away, in Keith County, Nebraska, on a warrant issued by officials in California. Owen's wife, Deborah, was last seen Nov. 19, 1978 in Oroville. Two days later, Owens reported his wife missing. The mother of two hasn't been seen since.

Evidence has been recovered from the couple's Oroville home, said Butte County, Neb., Sheriff's Sgt. Jason Hail, who declined to elaborate. He said that investigators also conducted fresh interviews with the couple's daughters, who were raised by Owens and are now adults.

"It was important for us to talk to them about things told to them as they grew up about their mom," Hail said. "That's certainly a factor in all of this."

Owens remained in Lincoln County Jail on Friday with bail set at $1 million and is expected to appear in a Nebraska courtroom, said Hail, who hopes the suspect will soon be extradited to California to face murder charges. Hail said investigators long suspected Owens was responsible for his wife's disappearance, but not until recently were they able to issue an arrest warrant for him.

Investigators also suspect Owens in the disappearance of another woman, Essie Margarette Hiett, who vanished in the same year as Owens' wife, Hail said. Hiett was last seen leaving an Oroville cardroom early in the morning of Feb. 13, 1978, where she worked as a waitress and bartender. Officials said Hiett's body has never been found.

It's unclear whether he has an attorney.