GROSSE POINTE FARMS, Mich. – A family still has unanswered questions 14 years after the death of a Metro Detroit mother.
JoAnn Matouk Romain was last seen on Jan. 12, 2010, at a prayer service at the Lake Catholic Church in Grosse Pointe Farms. Her car, with her purse, and wallet were found in the church parking lot.
Police believe the mother of three walked across the street and into Lake St. Clair to kill herself, but the family believes she was murdered and dumped in the water. She was found 70 days later with no water in her lungs. Autopsy reports called it a “dry drowning.”
Read more: 14 years ago: JoAnn Matouk Romain disappears, body later found in Detroit River
People close to the case know the name Paul Hawk, who claimed he saw something the night she went missing.
“Paul was an honest person. He wouldn’t make anything up, wouldn’t embellish. And his story never varied,” said John Abood. “He really didn’t say much. He wanted to keep me out of the loop. He said it would protect me. He was fearful.”
Hawk signed an affidavit filed in the civil case on behalf of JoAnn’s family. He said he saw a heavy woman dressed in all black sitting on the break wall of Lake St. Clair and two vehicles on Lake Shore Drive with two men standing near the cars one motioned to drive through.
Hawk’s affidavit was stricken by the judge in the civil case and not allowed as evidence because police did not deem him credible.
Hawk would later complain about being harassed by police as they held training outside his home.
“My brother Paul, who had been involved in this case as a witness and put up with a lot of pressure from the involved parties for years, you know, strong through all of it, always told the truth, to do the right thing,” said his brother, Ken Hawk. “And he died unexpectedly, He was healthy.”
Paul Hawk was found dead in his Grosse Pointe home in 2021. Cause of death was undetermined.
Ken Hawk said the weight of the case weighed heavily on his brother. Like the fact it was reported to police that a man was seen running strangely wearing a black scarf along Lake Shore Drive at the time JoAnn disappeared. According to one of the Grosse Pointe Farms officers’ depositions, they took the scarf into evidence but then released it out of the system and donated the scarf
When details of the case didn’t line up, Paul went to the police, who reportedly were trying to convince him to not file a citizens report.
“I feel that, you know, standing here today that we have fought and that we have a lot of questions I think answered through evidence based through courts, through witnesses, but we don’t have an arrest,” said JoAnn’s daughter, Michelle. “And we want justice.”
She said she feels she’s done everything she could to show it wasn’t a suicide, but that her mother was murdered.
“We need to continue to put that to the forefront,” she said. “Let the citizens of the community know that as well.”
Watch: Secrets of a Small Town - the JoAnn Matouk case, 14 years later