David Glenn Lewis

Status:

Open

Death Location:

Amarillo, Texas

Summary:

David Glenn Lewis was a Texas attorney who vanished from his Amarillo home in 1993 and was found dead as an unidentified hit-and-run victim in Washington state 1,600 miles away. In October 2004—eleven years after David went missing—DNA analysis confirmed the unidentified hit-and-run victim in Washington was David Glenn Lewis.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Death:

On January 28, 1993, David's wife and daughter left their home in Amarillo, Texas, to visit Dallas for a weekend of shopping. David did not go with them, and it is unknown why. On January 31, at 11:15 PM, David's wife and daughter returned from their trip and discovered David was not home. His car was missing, his wedding ring and watch were left on the kitchen counter, and the VCR was still recording Super Bowl XXVII. Police reported the last confirmed sighting of Lewis as occurring sometime during the day on January 30. The next morning, Super Bowl Sunday, a deputy sheriff saw the Explorer parked by the county courthouse again. This time, a man matching Lewis's description was across the street, apparently photographing the building. A 1993 article discovered by an internet sleuth added even more questions: $5,000 had reportedly been deposited into David's account on January 30, and there were possible airport sightings of him around this time. At 10:24 PM, 1,600 miles away, a man dressed in second-hand military surplus fatigues and work boots was struck and killed in a hit-and-run incident near the intersection of Rivard Road and SR-24, a two-lane, undivided highway outside Moxee, Washington, east of Yakima. Shortly before the hit-and-run, the man was observed by witnesses walking down the middle of eastbound lanes. In later testing, examiners found no evidence of drugs or intoxication.

Additional Details:

On Thursday, January 28th, 1993, David left work at the Buckner, Lara & Swindell law practice, stating that he wasn't feeling well. However, his credit card revealed a charge made at a gas station later that afternoon. He taught his class at the college that evening until 10 p.m. This was the last place and time in the Amarillo area he was seen alive that the authorities have released to the public. Two airline tickets had been purchased in his name — one from Amarillo to Dallas (Jan 31), another from Los Angeles to Dallas (Feb 1). At the time he went missing, David had been a defendant in a conflict-of-interest lawsuit that had been brought against him and several other attorneys, as well as a former client. He was the last person who was going to be deposed before he vanished. All of his paperwork relating to the case disappeared along with him and has never been found. When detective Pat Ditter began researching Moxee John Doe's case, he searched online for any missing men matching the description of his John Doe, which brought him to David Glenn Lewis's case. He noted that David looked very much like the John Doe in question, but a notable difference was that David wore glasses and the John Doe hadn't been wearing any when he was found. However, they still had the clothing he'd been wearing at the time of the accident and Ditter discovered a pair of glasses in one of the pockets. These glasses looked identical to the distinctive pair that David himself wore. A DNA test in 2004 would confirm that he was correct: the Moxee John Doe was in fact, David Glenn Lewis. David's mother Esther provided a DNA sample for comparison. The identification was later confirmed through a fingerprint match, familial DNA, and a pair of distinctive eyeglasses Lewis was known to wear that were found in evidence. Amarillo police ultimately closed their missing person case, calling it voluntary. The family believes, as they have since his disappearance, that Lewis was abducted, although they concede it is possible he went to Yakima voluntarily. Karen says that as far as she knew her husband did not own the fatigue-style clothing nor the work boots he had on when he was killed. She has also pointed out that he was not wearing his glasses at his death, though he usually wore eyeglasses at all times. He was buried in Westlawn Memorial Park, Dumas, Texas.

Case Last Updated:

Sep 19, 2026