Body Left in the Woods
On May 6, 1993, Frank borrowed Tatich’s car and drove to Shingletown with Hawkins seated behind him; Curtis rode shotgun and Shanna sat on the rear passenger side. They headed deep into a remote forest. That’s where Hawkins stabbed McAlister in the neck. McAlister tried to crawl out of the car when Hawkins climbed over him and continued stabbing him in the head, neck and chest. Curtis then allegedly dragged McAlister to the front of the car and said, “Hey, Brian, look,” and threw a giant rock at his head, according to Cold Case Files.
After dumping the dead body, the group drove back to Redding and left the car at a Costco parking lot. Hawkins said the siblings had a large wad of cash; they handed Hawkins a few hundred dollars. He knew where the money came from because it was tainted with blood, local station KRCR reported.
The Long Search for Frank McAlister
Tolmachoff recalled a conversation with Tatich: “I got a call from Donell telling me that Frank was missing and so was her car. I just go, what? It's not like him to just up and leave.” Tatich filed a missing person report. She told police about the recent infusion of cash and his attempt to buy meth.
The car was found after Tatich reported it missing. Although Hawkins had attempted to clean up the blood, plenty was left behind. There was blood running down the driver’s door, the armrest and the exterior. Investigators suspected a drug deal gone bad. They also knew that finding so much blood coincided with murder, so they treated the case like a homicide.
“I realized then that I don't think Frank was coming back and he was gone and I'd never seen him again,” Tolmachoff said on Cold Case Files. “My heart broke ... Why was he up here doing the s--- he was doing? It's not him.”
Police questioned Hawkins and the Culvers. CNN reported that they all shared the same story of being dropped off at a park in Redding because McAlister was meeting somebody.
In April 1994, mushroom foragers were in the woods when they found skeletal remains, according to the Record Searchlight. The lower part of the body had been scavenged by animals resulting in bones being scattered throughout. Dental records matched Frank’s.
“I got a call from the police,” Tolmachoff recalled. “They said, ‘We found your son's remains.’ And I dropped the phone and I just started crying.”
Frank’s uncle, John McAlister, found some comfort with the discovery. “We can lay Frankie's remains to rest and have a place to go and talk to him,” he told Cold Case Files.
A Killer’s Remorse
Despite receiving myriad tips, detectives didn’t have a solid suspect for decades. On January 10, 2018, the cold case got red hot when Hawkins met with a reporter at KRCR’s newsroom and confessed. He said, “I'm going to turn myself in for a crime I was involved in years ago, and somebody lost their life. It was murder.” After the interview, he went to the nearby sheriff’s office and turned himself in.
Police asked the station to hold off airing the segment until they rounded up his accomplices. KRCR management agreed to wait 24 hours.
Hawkins was motivated to come forward by his religious faith. He claimed that the idea belonged to his girlfriend, Shanna. She gave him the knife. Authorities had limited success talking to her at the time of the murder because she was 16 then. Interviewed 25 years later, she stuck to the 1993 story. When a Redding detective played a recording of Hawkins’ confession, she clammed up. “That's all I'm gonna say anymore. I want a lawyer,” she said.
Justice 25 Years in the Making
After initial denials—Curtis claimed that throwing the rock at McAlister’s head was a mercy killing while Shanna said she was not present during the assault—the evidence was too compelling to ignore. They eventually took some responsibility.
Hawkins pleaded guilty in November 2019 to murder, robbery and special allegations. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
Curtis and Shanna pleaded guilty in January 2022 to voluntary manslaughter, robbery in concert and various assault charges. Curtis was sentenced to 35 years. Shanna got 20 years.
“I wanted justice, but truthfully nothing will bring back your child,” Tolmachoff said on Cold Case Files. “I know he went to heaven.”
Cold Case Solved
Former Redding Police Detective Rusty Bishop tells A&E Crime + Investigation that the case “would have been a pretty tough one to solve without [Hawkins’s] cooperation.”
Shasta County Senior Deputy District Attorney Kelly Kafel tells A&E Crime + Investigation, “Groundwork laid by the original investigators was absolutely essential. Without that foundation, even cooperation might not have been enough. Every step, from preserving the evidence decades ago to conducting modern-day interviews, played a huge role in getting us here.”
Kafel acknowledges the difficulty in trying old cases. “The biggest challenge was definitely dealing with evidence and memories that were decades old,” she says. “Over time, people move away, witnesses pass on and memories fade. Thankfully, the original investigators did an incredible job collecting and preserving what they had. Because of their attention to detail, we were able to use modern forensic tools to breathe new life into the case.”
As a result, families of the victims aren’t the only ones relieved over unravelling a mystery. “The feeling you get from being able to tell a family member that justice has finally come for their loved one, is like none other,” Bishop says.
Kafel concurs, “When a case is finally solved, it brings closure not just to the families, but to those officers, too. Solving a cold case takes teamwork across generations, and it’s a powerful reminder that time doesn’t erase justice. We never stop trying.”
