Sharon Hathaway interview #3

Monday, March 15, 2021 – 2:00 p.m.

Sharon Hathaway is Vincent Gayle's live-in girlfriend.

Detectives Beckwith and Magee spoke to her again at the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department.

Participants:

• Detective P. Beckwith
• Detective J. Magee
• Sharon Hathaway

Detective Beckwith: Sharon, thanks for meeting with us again. Have a seat.

Sharon Hathaway: Okay. Here?

Detective Beckwith: Yes, that's fine. Could we get your name and address?

Sharon Hathaway: Sharon Hathaway. 3 County Road 169 in Alesville.

Detective Magee: Sharon, the reason we called you in is to ask you about some of the communications you've had with Daniel since he left.

Sharon Hathaway: All right. There haven't been that many.

Detective Beckwith: That's okay, any information you have helps. Have you talked to Daniel on the phone since January 2nd?

Sharon Hathaway: No.

Detective Magee: You never tried to call him?

Sharon Hathaway: He always let his calls go to voicemail when he lived at home. Besides, we knew he wasn't interested in talking with us since we disapproved of his leaving, so we were giving him his space.

Detective Magee: Did he contact you over the computer—email or instant message or anything?

Sharon Hathaway: Not by email. I think he had a Gmail account for school, but he never checked it when he was living at home. Kids don't use email anymore.

Detective Magee: How about social media?

Sharon Hathaway: He was on Facebook some. I don't know much about the other social media sites. He might have been on some others.

Detective Beckwith: Did he speak with you on Facebook?

Sharon Hathaway: Not really. He made some general posts in the weeks after he left, just stuff like "I love New York" and how he never wanted to leave.

Detective Magee: Did you or Vince initiate any conversations?

Sharon Hathaway: You mean Facebook message him?

Detective Magee: Yes, or post on his wall?

Sharon Hathaway: No, we didn't. I was already Facebook friends with him, and I made an account for Vince, so if Daniel wanted to talk to one or both of us, he could. We didn't want to push him. We figured we'd already run him out of Mississippi, and we didn't want to make things worse.

Detective Beckwith: How often did Vincent check the account you set up for him?

Sharon Hathaway: Never. You'd be lucky if you caught Vince turning a computer on.

Detective Beckwith: Are you Facebook friends with any of Daniel's friends?

Sharon Hathaway: No.

Detective Magee: How about Sage Perry, Daniel's listed Facebook love interest?

Sharon Hathaway: Nope, don't know her.

Detective Magee: Have you looked up Sage's Facebook page?

Sharon Hathaway: Sure, on a lark, but I didn't find much. She has all of her posts private, if she has any at all. Daniel must have met her in New York. That's really all I know. I haven't been stalking Daniel or his girlfriend online if that's what y'all are getting at.

Detective Beckwith: It does seem that you do know your way around a computer, though.

Sharon Hathaway: I work from home as a freelance transcriptionist, so I use a computer a fair amount, but I wouldn't say I'm an expert or anything.

Detective Magee: What does being a transcriptionist involve?

Sharon Hathaway: Listening to audio files my employer sends me, transcribing them into a written document or spreadsheet, and then sending that back to my employer. It isn't rocket science.

Detective Beckwith: Would you know how to impersonate Daniel on Facebook?

Sharon Hathaway: How would I do that? I don't know how to do art. I don't know his friends very well.

Detective Beckwith: I mean the nuts and bolts of manufacturing a fake Facebook account.

Sharon Hathaway: You make it sound like it's breaking into Fort Knox. Anyone can create a pretend account if they want to.

Detective Magee: Have you done it?

Sharon Hathaway: No, why would I?

Detective Magee: I don't know. Would you have a reason to?

Sharon Hathaway: No.

Detective Beckwith: Vincent said you check Facebook daily.

Sharon Hathaway: He doesn't know anything about computers. I use the computer daily for work. I'm only occasionally on Facebook. Vince can't tell the difference between the two.

Detective Beckwith: Do you have Wi-Fi at your house?

Sharon Hathaway: Yes.

Detective Magee: Is it password-protected?

Sharon Hathaway: Why? We live in Alesville. Plenty of businesses have free Wi-Fi in Oxford. No one is coming out here to steal Wi-Fi.

Detective Magee: Are you sure about that?

Sharon Hathaway: Like who?

Detective Beckwith: Maybe Sage Perry. We've run her name six ways from Sunday and can't find a shred of evidence of her existence in New York, Memphis, or Oxford … except for that hollow Facebook page.

Sharon Hathaway: She's probably street trash.

Detective Magee: What?

Sharon Hathaway: I mean, that's what Vince warned Daniel about when Daniel raced off to New York. That these artists, if you want to call them that, are so poor, they have to scheme just to stay alive.

Detective Magee: We were thinking that Sage Perry might be closer to home.

Sharon Hathaway: And using our Wi-Fi? If that's the case, I'm sure anyone Daniel ever brought over to the house knew our Wi-Fi was open. It seems every kid today has a smartphone.

Detective Beckwith: Could you name some of these kids?

Sharon Hathaway: Besides Brandon Ebner? I don't know. All his old art buddies from high school, I don't know all their names. Some of them are girls, like Claire Rivas and the Vaughn twins.

Detective Beckwith: Have the Vaughn twins or Claire Rivas ever been to your house?

Sharon Hathaway: Uh, Claire has. I met her once, like a year ago, I believe. Claire and Brandon were helping Daniel get ready for one of his art shows.

Detective Magee: Do you remember if Claire or Brandon used their phones to connect to your Wi-Fi at that time?

Sharon Hathaway: No, there's no way I'd remember that. It seems like you two have given up on finding Daniel.

Detective Beckwith: No, ma'am, we're still searching for him. We just don't want to limit ourselves in any way.

Sharon Hathaway: I understand.

Detective Magee: Okay, Sharon, we're going to let you be on your way. We may have further questions for you in the future. If so, we'll be in contact.

Sharon Hathaway: All right. Goodbye.

Interview ended – 2:32 p.m.