Kriti Mehrotra
It was on the evening of December 20, 1984, when 12-year-old Jonelle Renee Matthews suddenly disappeared from her 320 43rd Avenue Court home in Greeley, Colorado, without a trace left behind. Unfortunately, though, as explored in NBC’s ‘Dateline: Footsteps in the Snow,’ it wasn’t until July 24, 2019, that her loved ones got some answers when her body was found over 15 miles away. Yet, even with that, October 31, 2022, is when her case was resolved for good with the conviction of her killer, Steven “Steve” Dana Pankey, thanks to the help of his ex-wife Angela Hicks’ testimony.
Angela Hicks Was in an Intense, Loveless Marriage
Born in 1958 in Emerson, Iowa, to Charlotte Maxine Sobbing and Harold Roy Hicks as one of their two girls, Angela Sue Hicks actually spent the majority of her formative years in the wondrous city. We specify “formative years” because she relocated to Greeley, Colorado, in 1969 following her parents’ divorce, only to soon find herself getting to know local native Steve Pankey through work. According to records, she had landed a job at a communications center while still in high school to help her father make ends meet, and that’s where she first came across the business’ guard Steve.
Little did either of them know that one thing would lead to another, resulting in them tying the knot in a cozy ceremony when Angela was just 20 years old before they settled down and started a family. She and Steve welcomed their first child into this world in 1979 as a son they named Mark Dana Pankey, followed by their second, Carl Wesley Pankey, nearly 8 years later in 1987. However, despite outside appearances, their lives were far from perfect behind closed doors as the patriarch was reportedly ultra conservative and had once even told his wife he had no love for her.
According to Angela’s own statements, Steve was extremely controlling too, which was evidenced in the way he ordered her never to drive, read newspapers, watch television, or listen to music in the 1980s. Furthermore, a few years into their union, he allegedly also managed to convince her to cut her father out of her life, as he believed Harold was being too intrusive when he was just trying to help. There were reportedly several other such instances that the mother of two has since publicly shared, but in the end, after 23 years of allegedly living in sheer fear, she got a divorce in 2001.
Angela Hicks Was the Star Witness in Her Ex-Husband’s Trials for Murder
Angela still vividly remembers December 21, 1984, as her husband Steve had suddenly come home in the afternoon to announce they were going to California to celebrate Christmas with his family. She didn’t realize it at the time since she didn’t even know of the rising case until later, but this was just a little over half a day after tween Jonelle Matthews had disappeared from her home. Although she had admittedly found this sudden change of plans strange, she has since claimed it wasn’t as bad as their drive back on Christmas Day because Steve ordered her to break the radio rule.
As per Angela’s testimony, her husband had her find report after report after report on Jonelle’s case on the car radio, almost as if he was obsessed with the matter and the ensuing investigations. What also stuck out to her in the days after their return is the way Steve dug around their yard before burning his vehicle while holding a shovel, yet she never really questioned him out of fear. The family reportedly also relocated from Colorado in the veil of night at his behest in 1987 and then jumped from place to place for a while before finding their true home in the Ketchum area of Idaho. However, things changed for her in 1995, as he made a comment about Jonelle’s case while discussing an unrelated one stemming from his constant ongoing legal issues with authorities.
According to Angela’s statements, her husband claimed to have information about her disappearance, but he wouldn’t tell it to officials without immunity, leaving her wondering if he’d been responsible. That’s when Steve allegedly told her, “Do you really think I would hurt her when she looked so much like you?,” result ing in all the events from 1984 to click into her mind in a terryfing manner. The mother of two subsequently, quietly began going through his things to learn more, just to once find a paper with a comment about raked footprints in the snow in the missing girl’s yard. This was information never made public, so she compiled everything she found before courageously giving it to the police around the late 1990s, but she never got a call from them until 2019. Then, when Steve ultimately stood trial for charges of kidnapping and murder, she was the primary witness against him.
Angela Hicks Sadly Passed Away in 2024
While Steve’s first trial in 2021 ended in a mistrial owing to a deadlocked jury, he was convicted as charged on October 31, 2022, before later being sentenced to 20 years to life in state prison. It was only after all this that Angela admittedly breathed a sigh of relief since she knew her ex-husband could not hurt her in any way, shape, or form – she had been living in true terror all these years. Even following their divorce, as well as her establishing a successful property management business called Monarch Property Management, she hadn’t been able to let go of his influence on her life.
Yet, once everything was said and done, Angela revealed she was ready to move on in her life, all the while keeping the legacy of Jonella and the son she sadly lost in 2008, Carl, alive in her heart. As per reports, at the age of 20, Carl was accidentally killed by his girlfriend in Phoenix, Arizona, which understandably deeply affected her and continued to affect her until the end.
Angela was an innately creative individual, so she was passionate about everything from drawing to singing to writing and from gardening to photography to pottery, so she even lived on a farm. This Ketchum/Sun Valley, Idaho resident’s plan following the court proceedings was to pay off her farm and sell her business to then build a commercial greenhouse for roses while also working on her writings. But alas, before she could do so, she sadly passed away at the age of 66 on September 7, 2024 – per her obituary, she died after losing her battle to an unspecified brief illness.
Read More: Where is Jonelle Matthews’ Family Now?
