Tag: unsolved homicide

The Unsolved Murder of Elena Sanchez Hawkins and the Man Set to Walk Free

In 1992, Elena Hawkins was murdered in her Kentucky home. Now, a man with a chillingly similar crime is about to walk free and her case is still unsolved.

It was a quiet January morning in 1992 when the blood of a young mother stained the floor of her Kentucky home. Nearly 33 years later, the man whose crimes bear a chilling resemblance to her murder is about to be released.

His name is Ernest Pine.

And Elena’s case is still cold.

“Mommy’s bleeding.”

That’s what Elena Hawkins’s toddler told his father over the phone.

Michael Hawkins had called home from work, just a regular check-in; but what he heard instead was the voice of their youngest son, confused and scared, reporting something no child should ever have to say.

When Michael rushed back to their home just off Bardstown Road near Boston, Kentucky, what he found was pure horror. Twenty-nine-year-old Elena lay on the floor, her throat slashed and her body brutalized. She had been raped, her wrists bound. Their two children were inside the house.

There was no sign of forced entry. No evidence of a struggle with a stranger. Police said it looked like Elena had known her attacker.

And then… silence.

No arrests. No justice. No peace.

A nightmare, repeated

Fifteen years passed.

Then, in 2007, a woman in Hardinsburg, just 45 minutes from Elizabethtown, was violently attacked in her own home. Her name has not been made public, but the brutality of the crime is etched into the record.

The attacker was a man named Ernest Pine, and what he did was eerily familiar. He entered through a window, raped her, slashed her throat, and left her for dead.

She survived. She played dead, waited until he left, and then got help.

Pine was arrested, charged, and in 2009 pleaded guilty to rape, attempted murder, burglary, and sodomy. He was sentenced to 20 years.

But now, after serving less than that, Ernest Pine is scheduled to be released on August 19, 2025.

Echoes of 1992

When news of the 2007 attack broke, investigators immediately noticed the parallels to Elena Hawkins’s unsolved murder. The violence. The sexual assault. The weapon. The method.

And the geography.

Ernest Pine had previously lived in Elizabethtown. The Hawkins family home was not far from there. Suddenly, Elena’s case did not feel so cold anymore.

Kentucky State Police confirmed they were reviewing the similarities. They never publicly named Pine as a suspect, but the dots were hard to ignore.

Still, no charges have ever been filed in connection to Elena’s murder.

So what now?

A violent predator is about to walk free. A woman is still dead. Two sons grew up without their mother, and a family has lived with three decades of silence.

And maybe, just maybe, somewhere in that silence is the answer.

Authorities have renewed interest in Elena’s case. They want the public’s help. If Pine had anything to do with what happened in that house in 1992, someone knows something.

They are hoping it is finally time to talk.

If you know something

Kentucky State Police Post 4 in Elizabethtown is still accepting tips. Even if it seems small. Even if it feels like a stretch. Sometimes the missing piece is the one no one thought mattered.

📞 KSP Post 4, Elizabethtown
(270) 766-5078

Final thoughts

Ernest Pine is about to re-enter the world. He will step back into the hills of Kentucky as a free man, while Elena Hawkins remains frozen in time, bound not just by rope but by the silence that has followed her name for over 30 years.

Her case deserves more than memory. It deserves justice.

And maybe, this time, someone will speak.

Stay safe, be alert, speak up. We need to work harder to keep monsters behind bars.

xoxo
-S

As an amateur true crime writer, I strive to provide accurate and well-researched information. However, please be aware that I am not a professional investigator or journalist, and my work is based on available sources and my understanding of the case. There may be inaccuracies or incomplete details in my posts. I encourage readers to seek out additional sources and verify information from official and professional channels. Thank you for your understanding and support.

Sadly there are not too many photos available of Elena.

This is the man that is soon to walk free.