Prince William County police arrested a Florida man in a 14-year-old cold case. Timothy Sean Hickerson, 43, of Palm Coast, Florida, is charged with the murder of Sean Ryan Donahue, 23, of Nokesville.
Police started the investigation when Donahue was reported missing on March 24, 2010. He was last seen with Hickerson two days earlier, leaving his parents’ home. Police said he was reportedly headed back to his own home at 12008 Aden Road.
Donahue, whose nickname was Bubba, was never seen after that. It’s believed he is dead, but his body has never been found.
In the course of the investigation, police said they found out Hickerson, who was 28 at the time, was connected to a burglary at Donahue’s home in the days leading up to his disappearance.
In spring 2024, detectives reactivated the cold case “reexamining every detail of the case from scratch, including revisiting interviewed parties and digital evidence in greater detail due to advances in analytical technology and modern police investigative practices,” a news release said.
Donna Donahue, Sean’s mother, announced the arrest of Hickerson on Facebook about a half hour after his Tuesday arrest, writing, “Yes. Yes. Yes. I have been waiting a long time for this to happen.”
With help from the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, Hickerson was arrested in Palm Coast. He’ll be extradited to Virginia to face murder and burglary charges.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to call police at 703-792-6500 or submit a tip online at pwcva.gov/policetip.
Feature image of Sean Donahue courtesy Prince William County Police Department
For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine’s News newsletter.
