Vanessa Pruitt, 39, was born Vanessa Marie Hattin in Florence, Alabama. Her mother, Dee Dee, stayed at home with Vanessa and her older brother, Jude.
Vanessa's father, Gerald, sold real estate and was active in community affairs. A gregarious man-about-town, Gerald kept Dee Dee busy hosting mixers and dinners but was often away evenings at meetings or business dinners.
Throughout school, Vanessa was in several clubs and made the cheerleading squad. She had plenty of admirers and dated boys from her class as well as upperclassmen she met through Jude. One of Jude's friends, Dave Lockhart, was a year ahead of Vanessa and asked her out at the start of his senior year.
At first, he was one boyfriend among many, but unlike Vanessa's other dates, who dreamed of college athletic stardom or a lifetime in Florence, Dave wanted to be a photojournalist. Something about Dave's shy, thoughtful demeanor pleased Vanessa, and soon they were dating exclusively. When Dave graduated, Vanessa confided to friends that they were secretly engaged and planning to marry when Dave completed college.
He majored in journalism at the University of Alabama, but when Vanessa's high school grades only got her as far as the University of North Alabama, where she studied business administration.
Vanessa visited Dave on the weekends whenever she could, always urging him to transfer to UNA, which had a perfectly good journalism program. They announced their engagement when he started his senior year in Tuscaloosa, and Dee Dee planned a magnificent hometown wedding for the couple a month after Dave graduated.
Dave landed a job at the Times Daily in Florence, and the young couple settled into married life. Vanessa worked part-time for her father but dropped out of her courses at UNA. From the outset, she told people she and Dave wanted to have children once he moved to a bigger paper with better pay.
Finally, Dave got the call he'd been waiting for: The Times-Picayune was interested in hiring him. Dave made the long drive to New Orleans and impressed the photo editor, who planned to hire the gracious young man from Florence—but fate intervened.
On the drive home, a drunk driver struck Dave's car head-on, and he died at the scene. Vanessa moved back in with her parents and spent her days numbly watching TV. After an inert year, she slowly began contemplating a new life without Dave.
Vanessa told friends she couldn't live in Florence anymore because it was too full of memories of Dave. Just before the second anniversary of his death, Vanessa abruptly moved to Oxford, Mississippi, which a friend had recommended for its charm. She got a part-time job as a sales rep at the Oxford Eagle and applied to the university to finish her degree.
The next three years were a blur of work and studies. Vanessa's friendly demeanor was well-suited to sales, and they promoted her to assistant sales manager after she graduated. She enjoyed interacting with local companies and business people.
Attending an Oxford Chamber of Commerce mixer, she met local attorney Robert Pruitt. She called on him for some legal advice the following week, and friends recall the two were instantly attracted to each other. They started dating seriously almost immediately and married within a year. Vanessa was elated just to have found love again, and she wrote her family bubbly postcards from their vacations to the Florida Keys and Jamaica.
But within a few years, Vanessa was once again yearning to be a mom. Robert preferred tinkering with electronics, hanging out with his buddy Gary, and betting on sports. While he seemed content to live the double-income, no-kids lifestyle permanently, Vanessa became increasingly impatient with Robert's inability to move beyond what she called his "adolescent hobbies."
She also felt working as a criminal defense attorney wasn't a suitable job for a father. She was outraged when Robert bought a gun, but she agreed that his interaction with the criminal element made his work dangerous. She urged him to return to the DA's office or consider moving to a bigger city with other prospects. But Robert was stubborn and ignored her entreaties.
Colleagues at the Eagle recalled hearing her talking to him in heated tones on the phone, and friends speculated that the marriage was on the rocks. Robert's refusal to attend the annual Hattin family reunion was a typical move in their ongoing battle, and Vanessa left in a huff without him. At the reunion, she told her mother she was considering filing for divorce.