On November 6, the U.S. Army Office of Special Trial Counsel preferred four additional charges against Private First Class Dewayne Arthur Johnson, stemming from the disappearance of his pregnant wife. Mischa Johnson last spoke to family on July 12, 2024.
Michelle McCaskill, Director of Communications for the OSTC, told Dateline in an email that the charges were brought about “based on evidence obtained through the on-going investigation.”
The investigation began three months ago when 19-year-old Mischa Johnson vanished from Oahu, Hawaii. Dateline reported on her disappearance in August as part of our “Missing in America” series, and spoke with her sister, Marianna Tapiz. Marianna says she and Mischa had plans to meet for dinner on the evening of July 12 to celebrate both being pregnant at the same time. Mischa was a about six months pregnant and Marianna had just announced she was also pregnant.
Marianna says Mischa never showed up to the restaurant for their dinner and when she texted her sister asking where she was, she received this reply: “Home wasn’t feeling good Sorry”.
“That doesn’t sound like my sister,” Marianna said. She also told Dateline the family continued to get texts from Mischa’s phone until August 1, but they didn’t seem to be in Mischa’s usual texting style, either in tone or punctuation.
On August 19, 2024, a 25th Infantry Division Facebook post stated that Pfc. Dewayne Arthur Johnson had been taken into military confinement in connection to his wife’s disappearance. The couple lived at Schofield Barracks on Oahu. On August 27, the OSTC shared a media release outlining the charges against Pfc. Johnson at the time, which were “providing false official statements, obstruction of justice, and the production and distribution of child pornography.”
Just over two months later, on November 6, the additional charges were preferred. OTC Communications Director McCaskill told Dateline “the general nature of the additional charges are for the murder of Mischa Johnson, intentionally killing her unborn child, obstruction of justice, and the possession of child pornography.”
According to McCaskill, Pfc. Johnson is in “pretrial confinement pending a preliminary hearing.” McCaskill stated in her email to Dateline that this is required before charges can be referred for trial by general court-martial. “If the charges are referred, Pfc. Johnson will be arraigned and the assigned military judge will schedule pre-trial hearings and the trial.”
McCaskill stressed that “charges are allegations” and “Pfc. Johnson is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.” She stated that no further details would be provided at this time due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, but did confirm to Dateline that Mischa Johnson’s body has not been found.
McCaskill also agreed to pass Dateline’s request for comment on to Pfc. Johnson’s military legal representation.
The Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division continues to ask for the public’s assistance and is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for credible information that leads to Mischa Johnson’s recovery. They ask anyone with information regarding her disappearance to contact the Army CID Pacific Field Office at 808-208-0559 or submit a tip online.
