The Last Dance - Debbie Flores Narvaez - Part 1

Episode 18 - Part 1

Debbie Flores-Nar vay ez was intelligent, talented, and passionate, and had an overwhelming urge to follow her dreams. Some people might be satisfied working in the world of high finance, or perhaps with a career in law, but not Debbie.

Her true passion was performing on the dance stage and there was no keeping her from something she set her mind on. She moved to Las Vegas in 2008 to pursue that dream, and on the precipice of her success, she disappeared without a trace.

[Shaun] 

Hi and welcome to Sins and Survivors, a Las Vegas true crime podcast, where we focus on cases that deal with domestic violence. I’m your host, Shaun, and with me as always, is the one and only John.

[John] 

I am the only John in the room.

[Shaun] 

Because of the complexity and detail involved, we’re going to cover Debbie Flores Nar vay ez’s case over two episodes. As always, we feel it's important to focus more on the victim of this horrific crime along with the family members she left behind. 

A lot of the coverage of this one is really sensational, but we’re taking a different approach, reminding everyone, as we do, that these are real people, and they matter.

Debbie was born in Puerto Rico on July 5th, 1979 to Elsie Narvaez and Carlos Flores Roman. She has one older sister, Celeste Flores Narvaez. The family moved to Maryland when Debbie was very young, just 7 years old. 

She spent her teenage years there. Several news outlets claim that she attended Old Mill High School in Millersville, MD (https://www.oldmillhs.org/) but she is listed among the class of 1997 at Owings Mills High School, which is in Owings Mills, Maryland. The two schools are about 35 minutes apart by car. 

We’re honestly not sure which one is true, but Owings Mills seems more likely. Regardless, she attended high school in Maryland and was a cheerleader. As you learn more about Debbie, you'll realize that her being a cheerleader isn't surprising at all, given her love of performance and dance.

[John]

Debbie was also very smart. After high school, she attended the University of Baltimore and Towson University, where she studied business and law and earned her MBA. I'm honestly not sure how she managed to study all of these things, but somehow she did it.

While Debbie was in college, her parents and sister moved to Atlanta, and then finally divorced when Debbie was 23, in 2002. 

We came across a very cool article in the University of Baltimore Alumni magazine from the Fall of 2008 that we wanted to share to give more color as to not only the type of driven person Debbie was, but also some insight about how she was perceived, in this case by her alma mater.

[Shaun] 

We’re going to post a photo of this article from the University’s Alumni magazine, but we want to highlight it here too. It talks about Debbie, and how starting in 2007 she was a cheerleading ambassador for the Washington NFL team - (now the Washington Commanders) which given her history as a cheerleader and high school outgoing personality and passion for performing isn't surprising at all. 

Here’s what the article has to say about Debbie

“Anyone who believes NFL cheerleaders don’t have much in the way of brains should think again. 

“One of the requirements to be a cheerleader is to have a professional degree and a professional job or [to] be a full-time mother,” says Debbie Flores Narvaez, B.S. ’03, a UB/ Towson M.B.A. student who has been a Washington (NFL)  Cheerleaders ambassador since fall 2007. 

She goes on: “We have doctors, attorneys, CPAs, and so on.” Flores-Narvaez explains she has year-round cheerleading responsibilities. “There is a lot of charity work involved,” she says. “cheerleaders go overseas to entertain American troops, and when troops come home to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, we visit them.” 

Since the NFL pays her for these appearances, “this has also been a good way to pay for my M.B.A.,” Flores-Narvaez says, adding that when she earns the degree, she wants “to move to Los Angeles to pursue a career in fashion and dance.”

[John]

While she was working as an ambassador for the Washington football team she was also putting that finance degree to work as a senior financial analyst. The cheerleader position got her out in the community a lot but wasn’t paying the bills.

In the summer of 2008, Debbie decided to make the move to Las Vegas to pursue a career in dance. She moved here with her boyfriend at the time, a dancer named Jamile McGee. 

McGee was a professional dancer who has been featured in music videos and appeared in 2009 in Wayne Brady’s “Making Shit Up” show at the Venetian. He also appeared in the first season of “So You Think You Can Dance”

These two had a very tumultuous relationship. Many of the stories you'll read about Debbie will mention that Jamile had taken out a temporary protective order against her in August of 2009, but let's dig a little deeper into this to find out the rest of the story.

To begin with, we could not verify that JuhMeel filed a temporary protective order against Debbie in August of 2009. 

It could be that the 8th Judicial District here in Las Vegas simply doesn't store the short-term “TPO” described, or it could also be that this never happened. We don't have a way to validate that.

[Shaun] 

What we can tell you about, in detail is another lawsuit between the two. In August of 2009, Debbie filed a lawsuit against Jamile alleging that she suffered scarring as a result of a June 2009 assault in which he kicked her stomach, dragged her from her car, and “held her hostage in her apartment while continuing to beat her”

She alleged that the scarring resulted in her losing modeling jobs, leaving her with only the $40,000 income from her part-time dance jobs.

During the trial, McGee’s attorney characterized the charges as frivolous, and they offered to settle with her for $1. He also claimed there were no medical or police reports associated with the assault. 

In the end, the court ruled in Debbie’s favor, awarding her $250,000, of which she unfortunately never collected anything. His lawyer stated that McGee had left Las Vegas a year earlier.

[John]

A little more about Debbie. She was extremely determined, and her friends have often said that when she got her mind set on something there was no stopping her. 

There were times when her passion and drive were mistaken for insubordination. She would always speak her mind, very directly. It seems very much like people always knew where they stood with her because she was going to tell you.

One of her friends said she was “one bad bitch”, and you get the strong impression she meant it in the best way possible.

She would pay her friend’s bills without prompting if they were in need, and offered to fight for them in court when they got traffic tickets.

As you might expect, she was fiercely devoted to her friends and family and didn't play around when it came to relationships. Her sister Camille said she was a fantastic aunt who was very loving and loved big holiday celebrations, especially Christmas. 

On the Facebook page dedicated to her, we found a great photo of a pink Christmas tree she had. It’s entirely pink and has ballerinas, purses, shoes, dresses, stars, snowmen, candy, Hello Kitty, Victoria’s Secret Pink Dogs, and a pink Cadillac. 

[Shaun] 

Jason “Blu” Griffith was almost the same age as Debbie. He was born in Brooklyn, New York on December 10th, 1979, and was an extremely talented dancer who attended Julliard in New York. You may have heard the name Julliard because it's one of the most well-known and top-tier schools for drama, dance, and music. It’s essentially the Harvard of schools for the arts.

It has produced legends like violinist Itzhak Perlman, actress Viola Davis, and movie score genius John Williams.

Jason performed at the Mirage in Las Vegas in the Cirque du Soleil show “Love” based on the music of the Beatles. He was also a background dancer for Toni Braxton in a show at the Flamingo around 2006, 2008. 

Debbie met Jason at a football halftime show in 2009, and the two hit it off and started dating soon after. It wasn't long before things went sideways for the couple. We’ve read several accounts from people who know the couple that Jason was known for sleeping with other dancers which didn't sit well with Debbie.

And, I want to add here that according to court records, Jason got married in Reno in 2006, and to this day, he is still legally married to that woman, Jason only just filed for divorce from her in October of 2023 – and the divorce is still not finalized as of time of recording - February 2024. 

[John]

To say that Jason and Debbie had a turbulent relationship is a huge understatement. By February 2010, Jason was seeing someone he met on a dating site, and as Shaun mentioned he was sleeping with a number of his co-stars. Debbie was no idiot and she was very suspicious of him cheating. 

In May 2010, however, Jason met Agnes Roux, a French dancer in the Cirque du Soleil Zumanity show at the New York, New York hotel and casino, and they also started dating. Right around this time, according to Jason, Debbie told him she was pregnant, and Jason said that he had brought her into a clinic to terminate the pregnancy. 

Shortly thereafter, he broke up with her. 

That July though, on her 31st Birthday just 3 months after they broke up he bought her a pair of shoes as a gift, and the two got back together 

[Shaun] 

One of the things that comes up a lot is that Jason claimed on more than one occasion that Debbie would not leave him alone and that she was obsessed with him, but it seems like Jason was the one continually reeling her back in, just like he did on her 31st Birthday. 

It was as if he just couldn't stand the idea of her moving on with her life without him, so he didn't allow that.

Once they were back together Debbie was “allegedly” accepting of the idea of Jason dating both her and Agnes according to her friend’s comments, but it seemed that Agnes was not at all okay with the arrangement.

We listened to a 911 call from Agnes where she complained to the police about her boyfriend’s “obsessive ex” and told them Debbie was constantly calling and texting him. 

It also shouldn't surprise you to learn that at this same time. Jason was seeing other people outside of both Agnes and Debbie. 

Interestingly, it’s also noted in the court records that Debbie and Jason attended couples counseling. It's hard to understand why that is, however, unless this was just Jason’s attempt to “keep Debbie on the line” because it's clear he wasn't interested in a monogamous relationship with her given his behavior. 

[John]

In all, there are three documented cases of domestic violence involving Jason and Debbie. In one of them, Debbie is accused of domestic abuse, but she is listed as the victim in the other two.

Police records indicate that on October 9th, 2010, Jason contacted them to “report Debbie’s presence” at his residence, where she was allegedly harassing him. When the police arrived, Debbie informed them that two days prior, Jason had head-butted her as she sat in her car resulting in damage to the windshield wiper lever on the steering column. Police noticed and documented the damage to her car.

Jason also captured a cell phone video of Debbie in which she admits to 

• Assaulting him by saying “I hit you, broke into your house, looked at your laptop, poured egg whites on your car, and slashed three of your tires”

[Shaun] 

On October 22nd, 2010, there was a particularly violent domestic violence incident that resulted in Jason being arrested and charged with Felony Domestic Violence. The arrest report is a bit of a mess and critical elements have been redacted from it, but it's clear that Jason, Agnes, and Debbie were all involved. 

From what we’re able to piece together, the incident started when Debbie was following Jason in their respective cars, and bumped her car into his, although neither car was damaged.

Debbie claimed that Jason approached her, took her iPhone, elbowed her in the chin, and took off in his car. Agnes and Debbie both followed him. When they stopped again, he got out of his car and threw her phone about 100 feet away. 

She went to get the phone, and when she did, he attacked her again, pushing her down and pulling her hair in an attempt to get the phone back from her. He pulled her hair so hard that he ripped a chunk of it out, and we know that part is true because it's explicitly corroborated in the police report with a photo.

Jason then drove off again, and they both followed him, again and when they arrived at his apartment, the police were called and Jason was read his Miranda rights. He confirmed to the police that he was taking her phone to prevent her from calling the police, and he was charged with domestic violence and battery, with a hearing scheduled to occur in a couple of months. 

[John]

Since 2009, Debbie had been working as a part-time dancer for the Luxor show, Fantasy. She was what’s known as a Swing member of the cast, filling in on a regular, rotating basis for the full-time cast members. 

I am sure that anyone who has been to Vegas in the last 20 years has seen the billboards for Fantasy. It’s been a show at the Luxor since 1999, typically it has between 12 and 20 dancers in the cast, and currently, they also have a vocalist who performs with the dancers. It’s an award-winning show, for categories like Best Bachelor Party, Best Female Review; and Best Showgirls.  I’ve never seen it but reading about it this week made me want to.

Fantasy is produced by Anita Mann, who is an Emmy award winning choreographer, and according to the review journal she’s known for being empathetic and having “a den mother demeanor”

[John]

Debbie loved being a part of Fantasy, and the producers and the show’s creator, Anita had so much praise for Debbie. She was hard-working and always willing to fill in. As a Swing - she would only get a chance to be in the production 3-4 times a month but as we’ve said, Debbie loved dancing and she worked hard at her craft. 

According to Anita, although Debbie was technically a swing cast member She was a full member of the production. She would go to whatever charity event they asked and would volunteer any time, including at the employee talent show at Luxor. 

Whenever they needed her to make an appearance, she was there. This all sounds like the role she took on as an NFL cheerleader ambassador. 

By December 2010, Debbie was on the verge of her big break.

[Shaun]

Sisqo –remember Sisqo? Remember Thong Song from the year 2000? I know someone is out there listening because it has over 210 million plays on Spotify. 

Debbie and Sisqo knew each other from Baltimore. Debbie used to dance with him before she moved to Vegas. 

Debbie reached out to Sisqo and persuaded him to come out to Vegas and check out the Fantasy show. Debbie worked her magic on Sisqo and convinced him and the Fantasy producers that the cast would do a special two-week-long performance of Thong Song WITH Sisqo as a part of the number. These special performances were scheduled for December 13-25th. 

[John]

This number was 100% Debbie’s baby. She worked on the choreography with the producers and attended multiple rehearsals for two weeks straight with no days off. They even flew her to LA to work with a choreographer there to create this special performance. Thong Song would be Debbie’s chance to finally become a main cast member, and she was so dedicated to making the show perfect.

There is a video on YouTube posted on December 10, 2010, which shows the cast rehearsing the choreography for the Sisqo number.. Sisqo isn’t in the video, but the song is a remix that has a very retro jazz and cabaret spin to it, almost as if it was being covered by Postmodern Jukebox. It looks like it was a clever, unique routine and a definite showstopper. 

[Shaun]

The rehearsal schedule was grueling. On December 12, the day before opening night, the cast rehearsed in the afternoon and took a break before coming back for a midnight rehearsal. 

Midnight comes, and Debbie doesn’t show. She’s a “no call no show.” and Anita was angry at first. But, knowing what the show meant to Debbie, she quickly grew concerned. She texted Debbie “are you okay?” but got no answer. 

The next day a 2pm rehearsal was scheduled, but it’s more than just a run through – the rehearsal was also going to be used to film publicity footage to publicize the show. Anita said, there was no way that Debbie would miss that. Especially since the Sisqo plan, the routine, the whole thing was Debbie’s idea. Anita said it was like Debbie's dream.

2pm comes and goes with no sign of Debbie. 

Opening night of the Sisqo performance happens without Debbie. because of course, as they say, the show must go on. 

By this time, Anita had started calling trauma centers, hospitals, and the police, assuming Debbie had been in an accident. 

[John]

The next day, December 14, Debbie’s roommate Sonya Sonnenberg called the police to file a missing persons report. It was pretty obvious that something had gone wrong for Debbie to miss the final rehearsals and opening night in particular. 

All of her friends knew that her not showing up would blow everything for her. Not just the Sisqo show but likely her whole career at Fantasy. 

According to Sonya, Debbie hadn’t been home at all either. 

Debbie wasn't answering texts and her phone was going straight to voicemail. There was no activity on her Facebook or her myspace which was always very active. According to her friends, Debbie was always on her phone, she had more than 5,000 Facebook friends that she kept up with. 

According to Sonya, she had last seen Debbie on the evening of December 12, when Debbie said she was leaving to go to Jason’s house so they could watch the season finale of Dexter together. 

Surveillance cameras at Debbie’s condo showed her getting into her car alone at about 7 pm wearing black knee-high boots, a dark shirt, and dark jeans. She was carrying a black purse and a white gym bag.

She drove off in her Maroon 1997 Chevy Prizm, with Maryland plates. 

[Shaun]

The police as you might expect went to talk to Jason, who they referred to as her ex-boyfriend. He said that he had seen Debbie but she had only just driven by his house, she never got out of the car. 

He said that she said that she was going to meet with some friends, that she was alone in the car, and everything seemed to be fine. There was no clue or indication that something was wrong. The police said he was completely cooperative. 

On December 16, 2010, the police received a call about an abandoned car in the backyard of an empty house 16 miles away from where Debbie lived, which was obscured from sight and the rear license plate had been removed. 

The car matched the description of Debbie’s car, and the police ran the VIN number and determined that it was her car. 

The police were fairly certain nothing had been stolen – her phone and her computer were in the car, and neither had any activity after December 12. And the car was in good condition and completely driveable. 

The police opened the trunk of the car - and thankfully, Debbie was not inside. They also searched the property and home nearby, but there was no sign of Debbie at all.

They processed the car at the crime lab to look for DNA, fingerprints, and blood, but nothing of note was found. 

[John]

This was very concerning. 

While it was a small relief that there was no blood or signs of violence, the abandoned car didn’t provide any answers as to where Debbie was. 

Debbie’s sister Celeste, traveled from Atlanta to Las Vegas to join the search for Debbie. She had never been to Las Vegas before and, regretfully had never had the chance to see Debbie perform on the Strip, and she relied on friends of Debbie to show her around. 

Celeste worked tirelessly to get her sister’s name and face in the press, and the story of her disappearance became national news.

According to an interview given to CBS News, Celeste lost 7 pounds in 6 days. She wasn’t eating, just surviving on water and coffee and focused on finding her sister. She was hanging up wanted posters and started a Facebook group dedicated to finding Debbie. 

Celeste planned to stay in Las Vegas as long as it took to find Debbie, even if it meant skipping Christmas with her children. She said, "My kids are my first priority, but so is finding my sister." 

Her message for whoever had harmed or kidnapped her sister was "Bring her home. Let her go. Let us know something. Tell us what you want"

[Shaun]

Debbie’s story, and the circumstances of her disappearance, were being regularly reported on with abundant speculation about what had happened to her. 

The news came out that about 2 weeks prior to her disappearance-  on December 1, 2010, Debbie had sent a cryptic text message to her mother that confused her mom at the time. 

Debbie wrote: “In case there is ever an emergency with me, contact Blu Griffith in Vegas. My ex-boyfriend. Not my best friend.”

When her mom asked her what that meant Debbie replied - “never mind, mommy. Just keep it for your records.”

When the news of this text exchange went public, it of course ignited many theories and questions about if this could somehow be connected to Debbie’s disappearance. 

[John]

On December 21, 2010, the Las Vegas Metro Police Department held a press conference to provide an update. 

Lt. Rob Lunquist of the missing persons division spoke and confirmed many of the facts that we discussed already.  Debbie was last seen leaving her condo around 7 pm on December 12, and Debbie’s roommate had told police that Debbie was headed to Jason’s house.

They also confirmed they had spoken to Jason. He told the police that Debbie was going to meet up with some friends, but the police did not know which friends or if she had ever made it to that meet-up.

They refused to provide any details about Jason’s criminal history and did state that other than the domestic violence incident on October 22, they had no evidence that Debbie had ever been the victim of a violent crime. 

Lt. Lundquist also explained that they didn't know why she decided to drive by Jason’s that night. 

When asked, he explained that he wasn’t sure if Jason had called her to invite her over to watch TV, or if she had called him, or what the details were around that. 

[Shaun]

The police would not reveal any details about any text messages, emails, or communications that Debbie had had with anyone or that they were looking at as being suspicious, including the message she had sent to her mom earlier in the month. 

A member of the press asked the question if maybe Debbie could have been the victim of an obsessive fan or stalker. We heard similar points being brought up when we talked about the Shauna Tiaffay case – that perhaps she had been stalked by someone who had seen her perform.  Lt. Lundquist stated that they did not have any evidence to confirm that theory.

One of the topics frequently being reported and speculated on in the press was a rumor that Debbie was pregnant. A question asked during this press conference was “Is she still pregnant?” Lt Lundquist reported that he didn’t know. 

Being pregnant is very dangerous for women. #1 cause of death for pregnant women is – homicide. 

[John]

After the press conference, Lt. Lundquist stressed that there was no indication of foul play. He stated it was possible that she may have left on her own, but they were treating her disappearance very seriously and looking at all possibilities. 

He stressed this was a missing persons investigation, and he did not call Jason a person of interest. 

He stated they were interested in talking to anyone and everyone who had contact with Debbie or had any information regarding her whereabouts. 

On December 22, the police interviewed Jason again. Jason mentioned two other boyfriends of Debbie’s that might have wanted to hurt her, including Jamile Mcgee whom we mentioned earlier.

Jason reiterated that he only had a short interaction with Debbie on December 12. 

He also mentioned that Debbie was distraught over their break up, and that she was contemplating ending her own life. He suggested that the police look for her at the Windmill overpass on the I-215 beltway. (which is oddly specific)

We also want to mention here that the police did interview Jamile, but he had a very good alibi; he was living in Baltimore, so the police eliminated him as a suspect in her disappearance.

[Shaun]

On December 23, the Las Vegas Community held their breath when a partially burned body was discovered by hikers just over the border into Arizona, near the Hoover Dam. 

The body was a woman with dark hair and a similar body type to Debbie. At the time, the police said there was nothing at the scene to indicate that it wasn’t or couldn’t be Debbie. But, identification would need to wait for an autopsy.

Two days later, the coroner’s office determined that it was not Debbie, which was understandably a huge relief to Celeste and Debbie’s friends and loved ones.

However, I want to take a moment here to pause because the woman was named Yung Park. She was 39 years old at the time of her death, and she was brutally murdered by two of her coworkers - Min Soon Chang and Keon Kyun Park (not related to Young). 

They were both found guilty of first-degree murder and are serving life sentences. The motive for the crime was said to be that Yung owed them - combined - $9,000. 

Unfortunately, due to the fact that so much media attention was on Yung NOT being Debbie, there wasn’t a lot of coverage about who Yung was, herself. My attempts to research and learn more about her were futile. 

[John]

After it was confirmed to be Yung and not Debbie, according to the Review-Journal, Celeste said she would not allow herself to think negatively. 

"I’m still hopeful I’m bringing my sister home for the holidays safe and sound," she said. "Somebody knows something, somebody saw something…You don't have to say your name. Just call the police. It's the holidays. Please bring her home for the holidays."

Unfortunately, as we mentioned Celeste ended up spending Christmas in Vegas, away from her kids because Debbie was still missing. 

On December 30 on Facebook, Celeste wrote: 

****How do I make it through?**** I take it one day at a time. I face my fears. I keep my promises. I deal with the challenges. I turn to caring, positive people I know will be there for me. I believe….I stay strong for you. I keep the faith for you. And I make room for a brighter day that someday soon, is going to shine so much serenity back into my life with you in it.

[Shaun]

When 2010 came to a close, there were still no answers to Debbie’s disappearance. Celeste and Debbie’s coworkers were struggling. Metro had made it clear that they needed someone to come forward with information. 

Anita Mann said that the dancers in Fantasy had to fake it just to make it through their performances – going through the motions, holding out hope that maybe Debbie just needed to get out of town for a while.  

Next week, we will bring you part 2 of Debbie’s story. We want to thank you as always for listening and remind you that in our show notes and on our website you can find local, national, and international resources for domestic violence, sexual assault, and trafficking because 

What happens here, Happens everywhere.