Missing from: Kansas City, Missouri
Missing: August 24, 2002
Age at disappearance: 71
Height: 5’ 5″
Weight: 145
Hair: Gray
Eye: Blue
Distinguishing Characteristics: Scars, Marks, Tattoos: Caucasian female. Shirley wears a pacemaker.
Details of Disappearance: Shirley was last seen at 9:30 a.m. on August 24, 2002 as she left her residence in the vicinity of Laurel Avenue and the 9100 block of east 44th Street, near the Truman Sports Complex in Kansas City, Missouri, to go to her daughter’s home in the 3400 block of Charlotte Street. She was helping her daughter remodel her house at the time of her disappearance. Shirley’s daughter was away the weekend of August 24 and Shirley was supervising the house painters. When she left them the day before, she had told them she would be back in the morning. Shirley never made it to her daughter’s residence. Her daughter tried to call her at 2:00 p.m. on August 25, but got no answer. After several more calls with no answer she contacted Shirley’s neighbors, who said her dog had been left outside all night and her Sunday newspaper was still in the yard. The back door to the residence was unlocked. Shirley’s daughter said it would be uncharacteristic of her mother to neglect the animal or leave town without telling anyone. She reported Shirley missing on August 25, one day after she was last seen. There has been no activity on her bank accounts and credit cards since her disappearance.
On September 3, a week and a half after Shirley disappeared, her vehicle was found abandoned in a vacant lot near 33rd Avenue and Highland in Kansas City. The car, a white two-door 1990 Cadillac Deville, was hidden behind trees and covered with a car tarp and some brush. Its license plates, specialized Missouri conservation plates that are blue in color and read “MCQ-N,” were missing and have not been recovered. There was a large amount of blood in the backseat of the car, but no indication of Shirley’s whereabouts. Authorities stated that there was enough blood in the vehicle to prove that Shirley could not have survived.
A few days after the car was found, a man contacted police saying he had information about the vehicle. He came in for a voluntary interview. Investigators searched his home and yard afterwards. The man, who has not been identified, lives in the neighborhood where the car was found. Authorities have not said whether their search of his residence turned up any evidence relating to Shirley’s case. The man is not being called a suspect in her disappearance, but investigators believe he may have had contact with people who were involved in her disappearance. Another individual who had been driving Shirley’s car and had some of her possessions has been questioned, but has not been charged in connection with her case.
Foul play is suspected in Shirley’s disappearance; her daughter believes she could have been the victim of a carjacking. Her case is being investigated as a homicide and remains unsolved.
Investigative Agency: Kansas City Police Department (816) 234-5136
If you have any information on this case, please contact CUE Center for Missing Persons at (910) 343-1131 or call the CUE Center 24-hour tip line at (910) 232-1687. All information submitted to CUE Center for Missing Persons is confidential.