Shalonda Monique Morris

• Missing Since 10/12/2007
• Missing From Palm Desert, California
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Female
• Race Black
• Date of Birth 08/03/1971 (53)
• Age 36 years old
• Height and Weight 5'3, 128 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A gray tank top, black pants, gray and black shoes and diamond stud earrings.
• Medical Conditions Morris was suffering from cancer at the time of her disappearance.
• Associated Vehicle(s) Dark burgundy four-door 2008 Chevrolet Trailblazer with the California license plate number 6AKX022
• Distinguishing Characteristics African-American female. Black hair, brown eyes. Morris's nickname is Shay (sometimes spelled "Shae"). Her hair was braided in the back at the time of her disappearance. Her ears are pierced.

Details of Disappearance

Morris was last seen in Palm Springs, California on October 12, 2007. She left her residence in the 61000 block of Wilson Road between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m. to meet a nineteen-year-old friend, Sean Michael Mihajson, at a smoke shop in Palm Desert, California, and has never been heard from again.

Morris was driving a dark burgundy four-door 2008 Chevrolet Trailblazer with the California license plate number 6AKX022 at the time of her disappearance. It was rented from Avis. She was reported missing the next day. Sean dropped out of sight around the same time Morris did, but he was not listed as a missing person.

In June 2008, authorities announced they were investigating Morris's case as a homicide. It's uncharacteristic of her to leave without warning. Police recovered her car, along with evidence pointing to foul play. They stated Sean, his twin sister Vanesa (sometimes spelled "Vanessa") Michelle Mihajson, and their father, Victor Mihajson, were wanted for questioning in Morris's case. Photographs of the three Mihajsons are posted with this case summary.

Sean was arrested in October 2008 and charged with first-degree murder in Morris's case. In April 2009, Vanesa was also apprehended in North Carolina, extradited to California and charged with murder.

Investigators believed Morris was killed in a drug deal gone bad and possibly buried on a five-acre lot owned by Victor on 18th Avenue north of Dillon Road in Sky Valley, California. Victor did not face charges in Morris's disappearance, but he was charged with harboring Sean while he was a fugitive.

The murder charge against Vanesa was ultimately dismissed for lack of evidence, but in October 2011, Vanesa was convicted of being an accessory to a felony, the felony being Morris's murder. She was sentenced to probation and community service. Investigators stated she knew in advance of her twin brother's plot to kill Morris, and she bought duct tape and plastic sheeting for him and let him borrow her van so he could dispose of the body, but she wasn't present when the homicide happened.

Morris was reportedly going to pay Sean $7,500 for one pound of marijuana, for which she had a doctor's recommendation, but when she arrived at his Palm Desert home to complete the transaction, he killed her and took her money.

At Sean's trial in December 2012, his defense attorney admitted he was a drug dealer and a "scumbag," but denied he had killed Morris and pointed out there was no forensic evidence to point to homicide. Sean was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Morris's body has never been recovered, but foul play is suspected in her case due to the circumstances involved.