Renee M. Pernice

• Missing Since 01/02/2009
• Missing From Kansas City, Missouri
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Female
• Race White
• Date of Birth 04/28/1973 (51)
• Age 35 years old
• Height and Weight 5'7 - 5'9, 130 - 145 pounds
• Associated Vehicle(s) White extended cab pickup truck
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, blue eyes. Renee's last name is pronounced "Per-NEES." Her ears are pierced.

Details of Disappearance

Renee was last seen between 9:00 and 10:00 a.m. on January 2, 2009 at her home in the 1100 block of northwest 66th Terrace in Kansas City, Missouri. She has never been heard from again.

Three days after her disappearance, Renee's cellular phone was found by a pedestrian near Sixth Street and Gladstone Boulevard in northeast Kansas City, twelve miles from her home. The area had no known connection to Renee and a search yielded no clues.

Renee left behind two young sons and a stepdaughter. She worked as a nurse's instructor for the St. Luke's Hospital system at the time of her disappearance. It's uncharacteristic of her to leave without warning. She took only her wallet and cellular phone, leaving all her other belongings behind.

Renee's husband of ten years, Shon, was the last person to see her. A photo of Shon is posted with this case summary. He said he was asleep in the basement when she left the house and he doesn't remember much about it.

Shon, who was then a firefighter with the Independence, Missouri fire department, had recently returned home from Iraq, where he served as a medic with the United States Army. He was supposed to report to the Missouri National Guard for a two-week training session the day Renee disappeared.

Shon and Renee have a history of marital problems and she filed for divorce in 2005, but voluntarily withdrew the filing two years later. Their relationship became troubled again after Shon returned from Iraq, and the couple decided to separate. Shon was supposed to move out of the family home, which Renee had bought before her marriage, after he completed his National Guard session.

Police searched the Pernice home on January 10 and removed guns, ammunition and possible blood evidence. The garage floor had been acid-etched and recently mopped, but the rest of the house was messy. Investigators said Shon gave conflicting dates as to when he last saw Renee; at first he said it was January 1, then January 2.

Shon used his electronic key card to enter the Independence Fire Department's hazardous materials station, station five, early on the morning of January 3. He was assigned to station seven, not station five. Authorities noted that the hazardous materials station contained multiple types of cleaning supplies and solvents. (Shon was later fired from his job with the fire department.)

In the days following Renee's disappearance, Shon was seen kissing a woman at a casino. He also put his profile on dating websites and listed himself as single.

Curiously, Shon was questioned in the 1999 disappearance of Star Boomer, who was last seen in a Kansas City bar. Authorities believe she was beaten to death inside the bar and two men were charged with second-degree murder in her case, but the charges were dropped after witnesses refused to cooperate. Shon was one of the patrons in the bar that night. He is not considered a suspect in Boomer's disappearance.

Authorities stated a white extended cab pickup truck was seen in the area of Gladstone Boulevard and St. John Avenue, near where Renee's cellular phone was found later, on the morning of her disappearance. They also said they had a witness, later identified as Kelli A. Sharp, who might connected to the truck.

Shon admitted he and Sharp had had an affair in late December 2008. Sharp spoke to the police and cooperated with their investigation, but denied knowing Renee's whereabouts. Authorities stated she was not a suspect in Renee's disappearance.

By February, police stated they were certain Renee was deceased. Shon was arrested three times for unrelated charges in the several months following his wife's disappearance: he was charged with felony theft of stealing a neighbor's gun in late January, in July he was charged disturbing the peace in connection with a late-night argument with another neighbor, and later that month, he was charged with witness tampering and endangering the welfare of a child after he had another confrontation with the same neighbor and allegedly threatened a witness in the gun case.

Renee's mother and stepfather filed for custody of her sons in March, alleging Shon was an unfit parent. The boys began living with them in July 2009. Shon signed over full custody in January 2010, but he had visitations with the children regularly.

Shon was charged with first-degree murder in Renee's case in May 2010. In February 2012, he pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in her case. He confessed to killing her unintentionally during an argument. Authorities believe Shon put Renee's body in a trash bag and threw it in a dumpster, and it was then taken to the Shawnee Landfill. He was sentenced to the maximum term of 15 years in prison.

Foul play is suspected in Renee's case due to the circumstances involved.