While the case of a missing mother from Missouri remains a mystery to law enforcement, but a possible link to another woman's disappearance may be emerging.
Renee Pernice vanished from her Northland home last month. Shon Pernice, her husband, whom she was in the process of divorcing, was the last person to see her alive.
Ten years ago, another woman, Star Boomer, disappeared from a bar in Kansas City and hasn't been seen since. On that night in February of 1999, Shon Pernice was at the same bar, sources told FOX4KC.com.
Witnesses said Boomer got into a fight with a man at the bar. Two men were originally charged with second-degree murder, but the case was eventually dropped to avoid "double jeopardy."
Boomer’s family believes it was because none of the witnesses at the bar that night would testify.
"There were 13 witnesses in the bar and no one wants to come forward or say anything," Cynthia Hurtie, Star’s sister, told FOX4KC.com.
Hurtie, now a private investigator, has never stopped trying to solve her sister’s case. When she heard about the specifics of Renee’s case she said, “My heart just fell to my stomach. I just put two and two together, there were two witnesses and Shon was one of them.”
Although Shon Pernice was never on the list of official court witnesses, he has been linked to the Boomer investigation, according to FOX4KC.com sources.
“Until the day we find closure and justice for her, I can’t give up. I have to be a voice for Star,” said Hurtie.
Boomer’s mother, Hazel Hurtie, holds out hope that her daughter will be found.
"I believe that we will find her," she told FOX4KC.com. "I really believe that. I have never given up hope."
Shon Pernice and his attorney could not be reached for comment about the story.
There is a $5,000 reward for information in the Star Boomer case.
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