This Investigation Discovery blog, Criminal Report Daily, has been nominated for the best crime blog of 2008. I have also been nominated for best crime blogger of 2008. Please show your support by visiting:
http://incoldblogger.blogspot.com/2009/01/icb-detective-awards-best-of-2008-in.html
Thanks!
There are several cases of missing mothers in the news right now. Two of those cases – Kelly Currin Morris and Corrie L. Anderson – have received a considerable amount of coverage here in recent months. Now another case - a Missouri mother of three – joins them among the pages of the missing.
Renee Pernice, 35, was reported missing by her father, Rick Pretz, on the morning of Jan. 3. According to Rick, he contacted police after another daughter had a bizarre telephone conversation with Renee's husband, Shon Pernice, 37, during which he informed her that his wife had been gone for some time. Upon filing a police report, Rick and other family members, accompanied by a police officer, went to Renee's house. Shon Pernice was not home at the time; however, Rick had a key to the house, which the group used to make entry. Unfortunately, the search was cut short when Shon Pernice and his attorney showed up and ordered everyone out of the house.
Court documents indicate that Shon initially said that he had last seen his wife on Jan. 1 and then later changed the date to Jan. 2. He said he was asleep in the basement when she told him she was leaving. Shon told detectives that he could not remember what Renee was wearing or where she was going. Following that initial conversation with police Shon refused to answer any further questions and denied police access to the couple's children – two sons and a daughter Shon has from a previous marriage - ages 11, 8 and 6.
Shon's attorney, Kevin Baldwin, told the Kansas City Star that he had instructed Shon not to speak to police or the media because he believed he was being blamed for Renee's disappearance.
The mystery into Renee's disappearance further deepened the day she was reported missing, when a homeless man reported finding her phone near Sixth Street and Gladstone in Kansas City. The location is roughly 14 miles from her home.
When authorities questioned Renee's family members, they learned that her relationship with her husband was troubled. The couple had been married for about ten years, but, in 2005, Renee, a nursing instructor, filed for divorce. They eventually reconciled their differences and in Jan. 2007, and Renee had the case dismissed. Unfortunately, all was not bliss for long; troubles resurfaced last year, when Shon - a firefighter and National Guardsman – returned from a strenuous tour of duty in Iraq. According to family members, he suffered from post-traumatic stress syndrome.
The couple's marital problems continued to boil over, and Renee again filed for divorce. According to court documents, Shon was supposed to leave for a two-week military training session on Jan. 2. He had allegedly agreed that, upon his return, he would move out of the house.
All of the details surrounding the case have caused Kansas City Police Capt. Rich Lockhart to suspect foul play.
"This is a woman who has no criminal history; she is a very loving mother who would not abandon her children," Lockhart said in an interview with ABC News, adding, "This is totally out of character for her."
Family and friends of Corrie Anderson, a missing mother of three from Ashville, N.Y., held a prayer vigil for Corrie last night at the Panama Baptist Church.
"It remains the strongly held belief that she is still very much alive and waiting to be found," Rev. Andy Cook said during the vigil. "Some of us, perhaps many of us, share that belief and all of us deeply respect that belief. I find myself not wanting to say, but needing to say that Corrie may not be found and that Corrie may not be coming home. What I just said I say with much difficulty and yet with the upmost love and respect for everyone seated here. If Corrie is not to come home, it is only because she has already been home and perhaps for some time. As of this moment, Corrie has been missing for some three months. It has been a harrowing passage to be sure and in ways the rest of us cannot possibly hope to understand and in ways that we would not want to understand. No one here, least of all this preacher, is qualified to declare what is or isn’t the case, so we go on praying with the hope for Corrie's return."
Corrie's mother, Vicki Acquisto, did not speak during the vigil; however she did express her feelings to the media.
"I just miss her a lot. I really miss her a lot," Vickie said.
Mike Ray and Walt Perkowski, members of the search and recovery group Texas EquuSearch, were also on hand to show support for Corrie's loved ones. Earlier in the day, Ray and Perkowski conducted additional reconnaissance and identified at least one new area of interest in the case. According to Ray, the search is currently set to begin in March or April, depending on the weather.
"The community is behind us 100% and the assets they are offering will make the recovery of Corrie much easier," Ray told Investigation Discovery. "We currently have over 60 horses, as well as over 500 searchers ready to deploy as soon as conditions are ready. Obviously, the safety of the horses and the searchers will be a priority, so ground conditions are holding us back right now. Many in the community have offered lodging and supplies, as well as vehicles to searchers who will be coming from the Texas area. It is great to have this type of support. As always, our main goal is to bring Corrie home."
In addition to the vigil that was held last night, Corrie's family members are also planning at least two other events – a snowmobile poker run and a Chinese auction – in order to raise donations for the search effort and also for a reward fund the family has established for information on Corrie's whereabouts.
Recent Comments