In the summer of 2009, 51-year-old Shelley May Anderson was last seen in the areas of Haileybury and Cobalt, Ontario. Specifically, she was seen on July 1, 2009, at a Country Style in Haileybury with an older man who was driving a maroon and silver Jimmy-style SUV. Shelley, who had grown up in the Timmins and Schumacher areas of Ontario, had moved to Cobalt in the spring of that year.
At the time of her disappearance, she was described as being 5'10' and weighing 140 pounds, with brown eyes and long brown hair that she typically wore in a ponytail. She wore glasses and was often seen in jeans and cowboy boots. Distinctive features included several tattoos with the words 'Temagami,' 'Shirley May Beker,' '300 Bearisland,' and a cross with 'RIP.'
It wasn't until over a year later, on July 23, 2010, that Shelley was officially reported as a missing person. The alert was raised by an employee of the Ontario Disability Support Program who contacted the Ontario Provincial Police after a year's worth of Shelley's disability checks had been returned uncashed. Shelley's family explains that they were not in frequent contact with her, a separation that began when she was hospitalized at age 13 after falling into a coma which resulted in mild brain damage. Despite this, her family describes her as being very capable and 'street smart.' She was not on any known medication at the time she went missing.
The delayed reporting of her disappearance presented significant challenges for the investigation from the outset, with a year of potential leads lost. Upon learning she was missing, her siblings, Judy and Keith, launched their own search efforts, creating t-shirts, putting up posters, and searching the area around Cobalt's historic silver mines. Her sister has expressed a belief that the official investigation may have been hampered by Shelley's Indigenous background and her disability. The family continues to feel the pain of her absence, with her sister remarking on the heartbreak of her disappearance. The case of Shelley May Anderson is a somber and unresolved story, highlighting the particular vulnerabilities faced by some individuals. The investigation was initiated under difficult circumstances due to the significant time lapse between her last known sighting and the official missing person report. Despite the passage of time, she remains a missing person, and her family continues to seek answers.Last Seen: Sep 15, 2009
