The Disappearance of Shelia Hughes

Name: Shelia Diane Hughes
Nickname: Boot
Age: 29 years old
Last Seen: September 2, 2000
Location: Pickensville, Alabama
Status: Still missing

Case Information

29 year old Shelia Hughes was last seen in Pickensville, Alabama on September 2, 2000. She was nine months pregnant at the time of her disappearance.

Disappearance

At approximately 10:30 pm on September 1, 2000, Shelia Hughes left her home in Alcieville, Alabama that she shared with her sister and nieces.

Shelia’s boyfriend and the father of her unborn child, Renard Simmons, stopped by the house and asked her to go for a ride with him. Shelia told her sister she was leaving with him and didn’t plan to be gone long.

“Her last words to me were ‘If you don’t ever see me again, don’t worry about me because I have lived my life to the fullest,'” Shelia’s sister Debra Hughes said.

Shelia was nine months pregnant at the time, with a boy she planned to name Renard Simmons Jr. It was her due date, but she wasn’t showing any signs of going into labor yet.

At 1:00 am on September 2, 2000, the police stopped Renard’s car in Pickensville, Alabama. Shelia was in the car at the time, and this is the last confirmed sighting of her.

Renard later told authorities he had dropped Shelia back off at home around 3:00 am. Her sister disputes this, saying she never came back into the house.

Investigation

Shortly after Shelia’s disappearance, her brown purse and white slippers were found in Noxubee County, Mississippi, just west of the Alabama state line. An extensive search of the area turned up no further clues as to her whereabouts.

Shelia was declared legally dead in 2008.

On November 5, 2013, Renard Simmons died. He was never charged in connection with Shelia’s disappearance, though he remains a person of interest.

“The evidence was never clear enough to charge anyone and until the evidence shows what happened and who did it, even if that person is deceased, it won’t be closed,” Pickens County District Attorney Chris McCool said.

Appearance

Black female with brown hair and brown eyes. Sheila stands 5’3-5’5 tall and weighs 140-150 pounds.

Her ears are pierced and she has a scar on her left arm and lower lip.

Clothing & Accessories:
Shelia was last seen wearing a grey shirt, white maternity shorts, white slippers, and a brown purse.

Investigating Agency

If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Shelia Hughes please contact the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office at (205) 367-2000.

Agency case number 00-0902468

Resources & Further Information

Shelia Diane Hughes – NamUs
Shelia Diane Hughes – The Charley Project