Arkansas’s cold cases: Mary Jimmie “Bobo” Shinn

Reagan Netherland
·4 min read
Arkansas’s cold cases: Mary Jimmie “Bobo” Shinn

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — On a scorching July afternoon in 1978, Mary Shinn, known affectionately as ‘Bobo’ by everyone in the small town of Magnolia, went to show a home to a stranger.

Mary Jimmie “Bobo” Shinn attended Southern Arkansas University. (COURTESY: The Doe Network)
Mary Jimmie “Bobo” Shinn attended Southern Arkansas University. (COURTESY: The Doe Network)

The next day, Shinn’s blue Buick was discovered parked, unlocked and abandoned in the local grocery store’s parking lot.

She has not been seen for 46 years.

The disappearance

Mary Jimmie “Bobo” Shinn, an art instructor with a studio in town, dabbled in flipping houses for profit in her free time.

Twenty-five-year-old Shinn had recently renovated a house on East McNeil Street and was preparing to sell it. On July 19, 1978, she received a call from an unidentified man interested in viewing the property, NBC reported in 2015.

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Shinn and the man met around 4 p.m. for a showing. During the meeting, the man falsely claimed to own land on Taylor Highway that he wanted to trade for her house.

The next day, July 20, he called Shinn around 11 a.m., saying his car was being repaired at Jordan Brothers Pontiac. She agreed to meet him at the nearby EZ Mart.

(COURTESY: The Doe Network)
(COURTESY: The Doe Network)

A witness at the EZ Mart described the stranger as a white male in his mid-twenties, standing about 5’8″ tall, weighing between 185-200 lbs., with dark curly hair and a distinctive gait.

Shinn picked the man up around noon, marking the last time she was seen.

Shinn’s blue 1976 Buick Special, unlocked with keys in the ignition, was found abandoned at Smitty’s Grocery Store an hour later.

The investigation

Former Columbia County Sheriff Mike Loe, who joined the case 10 months after Shinn vanished, is still looking for answers, according to Magnolia Banner News.

Loe, then 27 years old, had gone to college with Shinn.

“I kind of cut my teeth on that case, and actually, I got too emotionally involved in it,” Loe said. “It taught me a lesson. I never got emotionally involved in another case after that.”

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Shinn’s sophomore yearbook picture from Southern Arkansas University, 1973. (COURTESY: The Doe Network)
Shinn’s sophomore yearbook picture from Southern Arkansas University, 1973. (COURTESY: The Doe Network)

Shinn’s purse was found missing only her address book, while her tennis shoes under the pedals suggested she may have driven barefoot, according to NBC.

Whoever the suspect was, he was meticulous.

Her car, recently washed, had a light dust film and a scratch resembling contact with a small branch. At some point, the suspect lifted on a service station rack to remove debris, grass and seeds from the tire treads and under the belly pan to clean up any remaining evidence.

“They pulled debris from the tire treads and grass and seeds from up under it around the belly pan. They vacuumed the carpet looking for hairs and fibers and whatever they could find. They dusted it inside and out for prints. They really did a great job,” Loe told Magnolia Banner News in late 2023.

The investigation faced several obstacles, such as the lack of DNA evidence technology and false media reports about Shinn’s occupation, with many newspapers and stations mistakenly identifying Shinn as a realtor rather than an art teacher with a real estate hobby.

This led to calls and leads from across the country, as women in real estate had been abducted, raped and murdered nationwide, according to Loe.

Despite Loe’s efforts and Shinn’s family hiring multiple private investigators over the years, no viable explanations for Shinn’s disappearance have been found. Foul play is suspected.

A funeral for Shinn was held at Central Baptist Church in Magnolia in 2014, and both of her parents and her sister have died since her disappearance.

Current Columbia County Sheriff Leroy Martin allows Loe to continue working on the case with support from local deputies.

Loe believes that whoever caused Shinn’s disappearance is still alive and residing in Columbia County.

Do you know where Mary “Bobo” is?

Mary Jimmie “Bobo” Shinn was last seen in Magnolia, Arkansas. Shinn is one of several cases listed on the Arkansas State Police’s cold case list.

Sketch of what Shinn looked like the day of her disappearance. (Courtesy of the <a href="https://www.columbiacountysheriffar.org/missing-persons" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Columbia County Sheriff’s Office;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">Columbia County Sheriff’s Office</a>)
Sketch of what Shinn looked like the day of her disappearance. (Courtesy of the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office)

Physical description (at time of disappearance)

  • Date of Birth: January 11, 1953

  • Age: 25 years old

  • Race: White

  • Gender: Female

  • Height: 5’6″

  • Weight: 120 lbs.

  • Hair Color: Dark Brown/Black

  • Eye Color: Brown

  • Nickname/Alias: Bobo

  • Distinguishing Marks/Features: Scar on left cheek; discoloration on forehead

  • Clothing: Unknown

  • Jewelry: was wearing several pieces of jewelry, including a one-of-a-kind, custom-designed, gold necklace with three diamond pendants

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Click here to go to Shinn’s profile on the Doe Network, a volunteer organization that helps investigating agencies solve cold cases of missing and unidentified persons.

If you have any information that could assist in solving this case, please contact the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office at (870) 234-5331.

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