Overview

Official last-seen date: May 4, 1969
Official location: Long Beach, Los Angeles County, California
Age: 47
Classification: Endangered Missing / Missing Person
NamUs: MP7394

Shirley Elizabeth Frew was officially reported missing from Long Beach, although family-related information indicates she may have communicated with relatives as late as 1970 or 1971. She used several surnames, had distinctive scars and full dentures, and later records indicate that fingerprints and DNA are available for comparison. Her case was questioned and temporarily removed from the Doe Network, re-added in 2017, updated there again in 2024, and remains publicly active. A possible match to an unidentified Maryland woman was investigated and reportedly excluded by FBI fingerprint comparison in September 2023.

Detailed Case Breakdown

Shirley Elizabeth Frew Disappearance: The 1969 Long Beach, California Missing Person Case

Shirley Elizabeth Frew Remains Missing More Than Five Decades Later

Shirley Elizabeth Frew was 47 years old when she was officially recorded as missing from Long Beach, California, on May 4, 1969. More than five decades later, her disappearance remains unresolved, and she continues to be listed as a missing person by the California Department of Justice.

Born December 18, 1921, Shirley was a white woman with blue eyes and brown or graying brown hair. Records differ somewhat on her height and weight. California authorities list her as approximately 5 feet 2 inches tall and 105 pounds, while the Doe Network information reproduced in later case discussions gives a height of approximately 4 feet 11 inches and a weight between 110 and 120 pounds.

Distinguishing Features and Names Used by Shirley

Shirley had several physical characteristics that could be important in identifying her. California’s missing-person record lists a large scar on her chin, an abdominal scar and a scar on her left leg below the knee. She also wore full upper and lower dentures. Other case information attributes the prominent leg scar to injuries sustained in a 1945 automobile and train accident.

Records associate Shirley with several surnames and aliases, including Shirley Elizabeth Stevens, Shirley Elizabeth Hanson, Shirley Elizabeth Thielke and Shirley Tomac. The Doe Network information also lists variations including Hansen/Hanson. Because historical records were created under different names, these aliases remain potentially important when searching old police, hospital, marriage, employment and death records.

The Uncertainty Surrounding When Shirley Actually Disappeared

One of the biggest complications in Shirley Frew’s case is that the official missing date does not necessarily represent the last time her family heard from her.

The California Department of Justice currently lists May 4, 1969, in Long Beach, California, as Shirley’s date and location last seen. NamUs case MP7394 and several databases use the same date.

However, information attributed to NamUs and family accounts indicates that Shirley may have communicated with relatives sometime in 1970 or 1971. One account states that she telephoned her mother in Seattle, reportedly saying that she believed she had cirrhosis of the liver and needed money. Her precise location during that call is not publicly established.

Family-related discussion has also described a conversation in which Shirley reportedly talked about traveling with a new boyfriend to another state. These details are potentially valuable clues, but they are based primarily on family recollections and community case research rather than a publicly released investigative report.

Why Different Records Give Different Dates

The history of Shirley’s case helps explain some of the conflicting information.

The Doe Network once listed Shirley Elizabeth Stevens as having disappeared from Long Beach on November 1, 1970. The organization subsequently closed the case in 2009 after questions were raised regarding the validity of the original missing-person report. Its historical closure page states that law enforcement at the time questioned whether anyone named Shirley Elizabeth Stevens had actually been reported missing from the area.

That was not the end of the case.

On August 12, 2017, the Doe Network announced that Shirley Elizabeth Frew, case 3003DFCA, had been re-added as a missing person based on NamUs information, this time using a missing date in 1969.

The Doe Network recorded another update to Shirley’s case on February 24, 2024. The publicly searchable update log confirms that her case information was updated, although the brief archive entry does not specify everything that was changed.

DNA, Fingerprints and the Search Among Unidentified Remains

Later Doe Network information lists fingerprints and DNA as available for Shirley, while dental records themselves are described as unavailable. California authorities note that she had complete upper and lower dentures and that dental X-rays were unavailable.

A person identifying herself publicly as Shirley’s granddaughter stated in 2025 that a detective in Redmond, Washington, collected her DNA in approximately October or November 2006 after she filed a missing-person report. She explained that her goal was to have a family DNA sample available in case unidentified remains were eventually compared with Shirley’s family. This is a family account posted publicly and should not be interpreted as an official laboratory status report.

A Possible Maryland Jane Doe Match Was Investigated and Excluded

One significant recent development involved an unidentified woman associated with Howard County, Maryland.

Online researchers noticed physical similarities between Shirley and the unidentified woman and submitted the possible match to authorities. According to a 2023 Websleuths discussion quoting correspondence from the Howard County Major Crimes Bureau, authorities requested that the FBI compare available fingerprints through NamUs.

On September 11, 2023, the same researcher reported receiving confirmation from Howard County that the FBI had issued an exclusion in NamUs. The Maryland woman was therefore not Shirley Frew. Although the exchange is preserved through a public community forum rather than an independently published police press release, it documents a concrete investigative comparison and reported exclusion.

Eliminating an unidentified person may not solve a disappearance, but exclusions are important. Each verified comparison removes one possibility and allows investigators and family researchers to focus elsewhere.

Shirley’s Family Renewed the Search

In June and July 2025, a Websleuths participant identifying herself as Shirley’s granddaughter said she was renewing her search for her grandmother after discovering that Shirley had been restored to missing-person databases years earlier.

She reported contacting the Long Beach Police Department, searching records across the country and investigating whether Shirley might have had additional marriages or relationships under names unknown to the family. She also said that Shirley’s daughter remembered her mother having a new boyfriend and possibly intending to travel to another state.

The granddaughter also described earlier frustration surrounding the case, including a previous investigator’s doubts about the original missing-person report. These family statements help explain why Shirley’s case history contains unusual closures, reinstatements and conflicting dates, but they should be distinguished from confirmed findings released by law enforcement.

Current Status of the Shirley Elizabeth Frew Case

As of August 29, 2026, Shirley Elizabeth Frew remains publicly listed as missing by the California Department of Justice. The state’s current listing identifies the Long Beach Police Department as the reporting agency and provides case number 120026696.

Crime Solvers Central also continues to list Shirley as missing. Its case page, updated August 10, 2026, says her disappearance remains unresolved and lists the Long Beach Police Department as the primary law-enforcement agency. That database additionally records agency case numbers 12-26696 and 06-81186.

No publicly available official announcement located during this review indicates that Shirley has been found or that her disappearance has been solved.

More than half a century after Shirley vanished, the central questions remain unanswered: where did she go after leaving Long Beach, where was she during the reported later communications with her family, who was the boyfriend reportedly accompanying her, and did she continue living under one of the several surnames associated with her?

For Shirley’s surviving family, identifying what happened may ultimately depend on a combination of historical records, fingerprints, DNA comparisons and continued comparisons with unidentified persons throughout the United States.