[July 06, 2009] Agony reshapes the life of Renee Pernice's family Tweet Jul 06, 2009 (The Kansas City Star - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Rick Pretz was driving to work a couple of weeks ago when he snapped, taking out his frustrations on his GMC pickup. It was the kind of unpredictable emotional outburst that has overtaken Pretz without warning since his daughter, Renee M. Pernice, disappeared six months ago. "Losing Renee, not having her body for closure and not having anyone arrested for her murder," he said. "I started yelling as loud as I could and began beating on the steering wheel." No one has seen or heard from Renee, a 35-year-old nurse and mother of two sons and a stepdaughter, since the first days of the year. Clay County Prosecutor Daniel White has said there is substantial evidence she is dead. Investigators have said her husband, Shon Pernice, was the last person known to have seen her. No arrests have been made, and no criminal charges have been filed. The questions surrounding Renee's disappearance have consumed the lives of Pretz and his family. "She had everything to live for," Pretz said. "Someone killed her and hid her body, and we cannot find her." The family held a private remembrance ceremony on April 26, just before Renee's birthday. In May, about 40 volunteers searched through a wooded area in the Northeast area of Kansas City but came up with nothing new. Family members pooled their money to offer a $25,000 reward for information about her disappearance. They show up at public gatherings and court hearings dressed in "Team Renee" T-shirts to keep her image in public view. The family started a trust fund for her children, created a scholarship for nursing students and sold "Justice for Renee" cookbooks and purple bracelets. They even consulted a psychic. "I still feel confident we are going to get justice, and I think we will find Renee," said Linda Lockwood, her mother. Since her daughter's disappearance, Lockwood has had trouble sleeping. When she finally dozes off, nightmares wake her, she said. "Renee is always the last thing on my mind when I go to bed, and she is the first thing I think about when I wake up," Lockwood said, choking back tears. Renee, who had begun divorce proceedings when she vanished, had not said anything to family members indicating she thought she was in any kind of danger. She and her children saw her family on Christmas Eve. On New Year's Day, Pretz called Renee to check on her. Then, on Jan. 3, older sister Lisa Mooney noticed she had missed several phone calls from Renee's cell phone. Mooney called back but could not reach Renee. She said she called Renee's house and was startled when Shon Pernice answered the phone. Family members said Renee had told them that Shon was leaving for a two-week National Guard training session and was to move out of the house when he returned. Mooney said Shon Pernice told her that Renee had been gone for some time. "Our lives will never be the same," Mooney recalled saying after hanging up. Police found Renee's cell phone Jan. 3 near Sixth Street and Gladstone Avenue in the Northeast area. They also obtained surveillance video of a truck driving in the area of Gladstone Boulevard between St. John Avenue and Seventh or Eighth Street the morning of Jan. 2. Weeks after Renee's disappearance, police got a search warrant for her house. The affidavit for the search warrant said Shon Pernice had made inconsistent statements about his wife's disappearance. He told his wife's relatives that he last saw her on New Year's Day, according to the affidavit. But days later, he told detectives he last saw her Jan. 2. Shon Pernice has not made any public comment about his wife's disappearance. His attorneys also declined to comment. Earlier this year, he was charged with felony theft for allegedly stealing a neighbor's handgun on Jan. 31. Authorities said the gun charge was not related to the disappearance. Because of the gun charge, Shon Pernice has been placed on leave from the Independence Fire Department, where he worked as a paramedic, said his attorney, Eric Vernon. Pretz and Lockwood, along with their spouses, get to see Renee's sons every Thursday through monitored visits. Lockwood is seeking guardianship of the two boys. Family members never know when emotions will bubble to the surface, Mooney said. "You could be in the middle of something and it hits you," she said. "You think about the things that Renee will never be able to enjoy." ------ Shon Pernice arrested Kansas City police arrested Shon Pernice for disturbing the peace after he allegedly stood in front of a neighbor's house at 12:10 a.m. Sunday and yelled at him. He was released from jail on a $100 bond Sunday afternoon after police wrote him a city ordinance violation. The man who signed the complaint, Julian Mendez, accused Pernice earlier this year of stealing a gun from his basement. Pernice is awaiting trial on felony stealing charges in that case. Pernice said he called 911 early Sunday after Mendez assaulted him, but police said Mendez phoned for help late Saturday night. Pernice said he was driving home after lighting sparklers and smoke bombs with his children down the street when Mendez tossed into his face a liquid that he called an irritant. "I was blinded," he said. "I immediately pulled over." Mendez said he didn't throw anything at Pernice and only went into the street to watch over his own son, who was picking something up. Pernice called 911 three times and officers showed up, but he said they told him to walk a few houses down to his own home because they thought he was too drunk to drive. Pernice said that although he'd had some beer earlier, he smelled of alcohol because of what was thrown on him. Police spokesman Capt. Rich Lockhart said Pernice sounded intoxicated and belligerent in the first call, during which he claimed to have been pepper-sprayed. Pernice's mother went to retrieve the van and kids. When she didn't return, Pernice said, he walked back down to see what was delaying her. He said that's when he and the neighbor yelled at each other. "I told him 'You're going to go to jail for this!' " Pernice said. Lockhart said the neighbor called police at 11:14 p.m. about someone who was screaming and possibly drunk in the street. Pernice went back home, called 911 a fourth time and told dispatchers angrily that he was going to file a complaint with the internal affairs unit. A short time later, police showed up and arrested him for disturbing the peace. Lockhart said officers followed protocol. "We can tell from the officers' actions they thought Shon was the primary aggressor," Lockhart said. Pernice said his two children witnessed the alleged assault and were frightened by it. To reach Glenn E. Rice, call 816-234-4341 or send e-mail to [email protected]. -- Christine Vendel, [email protected] To see more of The Kansas City Star, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.kansascity.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Kansas City Star, Mo. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. 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