Shirley Theresa Moon-Atwood was 35 years old when she was last known to have contact in Canaan, Maine, where NamUs lists her date of last contact as July 20, 2006. She was a White woman with brown hair and green eyes, about 5 feet 2 inches tall and 104 pounds, and she was also known by the nickname Shirley Moon. Her listed identifying features include a missing right ring finger and a heart-with-leaves tattoo on her right shoulder.
At the time, Shirley’s life was tied closely to the rural Hartland Road area of Canaan, a place that would soon become the center of two deeply painful investigations.
According to Maine State Police, during the summer of 2006 Shirley Moon-Atwood was living with her husband, Shannon Atwood, at 534 Hartland Road in Canaan. That same summer, police began investigating the disappearance of Cheryl Murdoch, who had recently moved in with Shannon Atwood at the same address. Shirley’s disappearance came into focus as investigators were already trying to determine what had happened to Cheryl. The circumstances were troubling from the beginning because people who knew Shirley expected her to be around the home, and her absence raised concern among neighbors and family members.
In August 2006, Cheryl Murdoch’s body was found in Canaan, and the investigation into her death led authorities back to Shannon Atwood. Maine State Police have stated that Cheryl’s body was located in the woods in Canaan, near the Hartland Road residence connected to Shannon and Shirley Atwood. As the homicide investigation unfolded, police continued searching for Shirley, but she was not found. Her case became inseparable from the broader investigation because Cheryl’s death and Shirley’s disappearance were both connected by location, timing, and Shannon Atwood.
Shannon Atwood was charged in the deaths of both Cheryl Murdoch and Shirley Moon-Atwood, even though Shirley’s body had not been located. Before trial, however, the murder charge involving Shirley was dismissed without prejudice, meaning it could potentially be brought again if prosecutors believed the evidence supported doing so. Shannon Atwood was later convicted of murdering Cheryl Murdoch and began serving a 55-year sentence in 2009. His conviction was upheld on appeal, and he later died while in custody in Maine.
Shirley has never been located, and her remains have not been recovered. Her case remains one of uncertainty for those who loved her and for the investigators who continued trying to determine what happened after the summer of 2006. The publicly available record shows a woman last connected to Canaan, Maine, a missing-person investigation that grew out of another woman’s disappearance and homicide, a husband convicted in Cheryl Murdoch’s murder, and a dismissed but unresolved murder charge tied to Shirley. In overview, Shirley Theresa Moon-Atwood’s case is the story of a 35-year-old woman who vanished from Canaan in July 2006, whose disappearance was uncovered amid the investigation into Cheryl Murdoch’s death, and whose whereabouts remain unknown despite years of investigation by Maine authorities.Last Seen: Jul 20, 2006
