On a summer evening in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the night of August 28, 1981, marked the last time 31-year-old Shirley Hyman was ever seen. A mother of three girls who enjoyed dancing, bowling, and singing in the church choir, Shirley was known for her vibrant and outgoing personality. That evening, she was at the Park Avenue Cafe, a familiar spot near 22nd Street and Hunting Park Avenue where she often played pool. Earlier in the night, she had been in the company of friends and family, but they departed before she did. The last moments anyone recalls seeing Shirley, she was leaving the bar with two men and getting into a blue van. Witnesses noted that she was visibly upset and crying as she left the establishment.
At the time of her disappearance, Shirley Hyman was described as being 5'1' tall and weighing around 160 pounds. She had red or auburn hair that she often wore pinned up in a bun and had brown eyes.
She was last seen wearing a white sweater, blue jeans, and tan slide-on sandals. She also wore sunglasses and a distinctive ring shaped like a wreath. Shirley had several distinguishing physical characteristics, including pierced ears, eight healed scars on her upper torso, and a unique V-shape to her bottom row of teeth. She sometimes went by the names Shirley Hickman or Shirley Hickman-Middleton.
The circumstances leading up to and following Shirley's disappearance remain shrouded in uncertainty. In the days before she vanished, she had been emotional, crying while packing a bag for her daughter whose 12th birthday they had just celebrated. After she was seen leaving the bar, she was never heard from again. The two men she was last seen with were questioned by the Philadelphia Police Department, but they claimed to have dropped her off safely and provided no further information about her whereabouts. In the decades since that night, her family has been left without answers, holding on to the memory of a loving mother. The investigation into Shirley Hyman's disappearance has yielded no significant leads, and her case has grown cold, a painful and unresolved mystery for her loved ones and community.Last Seen: Aug 28, 1981
