Case Details
- Photo URLs:
-
- Missing Since:
- Missing Since 01/14/2001
- Missing From:
- Missing From Austin, Texas
- Classification:
- Classification Endangered Missing
- Gender:
- Female
- Race:
- Race White
- Date of Birth:
- Date of Birth 10/04/1940 (84)
- Age:
- Age 60 years old
- Height and Weight:
- Height and Weight 5’2, 130 pounds
- Clothing/Jewelry Description:
- Clothing/Jewelry Description A shirt, pants, and a white gold wedding ring with one large diamond surrounded by several smaller diamonds.
- Distinguishing Characteristics:
- Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Blonde hair, green eyes. Cowan has a surgical scar as the result of a gallbladder operation. She may use the name Shirley Allen Cowan.
- Details of Disappearance:
- On January 14, 2001, a woman named Cowan disappeared from her home under construction in Austin, Texas. Police found blood at the house, suggesting something bad happened.
Four and a half years later, her son-in-law, Thomas Negri, who was also her business partner, was arrested and charged with her murder. He’d been a suspect from the start. Before his arrest, he claimed she owed him money and ran away, but he was found guilty.
Negri was convicted in July 2007 and sentenced to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Cowan was reportedly depressed at the time of her disappearance because of family deaths and was planning to retire to her new Austin home. The blood and other evidence led investigators to believe she was murdered.
- Agency:
- Llano Sheriff Office 325-247-5767
- Source Links:
This person was missing Missing Since 01/14/2001