The Cleaner (Professionals 9)

"On Tuesday, it appears Shelley stayed home all day, working on some tax forms, and cleaning the house. The kids came home, had dinner, and headed out. They said their mother didn't appear to have any plans, but couldn't be sure she stayed home the whole night.

"On Wednesday, Shelley's children recall it being strange to them that their mother wasn't home when they returned from school. In fact, she didn't come home until an hour past their typical dinner hour, seeming flushed and flustered, then quickly ordering in pizza. Her kids all recalled her behavior being a bit odd, but none of them asked her where she'd been.

"One of Shelley's daughters told investigators that she figured maybe her mom had been on a date, but that it hadn't been anything serious, so she didn't want to mention it to her children.

"Investigators are working on trying to figure out who Shelley may have seen that Wednesday night to see if there is any possibility who she was with might shed some light on what may have happened to Shelley.

"On Thursday—the day before Shelley's disappearance—the children all recall it being a hectic day. Shelley had to check on two of her units that had some sort of repairs that needed done, so she'd needed to go to the homes as well as find repairmen. After school, the kids came home only to be shuffled right out to various activities everyone had going on. One daughter had a tutor lesson, the other a piano lesson, and her son had martial arts practice. They got fast food on the way home at well after nine at night, and everyone said they all went off to their separate rooms to do homework, watch TV, and unwind before bed.

"Unfortunately for investigators, none of the children seemed to know their mother's whereabouts, or who she may have come in contact with, on Friday morning. And that's understandable, of course. They would have been at school. And I don't know about you guys, but I don't remember keeping tabs on my mother at that age either. I was usually too wrapped up in doing my own thing.

"Investigators seem to have hit a wall on possible leads.

"Luckily for you, your girl Poppy—as well as many of my fellow true crime content creators—have been hard at work digging as well. We have all figured out that the Saturday night before Shelley's disappearance also happened to be Shelley's twenty-five-year high school graduation. Which Shelley did attend.

"When I reached out to one of the coordinators of the event, she told me she recalled being 'surprised' to see that Shelley came, as she had never been to any of the previous reunions.

"Kind of strange, right? Usually, there are two types of people. Those who think high school reunions are absurd, and you couldn't pay them to go back and talk to those people they never liked in high school anyway, and those who obsessively went to each one, either to re-live their old glory days, or to brag about how great their lives had turned out.

"Objectively, Shelley's life had turned out well. She is a beautiful woman with three wonderful, nearly grown children. She has a thriving, extremely profitable business. She is well-loved and respected. She had plenty of things to brag about, yet had never felt the need to go back to her hometown and do so before.

"My girl Alex over at Alex is on the Case—which you should be streaming if you don't already—is wondering if Shelley decided to go back to this particular reunion because she is single. Perhaps, she has held a torch for someone she knew back in high school. And maybe she was hoping to reconnect, see if there was a spark there.

"As it stands, we have more questions than answers. Alex and I have both reached out to the tip line to give our two cents to investigators.

"There have been no official press meetings with any of Shelley's family. I know to some that seems suspicious, but there has been some research to suggest that when there is too much media attention brought to a case, the victims of abductions have a higher rate of being disposed of because the perpetrator doesn't want that kind of heat on their backs.

"I believe Shelley's ex-husband has called in world-renowned private investigator Grant Brady in an attempt to launch his own investigation. Now, Grant Brady is someone who has handled numerous hostage situations in the past, bringing home dozens of victims that law enforcement could not help. He may be the one calling the shots right now, requesting the family doesn't do news interviews while he looks further into the case.

"Now, I have done some digging into Grant Brady since I found out he was working on Shelley's case. It appears to me that Grant's specialty is really only hostage negotiations. He doesn't appear to do many simple missing persons cases. Which has to leave us to wonder, doesn't it? Does Shelley's family have reason to believe that she is being held for ransom? Her family certainly could afford to pay it. If someone had been watching her for some time, they would uncover how wealthy not only Shelley, but her ex and her parents are. Has someone been in contact? Is the family keeping that from police? Is that why Grant Brady is on the case?