Mom of Three Vanishes Without a Trace

Jan. 8, 2009 — -- The husband of a Missouri mother of three who has been missing for nearly a week is being uncooperative with police about his wife's disappearance, Kansas City authorities told ABCNews.com.

Renee Pernice, 35, was last seen by her husband, Shon Pernice, 37, on the morning of Jan. 2, when Pernice said his wife left and never returned.

Pernice has told police that he "doesn't remember" where she said she was going.

"[Pernice] retained an attorney almost immediately and will not talk to us except for through his attorney," said Kansas City Police Capt. Rich Lockhart.

No formal charges have been filed in the case, added Lockhart, and no arrests have been made. Police have been searching for woman using dogs and helicopters and dozens of volunteers are helping.

Messages left for Pernice's lawyer, Kevin Baldwin, were not immediately returned.

But Baldwin told the Kansas City Star newspaper that he has told Pernice not to comment to the media about his wife's disappearance or agree to an interview with police because he believes that his client is "being blamed for her disappearance."

"He misses her; he wants her back even if she chooses not to be with him; she needs to be there for the kids," Baldwin told the paper.

Police said that Pernice has not allowed authorities to speak to any of the three children – ages 11, 8 and 6 – or search the couple's home.

"There is obviously concern for [Renee's] well-being," said Lockhart.

"This is a woman who has no criminal history she is a very loving mother who would not abandon her children," said Lockhart. "She talks to her family regularly and she has not talked to her family since Thursday night and has not seen her children."

"This is totally out of character for her," he said of Renee, who is a teaching nurse at a local hospital.

According to a statement given to police by Pernice and his attorney, Pernice's wife left their middle-class home in Kansas City on foot between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Jan. 2.

Lockhart said that besides the time frame in which Pernice said his wife left their home the husband has "not given authorities a lot of details surrounding her disappearance."

It was Renee's father, Rick Pretz, who first reported his daughter missing on the morning of Saturday, Jan. 3. Pretz said that he last spoke to his daughter the evening of Jan. 1.

Renee's mother, Linda Lockwood, told ABCNews.com that the past few days have been "heartbreaking."

"It's been a very emotional time for us because we know that our daughter would not just leave her children and just take off on her own," said Lockwood, who last spoke to Renee on Dec. 27.

Lockwood said that her daughter had sounded "well" during their conversation.

"She has always been just a wonderful child," said Lockwood. "We just want her back."

Renee's cell phone was found 15 miles from her home on Sunday by a vagrant, said Lockhart, who has since been combing the area for additional clues. Lockhart declined to specify what, if any, information was garnered from the cell phone.

"We haven't been able to find any connection that Renee has to the area of town [where her phone was found]," said Lockhart.

ABCNews.com was unable to reach Renee's family for comment – Lockhart said that they had been out searching for their daughter alongside authorities – but Pretz told the Kansas City Star newspaper that he was concerned for his daughter's safety.

"We fear something bad has happened. It is unbelievable to feel she walked off and left her children," Pretz told the paper.

Pernice had recently returned from a tour in Iraq where he served as a medic, according to police. In a July interview with a local TV news station he had discussed how July 4th fireworks had rattled him.

"Over there it was very probable that that could happen to you, that you may be blown up and killed especially just driving around Iraq in a convoy situation," Pernice said in the interview with Fox4. "There's people that hate us very much over there."

According to police, Lockhart said that Renee had filed for divorce in 2005 from Pernice but had reconciled in January 2007.

Pernice has been working as a firefighter in a nearby suburb since his return from Iraq.