Police investigating the mysterious disappearance of a disloyal army veteran who went unreported missing for nine months now believe he was murdered.
Shannon Collins, 52, went missing in March 2021 after returning with his wife and 24-year-old son in Pottsville, Arkansas, from a trip to visit his lover in Tennessee, DailyMail.com can reveal.
His family is now refusing to cooperate with authorities investigating his disappearance, after his wife Tresa told them the man walked away from the house after an argument.
“We’ve been working on it a lot and we’re looking into whether it’s possible he didn’t just walk away,” said Lt. Dain Yarbrough of the Pope County Sheriff’s Office.
“We are definitely looking at the foul play aspect.”
Police investigating the disappearance of a veteran in Arkansas say foul play was the result of his death as his family believe his wife may have hurt him in a jealous rage, DailyMail.com can reveal. (Pictured: Shannon and his wife Tresa Collins)
Shannon’s case is kept alive by his younger brother, Blake, who is convinced he will never see him again.
“My brother is not missing. My brother is dead,” Blake, 45, bluntly told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview.
‘Two people, who allegedly last saw Shannon leave her home, tell police two completely different stories about how she left.
“Why are they lying? Why are they hiding it? At this point, my family and I have come to our own conclusions about what happened to Shannon.”
Police confirmed Shannon returned home to Pottsville on March 11, 2021.
Tresa, 53, did not report her disappearance to police and did not tell her extended family that she had not returned home for more than a month.
Shannon’s brother, Blake He told DailyMail.com that he was the one who filed a report with police when he returned to Arkansas after living out of state, nine months after Shannon was last seen.
Shannon Collins, 52, went missing in March 2021 after returning home to Pottsville, Arkansas, from an out-of-state trip.
Tresa reportedly told authorities in her only interview that she and Shannon had an argument when he returned, but went to bed “as usual” the night before he disappeared.
Shannon with her son Josh, his wife Tresa and her stepdaughter Brittany
Tresa initially claimed he had “abandoned the family” after an argument and was texting her, their son and Brittany, 33, his daughter from a previous relationship, from a new number.
However, when Shannon did not respond to messages from his parents or two brothers, they began to worry, despite his wife’s claims that he was in contact with her.
Blake said that once he involved police in his brother’s disappearance, Tresa and her children never spoke to their family again.
She confirmed that Shannon had been having an affair with a woman in Tennessee and that Blake believes Shannon and Tresa had a dispute when she returned from her lover.
Blake told DailyMail.com that the marriage had “been over for some time” before Shannon disappeared, and his brother had described his wife as “jealous” several times during their relationship.
“He was going to divorce her as soon as his son graduated from college,” she said. “She knew exactly where he was and that he was involved with another woman.”
“Then she stayed home all week, and I think he came home and she confronted him.”
Blake added that his brother’s lover had spoken to police. He does not know the woman’s identity and has urged her to contact the family directly if she has any information.
The FBI is now assisting in the three-year investigation into the veteran’s disappearance, and the Sheriff’s Office wants anyone with information to come forward.
“My family and I have come to our own conclusions about what happened to Shannon,” her younger brother Blake told DailyMail.com.
Shannon, who served as a soldier in the U.S. Army National Guard, accepted a delivery job after being medically discharged from the Army with the rank of Master Sergeant SGM after 24 years of service.
He also claims the last message Shannon’s phone sent was a Facebook message to the anonymous woman, saying “I’m fine,” though he doesn’t believe his brother wrote it.
Blake, who lives in Texas, is asking anyone with information to come forward and believes Shannon was murdered the night he disappeared.
My brother is not missing. My brother is dead.
Speaking to DailyMail.com, he said: ‘You don’t immediately assume that your brother’s wife and family might have done something horrible to him and are trying to keep their actions hidden.
‘We have done everything in our power to assist and cooperate with the police investigating Shannon’s case.
“The same cannot be said for Shannon’s closest family members. The people who are supposed to be closest to Shannon know the truth about what happened, but they chose not to speak out and are unwilling to help.”
Tresa reportedly told authorities in her only interview that she and Shannon had an argument when he returned, but went to sleep “as usual” the night before he disappeared.
She claims he simply “walked away” from the house, adding that he was taking painkillers and may not have been thinking clearly.
Blake Collins was the one who reported his brother missing, nine months after his disappearance
Shannon had been in Tennessee with her lover before returning to her family in Arkansas.
Shannon poses for a photo shoot in the woods with her wife Tresa, son Josh and stepdaughter Brittany.
Detectives confirmed that witness statements and cell site evidence confirmed that both Tresa and her son were home when Shannon returned from her trip.
Shannon’s stepdaughter, Brittany, later told police she saw him get into a vehicle with an unknown driver, contradicting her mother’s earlier statement.
During her interview, Tresa also said she believed Shannon had “checked herself into a mental facility” but that she would let them know she was okay.
Blake said Tresa did nothing to stop her husband’s U.S. Army pension payments after he disappeared, and that they only stopped after he reported his brother missing.
Police say there were “inconsistencies” in her testimony and served a search warrant at the home she shared with Shannon. Tresa later refused to speak to authorities without an attorney.
She is currently represented by attorney Michael Robbins, who successfully defended Kevin Jones after he was accused of murdering his girlfriend, beauty queen Nona Dirksmeyer, in the “Murder in Apartment 12” case.
Robbins did not respond to DailyMail.com’s requests for comment.
Lt. Yarbrough told DailyMail.com that the FBI had been called in to assist in the three-year investigation.
“We continue to look for any angle that will help us expand what we already have, we will accept any help we can get,” he said.
Yarbrough added that while he didn’t want to say definitively that Shannon was dead, that is his working theory on the investigation.
In a statement, the sheriff’s department confirmed that Shannon’s wife and son told deputies that he “walked away” from the home on March 12.
“During the initial and only interview in which the wife participated, she made false and misleading statements to investigators,” they added.
‘Investigators attempted to obtain follow-up information from Shannon’s wife and children, but were informed that they had obtained an attorney and did not wish to speak further with investigators.
“Since then, no information has come forward to help move the investigation forward. To date, there has been no lead from the public, family or friends to suggest to investigators that Shannon is living elsewhere or has even left the Pottsville area.”
Shannon, who served as a soldier in the U.S. Army National Guard, accepted a delivery job after being medically discharged from the Army with the rank of Master Sergeant SGM after 24 years of service.
He was supposed to make a delivery the day he disappeared, but he never showed up for work, which his family said was uncharacteristic of the veteran.
The family met with Pope County District Attorney Jeff Phillips this month to discuss progress in the case but were told they felt there was not enough evidence to file charges.
Shannon’s family is hopeful that the renewed interest in the case will help bring more information to light and lead to charges in her case.
“Our family is strong and we have faith,” Blake said. “Faith in God and that the police and the legal system will see reason and do the right thing so Shannon has justice and my family has peace.”