Key facts
- Name: Michele Mae Julson (“Shelly”)
- Born: March 18, 1968
- Age at disappearance: 26
- Last seen: August 2, 1994, shortly after noon
- Location: Bismarck, North Dakota
- Height / build: 5’6″, 155 lbs, brown hair (sometimes dyed auburn or blonde), blue eyes; small heart-with-drop-of-blood tattoo on left shoulder
- Status: Still missing — Bismarck PD case #94-11336; case reopened 2016
- Investigating agency: Bismarck Police Department
The errands
Shortly after noon on August 2, 1994, 26-year-old Michele Julson — Shelly to everyone who knew her — dropped her 3-year-old son off at his paternal grandparents’ home in Bismarck, North Dakota. She was going to pick up her paycheck and run a few errands. Maybe play some bingo. She’d be back in a few hours.
She never picked up the check. She never came back. She has never been heard from again.
The next day, Richard and Kevin Woodworth reported her missing. Officer Rob Carvell responded to the call. Six days later, Shelly’s car was found at the Comfort Inn in north Bismarck. That was the last physical trace.
She was last seen wearing a dark shirt and blue jeans.
Who Shelly was
Shelly Julson lived in the orbit of Bismarck’s bingo halls, bowling alleys, and bars — a young mother with a 3-year-old boy, working, getting by. Her parents, Wes and Linda Julson, would spend the next three decades refusing to let her case die.
The Dakota Spotlight investigation into her disappearance — Season 7, “Call Me Shelly” — found that the weeks before she vanished were shadowed: disturbing reports that Shelly was being harassed and followed, vandalism, and two unidentified men she had met just days earlier. There was also a forty-year-old man Shelly had planned to go camping with.
And then there is the file — or the absence of it. Key portions of Shelly’s original police file are missing. Gone. The podcast that dug into her case asked the obvious question: what did investigators overlook, and why are parts of the record simply not there?
Officer Cliff Emmert, who worked the case, searched Shelly’s world — the bingo halls, the bowling alleys, the bars — for answers. Retired officer Rob Carvell, who took the original missing-person call on August 3, 1994, reopened the case in 2016. It is still open.
The film
In September 2026, Shelly’s story reached theaters. Dakota Spotlight: Call Me Shelly, a documentary film from James Wolner and Derek Fletcher based on Season 7 of the podcast, opened in Midwest theaters — Bismarck’s Dakota Stage on September 11, then Jamestown, Aberdeen, Fargo, Carrington, and Madison, Wisconsin, with live Q&As after select screenings. The film was nominated for two Upper Midwest Emmy Awards, following the filmmakers’ earlier Emmy-winning documentary The House on Sweet and Seventh.
Thirty-two years after a young mother told her family she was going to pick up her paycheck, her son — now in his mid-thirties — and her parents were watching her story on a screen, still waiting for the ending.
Theories: what might have happened
Foul play by someone in her orbit. The harassment, the vandalism, the two unidentified men met days before, the older man and the camping plan — Shelly’s last weeks contain multiple threads, any of which could be the one that matters. The missing portions of the police file make it impossible to know which threads were ever pulled. This is the theory the evidence leans toward, and the one the family has lived with.
Abduction by a stranger. Her car was found at a motel six days later — a detail that raises more questions than it answers. Was it driven there? Left there? By whom? No forensic findings from the car have been made public.
Voluntary disappearance. A 26-year-old mother who adored her 3-year-old son does not abandon him to run errands and never return, never pick up her paycheck, never call. Nothing in Shelly’s life supports it.
Have information?
Contact the Bismarck Police Department at 1-701-223-1212 (case #94-11336). In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- March 18, 1968 — Michele Mae Julson is born.
- 1991 — Her son is born.
- July 1994 — Reports of harassment and vandalism; two unidentified men enter her life; camping plans with an older man.
- August 2, 1994, shortly after noon — Drops her 3-year-old son at his paternal grandparents’ in Bismarck; leaves to pick up her paycheck and run errands. Never seen again.
- August 3, 1994 — Reported missing; Officer Rob Carvell responds. (Dakota Spotlight’s “Call Me Shelly” places the initial call on August 2, 1994; Charley Project and Bismarck PD records give August 3.)
- August 8, 1994 — Her car is found at the Comfort Inn in north Bismarck.
- 2016 — Carvell reopens the case.
- 2022 — Dakota Spotlight Season 7, “Call Me Shelly,” investigates; finds key portions of the police file missing.
- September 2026 — Dakota Spotlight: Call Me Shelly documentary opens in Midwest theaters; nominated for two Upper Midwest Emmy Awards.
- Today — Still missing.
FAQ
Is Michele Julson still missing?
Yes. Michele “Shelly” Julson has been missing since August 2, 1994 — more than 32 years. The Bismarck Police Department’s case (#94-11336) remains open.
What happened to Michele Julson?
Nobody knows. She vanished after dropping her young son off to run errands. Investigators found she had been harassed and followed in the weeks before, and key portions of her original police file are missing — a fact uncovered by the Dakota Spotlight investigation.
Was Michele Julson’s car ever found?
Yes — six days after she disappeared, her car was located at the Comfort Inn in north Bismarck. No public findings from the vehicle have ever explained what happened to her.
What is the Call Me Shelly film?
A 2026 documentary by James Wolner and Derek Fletcher, based on Dakota Spotlight Season 7, examining Shelly’s disappearance and its impact. It opened in Midwest theaters in September 2026 and was nominated for two Upper Midwest Emmy Awards.
How old would Michele Julson be today?
Shelly was born March 18, 1968 — she turned 58 in March 2026.
How can I help?
Share this case file. Anyone with information — especially about the two unidentified men she met in late July 1994 — should contact the Bismarck Police Department at 1-701-223-1212.
Sources
- Official / law enforcement: Bismarck Police Department (case #94-11336; 1-701-223-1212); 411GINA.org missing-person flyer.
- News: Forum Communications / InForum coverage; KX News.
- Reference: Dakota Spotlight — “Michele Julson Disappearance – Call Me Shelly” (dakotaspotlight.com); Bismarck PD report via Scribd (inforumdocs).
- Media: Dakota Spotlight, Season 7 — “Call Me Shelly” (podcast, 2022); Dakota Spotlight: Call Me Shelly (documentary film, Sept 2026).
Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 2026.