More than five years after she vanished from Cleveland's Collinwood neighborhood, Donna Blackshaw is still missing, and police are renewing their public appeal for help finding her. She was 55 years old when she disappeared in March 2021, and investigators now believe she may have traveled to Detroit, Michigan.
Blackshaw was reported missing from the 15200 block of Plato Avenue on March 30, 2021, according to Cleveland 19 News, which reports that the Cleveland Division of Police Fifth District has asked residents of both Cleveland and Detroit to help bring her home. Officially, her full name is Donna Lorraine Blackshaw, and the City of Cleveland lists her case under police number 2021-00259414, tied to her April 2, 1965 birth date.
The station's report describes Blackshaw as a 55-year-old woman at the time of her disappearance, standing 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighing 185 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. The Charley Project also has a profile on her case, noting that she has pierced ears.
Why No Statewide Alert Was Issued
Unlike some recent Cleveland missing-adult cases, Blackshaw's disappearance never triggered a statewide Endangered Missing Adult Alert. Under Ohio Revised Code Section 5502.522, those alerts are reserved for adults who are 65 or older, or who live with a mental impairment and face an immediate threat of harm or death. Because Blackshaw had no reported cognitive impairment when she went missing, her case has relied instead on standard police reporting and the Fifth District's own public appeals.
The Fifth District, which has asked for help locating Blackshaw, continues to manage the case as open. Per the same account, Blackshaw's family continues to seek answers about what happened to her, even as the years pass without resolution.
A Case Within a Statewide Pattern
Blackshaw's long-unsolved disappearance sits against a backdrop of tens of thousands of missing person reports filed across Ohio each year. The Ohio Attorney General's annual report, released in May 2026, recorded 19,930 missing person reports statewide in 2025, a drop of more than 1,400 cases from the year before. A separate report from the Ohio Missing Persons Working Group, issued in May 2025 and distributed via GovDelivery, documented 21,342 total missing person reports across the state in 2024, part of an effort by the working group to improve how law enforcement responds to long-term missing cases.
In general, the National Crime Information Center database allows law enforcement agencies to access case information.
How to Report a Tip
Anyone with information about Donna Blackshaw's whereabouts is asked to contact Detective Harris, badge number 958, at 216-327-7158. Tips can also be submitted through the Cleveland Division of Police non-emergency line at 216-621-1234. FOX 8 has featured a missing teenager's case with Amanda Berry.
