It’s a heartbreaking post — a cry for help from nearly 15,000 miles away.
Dear Good People of Washburn, Maine,
A message of concern from Papua, Indonesia.
Attin Shaw is still missing.
She was last seen in your fine community and is the wife of Mike Shaw.
She has family and friends here that love and miss her and children in Washburn that need her.
Please, any information, no matter how seemingly innocuous, share with us or preferably the police in Washburn who, my understanding is, are still actively investigating her mysterious disappearance.
Her passport has expired and there is no record of her leaving the country nor would she have the means.
No activity on her social media which she utilized often.
No activity on her credit cards, and no activity with her social security account.
No record of her entry into Indonesia. She has just… vanished leaving young children who were the center of her life and her parents and extended family distraught and desperate for answers.
Anything you can do to find her would be deeply appreciated by many.
Please ask friends and anyone in the area if they know something or have a detail to share.
Please do not forget her as we have not.
Many thanks to you all in advance.
The message was posted just weeks ago in the “Where is Attiin Shaw?” Facebook group. It was written by an Indonesian family desperately seeking information on the whereabouts of 33-year-old mother of four, Attiin Shaw.
Attiin’s cousin, Zadia Sayang Novita, told Dateline that her family — who live in Indonesia — has been attempting to contact Attiin for more than 2 years. “I’m looking for her and she’s not there,” Zadia said.
Zadia described Attiin as a kind, passionate woman — and a big lover of animals. “She’s said that, if she — if one day she has a big house and big yard, she’s gonna have all the animals in her house,” she told Dateline. “When she move to America — in Maine, right now — they have dogs, cats in their house.”
Dateline spoke with one of Attiin’s friends, Beth Lindsay, who also lives in Indonesia. “She was the kind of person that, when you meet them — you know how you have an instant connection with somebody?” Beth said. “They’re really charismatic. They’re really soulful.”
Beth, who is a preschool teacher, taught one of Attiin’s sons at the Mount Zaagkam School in Indonesia. Attiin — who at that point had never left Indonesia — owned a salon nearby. “She was proud of being a woman in, you know — being able to own her own place,” Beth told Dateline.
In 2019, Attiin, along with her four children and her husband, Mike Shaw, briefly moved to Myanmar after Mike’s work contract ended in Indonesia. Beth told Dateline that Attiin was nervous to leave her country — and everything she had ever known — but that, ultimately, she was always very “appreciative of her life.”
The last time that Zadia or Beth saw Attiin was the day she left for Myanmar. According to Zadia, the Shaws chose Myanmar because it was close to Indonesia — both in distance and in culture. “She said that she [was going to travel] back and forth,” Zadia said.
In 2020, however, prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Shaw family moved to Washburn, Maine. Within a year, Attiin would vanish.
According to NamUs, Attiin was last seen on September 8, 2021.
Dateline reached out to the Maine State Police in 2024 requesting an interview with an officer familiar with Attiin’s case. Public Information Officer Shannon Moss responded with a press release. “The Maine State Police continues to investigate the disappearance of 36-year-old Attiin Shaw of Washburn,” it said. “Attiin was last known to be living with her husband and four children in Washburn in late 2021. Attiin was reported missing to the Washburn Police Department near the end of 2021 and the State Police became involved in early 2023.”
Dateline also reached out to the Washburn Police Department to learn about the initial search efforts for Attiin, but was referred back to the Maine State Police as the current investigative agency.
The most recent search in connection to Attiin’s disappearance was performed by the Maine State Police on February 14, 2024, at the Shaws’ Washburn residence. According to the press release provided to Dateline, “Troopers, Evidence Response Technicians and Detectives with Major Crimes North were at the Shaw residence on Washburn Road as part of their investigation.” The release noted that no additional information would be released concerning the search.
According to Zadia, Attiin has disappeared for week-long periods before. Zadia told Dateline that Attiin suffers from bipolar disorder, and that she often disappears after having an angry outburst. “She felt [so] bad that she is always angry with the boys — the kids — that she left home several times,” Zadia said.
However, Attiin has never gone missing for this long.
Attiin’s friend, Beth, told Dateline that, when Attiin would leave home for extended periods of time, she would often be active on social media. “I know one time she did go to Bali,” Beth said. “And I know she posted pictures of herself in Bali. Like, just relaxing — enjoying herself.”
But this time, Attiin’s social media has gone completely inactive. She has not posted anything since 2021.
Zadia told Dateline that Mike and Attiin have an agreement where, if Attiin leaves for more than a month, Mike is to contact the police. “Before one month, she came back home [after disappearing in the past],” Zadia told Dateline. “But this time, she didn’t come back home.”
Zadia told Dateline that Mike reached out to her in October of 2021, about a month after Attiin disappeared, telling her that he was concerned about his wife. He reported her missing shortly after that.
Attiin’s friend, Beth Lindsay, said she contacted Mike in January of 2022 after she hadn’t heard from Attiin in a while. Beth said Mike told her Atiin was “gone,” but that he wasn’t worried because she had disappeared before. Months later, in June of 2022, Beth started “actively messaging” Mike after her concern grew deeper. According to Beth, Mike told her that he was still not concerned.
Attiin’s cousin, Zadia, told Dateline that Mike told her he was feeling “exhausted and depressed” about the situation — and that he wanted Attiin to come home.
Dateline made several attempts to contact Mike Shaw but was unsuccessful in reaching him.
“If we think in logic, like, a mom wouldn’t leave her kids, right?” Zadia told Dateline.
However, she did say she would understand if Attiin had disappeared as a way to protect her children from the outbursts she experiences due to her bipolar disorder. “I can understand if she leaves the house, not for herself — but maybe to save the kids away from herself,” Zadia said.
Beth thinks that if Attiin did run off to start a new life elsewhere, she would have reached out by now. “She would have reached out to somebody somewhere and said, ‘I’m OK. I’m safe. I don’t want to be found,’” she said.
According to the statement that Maine State Police PIO Shannon Moss shared with Dateline, “investigative efforts have not produced any alternative addresses or indication [Attiin] is living at another location.”
Beth told Dateline that Attiin’s friends and family just want to know that she is OK. “If she reached out, everyone would welcome her with open arms,” Beth told Dateline. “They would respect her privacy. They would respect any form of communication and boundaries that she might want to have, and nobody would judge her. And everyone would be just forgiving of whatever, if she is out there.”
Zadia reiterated that thought. “I wouldn’t question where she’s been. I would be very happy to see her back,” she told Dateline. “I wouldn’t blame her. I would just be very happy that she’s there. Like, no matter what — what her decision she made. As long as she’s around, I’m so happy.”
According to NamUs, Attiin Shaw is 4’7” tall and weighs 110 lbs. She would be 36 years old today. Anyone with information about her disappearance is asked to contact Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit at (207) 532-5400 or toll free at 1-800-924-2261.