Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton has VANISHED after humiliating arrest and cryptic family messages

US gymnastics legend Mary Lou Retton has sparked fears for her safety after ‘vanishing’ following her DWI charge in West Virginia last month, the Daily Mail has learned. 

Concerned family members in the small town of Fairmont revealed they have not seen or heard from the Olympic gold medalist, 57 – who is based in Texas – since her arrest in her hometown on May 17. 

The lack of communication is nothing new for the former athlete, according to relatives, who say Retton hadn’t even informed her family that she was in town before her embarrassing encounter with police. 

Last week, DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that Retton was caught ‘slurring her words’ with a ‘screw top’ bottle of wine in the passenger seat while she was behind the wheel of her Porsche. 

She had pulled over at an AutoZone in Fairmont after being seen ‘driving all over the roadway’.  

Officers noted ‘the odor of alcohol‘ emitting from her while she was in the driver’s seat of the car while it was still running, according to court records. 

She failed all three phases of the standard field sobriety test and was charged in Marion County for ‘driving under influence of alcohol, controlled substances, or drugs’. 

An inside source said in the wake of her arrest: ‘Her family had no idea she was here at all, they found out about the arrest when everyone else did.

Mary Lou Retton has sparked fears for her safety as family members say she has ‘vanished’ since her DWI arrest in West Virginia last month

Retton was the first American woman to win an Olympic individual all-around gold when she edged out Romania’s Ecaterina Szabo (left) at only 16 years old at the 1984 games

‘They don’t really talk much, she moved away. She never called them to tell them that she was coming back, they only found out after the arrest. 

‘That’s families for you, it’s not her best decision. Families are like that, there wasn’t a falling out – they just haven’t spoken in a while’. 

Now it appears Retton has gone completely to ground, with no sign of her at her family home in Fairmont or her primary residence, her post-divorce property in Texas.

Exclusive DailyMail.com photos show her $550,000 home in Boerne, Kendall County, looking deserted, with packages and flyers littering the porch.

Neighbors say they have not seen her at the property in the past two weeks, adding that Retton mostly keeps to herself in the gated compound.

The retired Olympian has spent much of her life between West Virginia and Texas, where she has been based since 2012. 

She was married to Texas Longhorns quarterback-turned-real estate developer Shannon Kelly, with whom she shares daughters Shayla, 30, McKenna, 28, Skyla, 24, and Emma, 23, from 1990 to 2018. 

According to social media, Retton and her four daughters have a very close relationship, though she has not appeared in her children’s Instagram posts in at least six months. 

Retton, who has four daughters, Skyla, 24, Emma, turning 23, Shayla, 30, and McKenna, 28, has not been seen or heard from by her relatives in her hometown in West Virginia since her arrest on May 17, insiders told DailyMail.com 

Retton spoke publicly about her terrifying health battle after she was hospitalized in October 2023 with a rare form of pneumonia

Now it appears Retton has gone completely to ground, with no sign of her at her family home in Fairmont or her post-divorce property and primary residence in Texas (pictured) last Thursday

And while her family members in West Virginia have shared their shock at her arrest, Retton’s children have remained tight lipped over the incident, declining to talk to DailyMail.com. 

But they have been posting cryptic inspirational religious posts describing life and mistakes as ‘God’s will’ on their social media.

Her youngest daughter Emma, is set to get married later this month in Dallas, though it’s unclear if the gymnastics legend will attend. 

Family members are reportedly concerned about the arrest, though were ‘unaware’ of any reason or issues as to why Retton could have driven the 1,500 mile cross country trip from Texas to West Virginia.

Her older brother Donnie, 59, passed away in December of last year, with an obituary stating there was ‘no visitation or funeral services’.

Court records show that an attorney representing Retton appeared alone at a hearing on May 27, to submit a motion for discovery.

Officers noted during her arrest that she had a ‘screw top container of wine’ that was in the passenger seat of her car when they approached her.

She failed all three phases of the standard field sobriety test, and refused a roadside preliminary breath test, as well as a secondary chemical test of her blood.

Retton was charged in Marion County for ‘driving under influence of alcohol, controlled substances, or drugs,’ according to the West Virginia Magistrate Court system.

She was released after personally posting a $1,500 bond. Representatives for Retton are yet to address the arrest.

A lawyer representing Retton based in Morgantown, West Virginia, did not immediately respond to a request for comment by DailyMail.com.

Best known for receiving two perfect 10 scores at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics weeks after a knee operation, Retton has battled more health issues in recent years.

The decorated gymnast struggled with pneumonia in 2023, which led her daughter to create a crowdfunding page to help pay mounting hospital bills, raising $200,000 in just a day.

But the family soon drew criticism after refusing to clarify where the donations would be going, while Retton’s claim to not have insurance was also doubted by some.

‘They didn’t deserve that,’ Retton said in May when asked about the backlash her daughters received.

‘They were just trying to take care of me. I don’t care about the naysayers. There are trolls everywhere. It’s what makes us America. Everybody’s got an opinion, but it is what it is.’

While there was a happy ending for Retton in 2023, doctors briefly feared for her life as her daughters delivered what they thought would be their final farewell to their mother.

Retton’s daughter, Shayla Schrepfer, 30, was spotted out and about in Texas, but declined to comment on her mother’s arrest or whereabouts 

Retton posing with her daughter McKenna Kelley at the NCAA championships in 2019. The former gymnast was ‘slurring her words’ when she pulled over into an AutoZone in Fairmont, West Virginia

Retton married Texas Longhorns quarterback-turned-real estate developer Shannon Kelley (center) in Houston, Texas in 1990. They divorced in 2018 

Even now, Retton fears she will never properly recover from the damage to her lungs.

‘It’s been really hard,’ she said in an emotional interview with People in 2024. ‘My lungs are so scarred. It will be a lifetime of recovery.

‘My physicality was the only thing I had and it was taken away from me. It’s embarrassing.’

Retton believes she recovered from the terrifying ordeal as ‘God wasn’t ready’ for her yet, despite admitting that she is extremely fortunate to still be alive.

‘Girl, I should be dead,’ she added. ‘The doctors told them [daughters] to come to say their goodbyes.

‘They prayed over me, and McKenna said, ‘Mommy, it’s OK, you can go.’

‘I didn’t have much of a relationship with my mother, but I can’t imagine what that was like, to watch their mom on her deathbed.’

Her heath issues come after DailyMail.com revealed that she was also expected to collect around $2million more in compensation after a legal spat with the manufacturer of her two metal hip replacements.

Mary Lou Retton became the first American woman to win an individual all-around gold medal at the 1984 Olympic Games. The now-retired gymnast was left fighting for her life in hospital with a rare form of pneumonia in late 2023, prompting her daughters set up a SpotFund account that raised $500,000 in donations

Last year, the mom-of-four drew criticism after claiming to have no health insurance and asking for financial support from the public when she was struck down with a rare form of pneumonia, despite having received a $2million settlement from her divorce 

The revelations cast more doubt on why the five-time gold medal winner had no health insurance when she was struck down with a rare form of pneumonia and why her family resorted to begging for cash online to bail her out.

Court papers filed in Houston that showed she had a small fortune following her divorce from Shannon Kelley.

The property division accepted by the court showed that Retton received cash and property worth $1,950,597 as she and Kelley split their assets down the middle after 28 years of marriage.

Not included in that figure were the proceeds from the sale of two houses, one in Houston and the other in Fairmont, West Virginia, which again were to be split 50/50.

Nor were the proceeds from a lawsuit in which she sued Indiana-based medical company Biomet Recovery over two hip replacements that went wrong.

It is not known how much she received but others who sued the company in similar circumstances got around $2million each.

Retton found instant fame as a 16-year-old when she won her medals at the 1984 Los Angeles games.

She became the first American woman to win an Olympic individual all-around gold when she edged out Romania’s Ecaterina Szabo.