Mary Elizabeth Thomas was born to James and Ellen Thomas on April 18,1971 in Oxford, Mississippi.

As the oldest child with two younger sisters, Julie and Eleanor, Mary learned how to parent at an early age. Her mother worked at a fabrics store part time to supplement James' earnings from his Chevron Service Station. James worked long hours and with Ellen working too, Mary was responsible for her two younger sisters from an early age. Mary accepted the responsibility without resentment and took pride in her siblings' accomplishments.

The family traditionally watched the annual TV showing of the Miss America pageants. The three girls loved to dress up and pretend they were walking down the runway with a bouquet of red roses in their arms and tiaras on their heads. They spent hours perfecting the "queen wave" and took turns being Miss America and the two runners-up who seemingly were overjoyed with their competitor's success. Mary and her sisters realized this as a fantasy-like pretending they were movie stars -- and had no belief they would ever really be in a pageant. It was just a fun dress-up game they played in their mother's high heels, gloves, earrings, and her out-of-style dresses.

Mary discovered she had a talent for sewing. She loved Barbie dolls, but she found sewing the tiny garments too difficult. She sewed for larger dolls with scraps Helen brought home from the fabric store. The three Thomas girls were known to have the best-dressed dolls in town.

As she got older, Mary began making dresses for her little sisters. She learned that she could adjust and resize one pattern that would do for all three girls. With the use of different fabrics and slight style changes, she could use one basic pattern over and over. In fact, this became a challenge to her and she began to learn about color and fabrics, eventually making her own patterns. The Thomas girls were creatively dressed from an early age, and schoolmates began asking where they purchased their clothes. When they learned that Mary made them, they asked her to create dresses for them. Mary realized she could earn money, especially at prom time, and still be at home to watch over Julie and Eleanor.

Mary graduated from Oxford High School as an average student who had not found time to participate in extra-curricular activities, but had discovered a talent with color and style in women's clothes. This talent helped her get a job at Duvall's on the Square. She loved helping women with their wardrobes, and the customers appreciated her attention. She had less time to sew, but continued making some of her sisters' school clothes and their prom dresses. She enjoyed sewing for others rather than herself.

Susan Dubois was a long-time customer of Duvall's on the Square, and this was where she met Mary. They found they had many similar interests, including beauty pageants, and a friendship formed. As Barbara went from childhood to teens and then into adulthood, she could not always find ready-made clothes for her pageant wear. Mary was commissioned to design and construct special garments suitable to Barbara's changing size and age.

Mary Thomas met Elliott Jones in the spring of 1991 at a party given by one of her friends. Mary liked the serious, shy young man and they began dating. After nearly a year of dating Elliott proposed, Mary accepted and they were married in June 1992. They both looked forward to being parents of their own family. After a couple of years of marriage, they decided they were financially able to start their family, but after numerous tests learned that Elliott was irreversibly sterile. Mary was heartbroken. A friend told her the name of an adoption attorney who could her arrange an adoption. Elliot was hesitant at first, but knowing how much Mary wanted a baby, he agreed to adoption.

Mary and Elliot adopted a newborn baby girl named Billie Jo in October 1996. Mary took a maternity leave from Duvall's for several months. She and Elliott had hoped his
earnings would be sufficient to support them without Mary working, but after a few months they realized they needed Mary's income. Duvall's was so delighted with her return to work that they promoted her to manager with a significant pay raise. Mary was able to work out a schedule so that her younger sisters could baby-sit Billie Jo and it enabled the girls to earn a bit of extra money.

In April 2003, Elliott's Army Reserve unit was called to active duty as a supply unit supporting the1st Armored Division. He was killed soon after arriving in Iraq, leaving Mary a widow. Her friend, Susan Dubois, was very supportive. Susan knew from experience how devastating a spouse's death could be and it was comforting to Mary to have a friend who truly understood the problems of widowhood and single parenting. The four females became very close and thought of themselves as family.

Billie Jo idolized Barbara and wanted to follow in her idol's footsteps -- to be a beauty queen. Barbara gave unselfishly of her time to her protégé, but recommended that Billie Jo not enter pageants until she was at least 10, so the girl could first experience a normal childhood. Billie Jo could hardly wait until she turned 10!

Mary and Billie Jo were at the YCCC for the Yoknapatawpha County Literary Beauty Pageant to support their friend -- and Mary was the one who called 911 to report Barbara Dubois' disappearance.