Gallery of titleholders
Larissa Meek, Miss Missouri USA 2001
Shandi Finnessey Miss Missouri USA and Miss USA 2004
Amber Seyer, Miss Missouri USA 2007
Candice Crawford, Miss Missouri USA 2008
Katie Kearney, Miss Missouri USA 2012
| Formation | 1952 |
|---|---|
| Type | Beauty pageant |
| Headquarters | Shawnee, Kansas, U.S. |
| Location |
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Membership | Miss USA |
Official language | English |
Key people | John M. Vannatta Jason Vannatta Jennifer Vannatta-Fisher, State Pageant Director |
| Website | Official website |
The Miss Missouri USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state Missouri in the Miss USA pageant. It is directed by Vanbros and Associates, based in Lenexa, Kansas. In 1993, Missouri joined the Vanbros group of state pageants for the Miss USA and Teen USA system.
Missouri has had only one Miss USA, Shandi Finnessey, who placed as 1st runner-up to Jennifer Hawkins of Australia in the Miss Universe 2004 pageant. The most recent placement was Mikala McGhee in 2022, placing Top 16. Three Miss Missouri USAs have competed at Miss America, including Finnessey. Six former Miss Teen USA delegates have also won the title, equalling Indiana and Virginia for the most crossovers, although both Indiana and Missouri have had titleholders who competed in a different state at Miss Teen USA.
Ashleigh Bedwell of Campbell was crowned Miss Missouri USA 2024 on June 15, 2024 at Polsky Theater in Overland Park. She will represent Missouri at Miss USA 2024.
Missouri holds a record of 26 placements at Miss USA.
| Year | Name | Hometown | Age [lower-alpha 1] | Local title | Placement at Miss USA | Special awards at Miss USA | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Ashleigh Bedwell | Campbell | 25 | Miss Heartland | |||
| 2023 | Autumn Black | Kansas City | 24 | Miss Kansas City | |||
| 2022 | Mikala McGhee | St. Louis | 28 | Miss St. Louis | Top 16 | Appeared on MTV reality show Made | |
| 2021 | Joye Forrest | Spanish Lake | 25 | Miss Spanish Lake | Former professional cheerleader of Laker Girls | ||
| 2020 | Megan Renee Kelly | Seymour | 22 | Miss Springfield | Top 16 | ||
| 2019 | Miriah Ludtke | St. Louis | 24 | Miss City of St. Louis | |||
| 2018 | Victoria "Tori" Kruse | Osage Beach | 26 | Miss Osage Beach | |||
| 2017 | Bayleigh Dayton | Lee's Summit | 23 | Miss Kansas City | Top 10 | Miss Congeniality (tied with Miss Wyoming USA 2017 Mikaela Shaw) |
|
| 2016 | Sydnee Stottlemyre | Chesterfield | 21 | Miss Wildhorse Creeks | Top 10 | Triple crown winner
| |
| 2015 | Rebecca Dunn | Columbia | 23 | Miss Columbia | Game Day Host for the Missouri Mavericks and Entertainment Host for Fox 22. Former anchor at Newsy.com. | ||
| 2014 | Erica Sturdefant | Springfield | 23 | Miss Creve Coeur |
| ||
| 2013 | Ellie Holtman[ citation needed ] | Montgomery City | 20 | Miss Montgomery | |||
| 2012 | Katie Kearney | St. Louis | 23 | Miss St. Louis | |||
| 2011 | Hope Driskill | Jefferson City | 21 | Miss Jefferson City | Top 16 |
| |
| 2010 | Ashley Strohmier | Jefferson City | 21 | Miss Cole County | Top 10 | ABC 17 KMIZ Evening News Anchor | |
| 2009 | Stacey Smith | Florissant | 22 | Miss Florissant | |||
| 2008 | Candice Crawford | Columbia | 21 | Top 10 | Sister of actor Chace Crawford and wife of NFL quarterback Tony Romo. | ||
| 2007 | Amber Seyer | Oran | 20 | Top 10 |
| ||
| 2006 | Kristi Capel | Springfield | 22 | Weather presenter at WBRE | |||
| 2005 | Andrea Ciliberti | Kansas City | 21 | Contestant on Beauty and the Geek , season 3 | |||
| 2004 | Ashley Litton | Columbia | 20 | did not compete |
| ||
| Shandi Finnessey | Florissant | 25 | Miss Metro St. Louis | Miss USA 2004 |
| ||
| 2003 | Tara Bollinger | 23 | |||||
| 2002 | Melana Scantlin | Gladstone | 24 |
| |||
| 2001 | Larissa Meek | St. Louis | 23 | Top 5 |
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| 2000 | Denette Roderick | ||||||
| 1999 | Teri Bollinger |
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| 1998 | Melanie Breedlove | 22 | 2nd runner-up |
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| 1997 | Amanda Jahn | St Joseph | 25 | ||||
| 1996 | Aimee Rinehart | 24 | |||||
| 1995 | Britt Powell | Kansas City | Semi-finalist |
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| 1994 | Shelly Lehman | Semi-finalist | |||||
| 1993 | Stephanie Nunn | Marshfield | Mother of Miss Missouri Teen USA 2016 Dallas Ezard | ||||
| 1992 | Tonya Snodgrass | Mother of Miss Arkansas Teen USA 2016 Makenzie Sexton | |||||
| 1991 | Tiffany Hazel | ||||||
| 1990 | Lori Suschnick | Liberal | Mother of Miss Missouri Teen USA 2018 Chloe Bartlett | ||||
| 1989 | Rhonda Hoglan |
| |||||
| 1988 | Alecia Workman | ||||||
| 1987 | Dawn Fonseca | Independence | 22 | 3rd runner-up | |||
| 1986 | Barbara Webster | Kansas City |
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| 1985 | Amy Coverdale | Columbia | Semi-finalist | ||||
| 1984 | Sandra Percival | Sunrise Beach | 20 | 3rd runner-up |
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| 1983 | Robin Riley | Columbia |
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| 1982 | Susan Heiman | Kansas City | |||||
| 1981 | Karyn Smagacz | Fulton | |||||
| 1980 | Kelly Laxson | Kansas City | |||||
| 1979 | Virginia Dean | ||||||
| 1978 | Paula Taylor | ||||||
| 1977 | Connie Ast | Successor to crown; Competed at Miss USA 1977 | |||||
| Leigh Middleton | did not compete | Won the title of Miss Missouri USA 1977, but due to car accident, was unable to continue her reign or compete at Miss USA | |||||
| 1976 | Donna Hibbitts | Semi-finalist | |||||
| 1975 | Nancy LaRose | Marshall | Semi-finalist | ||||
| 1974 | Dorothy McElven | Semi-finalist | |||||
| 1973 | Camilla Crist | ||||||
| 1972 | Janet Potter | ||||||
| 1971 | Nancy Rich | 3rd runner-up | |||||
| 1970 | Suzette Grinham | Independence | |||||
| 1969 | Sherry Hoffman | ||||||
| 1968 | Jan Barton | Macon | |||||
| 1967 | Karen Hendrix | 4th runner-up | |||||
| 1966 | Martha Taylor | ||||||
| 1965 | Barbara Brooks | ||||||
| 1964 | Sandy Bawol | 4th runner up in Miss World USA 1963 | |||||
| 1963 | Sandra Marlin | 2nd runner-up | |||||
| 1962 | Mikee Campbell | ||||||
| 1961 | Joan Roberts | ||||||
| 1960 | Marilyn Stalcup | Semi-finalist | |||||
| 1959 | Barbara Stell | Semi-finalist | |||||
| 1958 | Beverly Wright | ||||||
| 1957 | Judith Murback | Sikeston | |||||
| 1956 | Carol Thrower | ||||||
| 1955 | Bennie Pritchard | ||||||
| 1954 | Alice Porritt | Semi-finalist | |||||
| 1953 | Donna Gardner | ||||||
| 1952 | Carolyn Carlew | Sikeston [2] | 18 | 2nd runner-up | |||
Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020, when the organization announced it was licensing operation of the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants to Crystle Stewart, Miss USA for 2008 prior to her suspension in October 2022, thus returning the said pageants to the Miss Universe Organization.
Shandi Ren Finnessey is an American actress, model, TV host and beauty pageant titleholder. She is best known for winning the Miss USA title, as Miss Missouri USA. She previously held the title of Miss Missouri 2002 and competed in Miss America, where she won a preliminary award. She placed as first runner-up at the Miss Universe 2004 competition.
Larissa Meek is a former beauty queen who has competed in the Miss Teen USA and Miss USA pageants and a reality television personality who starred in Average Joe: Hawaii.
Chelsea Scott Cooley Altman is an American actress, singer, model and beauty pageant titleholder who has competed in the Miss Teen USA, Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants and who has held the Miss USA 2005 title.
The Miss Illinois USA pageant is a competition that selects the representative for the state Illinois in the Miss USA pageant. It is directed by Vanbros and Associates and is previously directed by D&D Productions from 2001 to 2014 before becoming part of Vanbros organization in 2014, headquartered in Shawnee.
The Miss Nebraska USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state Nebraska in the Miss USA pageant. The pageant is directed by Vanbros & Associates, headquartered in Shawnee, Kansas. In 2002, Nebraska joined the Vanbros group of state pageants for the Miss USA and Teen USA system.
The Miss Kansas USA pageant is a competition that selects the representative for the state of Kansas in the Miss USA pageant. The pageant is directed by Vanbros and Associates, headquartered in Lenexa, Kansas. In 1992, the state joined the Vanbros group, under the directorship of Miss Kansas 1998 Jennifer Vannatta-Fisher.
The Miss New York USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the State of New York in the Miss USA pageant. It is directed by D&D Productions.
Miss Arkansas USA, previously known as Miss Arkansas Universe, is the beauty pageant that selects the representative for the state of Arkansas in the Miss USA pageant, and the name of the title held by that winner. The pageant is directed by Vanbros and Associates.
The Miss Oklahoma USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Oklahoma in the Miss USA pageant. This pageant is directed by Vanbros and Associates, headquartered in Shawnee, Kansas. In 1997, Oklahoma joined the Vanbros group of state pageants for the Miss USA and Teen USA system.
The Miss Arkansas Teen USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Arkansas in the Miss Teen USA pageant.
The Miss Kansas Teen USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Kansas in the Miss Teen USA pageant. This pageant has been part of the Vanbros organisation since 1992, and in 2006, they celebrated their fifteen-year anniversary with a reunion of former titleholders at the 2007 pageant. For the first time, all the judges for both the Miss Kansas USA and Miss Kansas Teen USA pageants were former titleholders from the Vanbros states: Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Nebraska.
The Miss Missouri Teen USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Missouri in the Miss Teen USA pageant. It is directed by Vanbros and Associates, based in Shawnee, Kansas. In 1993, Missouri joined the Vanbros group of state pageants for the Miss USA and Teen USA system.
The Miss Nebraska Teen USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Nebraska in the Miss Teen USA pageant. The pageant is directed by Vanbros & Associates, headquartered in Shawnee, Kansas. In 2002, Nebraska joined the Vanbros group of state pageants for the Miss USA and Teen USA system. In 2022, Nebraska became the 28th state that won the Miss Teen USA title for the first time.
The Miss Oklahoma Teen USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Oklahoma in the Miss Teen USA pageant. This pageant is directed by Vanbros and Associates, headquartered in Shawnee, Kansas. In 1997, Oklahoma joined the Vanbros group of state pageants for the Miss USA and Teen USA system.
The Miss Missouri competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the U.S. state of Missouri in the Miss America pageant.
Miss USA 2007 was the 56th Miss USA pageant, held at Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California on March 23, 2007, after two weeks of events and preliminary competition. The winner of the pageant was Rachel Smith of Tennessee.
Ashley Renee Litton is an American model and beauty pageant titleholder who held the Miss Missouri USA 2004.
Miss Teen USA 2000, the 18th Miss Teen USA pageant, was televised live from Shreveport, Louisiana on August 26, 2000. At the conclusion of the final competition, Jillian Parry of Pennsylvania was crowned by outgoing queen Ashley Coleman of Delaware.
Sophia Julieta Dominguez-Heithoff is an American model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Teen USA 2017. She is the second entrant from Missouri to win the title after Marissa Whitley won Miss Teen USA 2001.