Baldeagle ran away from her hometown of Eagle Butte, South Dakota on September 18, 1984, along with an older female friend. According to her companion, they were hitchhiking together in Casper, Wyoming when they were picked up by Royal Russell Long. Long took the two girls to his home in Evansville, Wyoming, fed them, then offered them $100 for sexual services. When the girls refused, he tied them up, beat Baldeagle and raped her friend. The older girl escaped and went for help, but by the time police arrived at the residence, Long and Baldeagle were gone. Baldeagle was carrying a red bag at the time of her disappearance.

Long was apprehended in 1985 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Baldeagle was not with him and he said he did not know her whereabouts. He said he drove her to Cheyenne, Wyoming and put her on a bus or truck bound for Dallas, Texas and this was the last time he ever saw her. Prosecutors considered charging Long with Baldeagle's murder, but they decided against it, and Baldeagle's father stated he believed his daughter was alive. Long pleaded guilty to two counts of kidnapping for the purpose of committing indecent liberties with a minor and was sentenced to two life terms in prison.

Long, a truck driver, is also a possible suspect in the disappearances of Deborah Meyer and Carlene Brown, who vanished from Wyoming in 1974, and he is the prime suspect in the disappearances of Cinda Pallett and Charlotte Kinsey, who vanished from the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on September 26, 1981. He was charged with kidnapping and murdering both girls after his 1985 arrest, but the charges were dismissed for lack of evidence. He died of a heart attack in prison in 1993.

Baldeagle has never been found. Foul play is suspected in her case.