Collins was last seen on May 9, 2009, when she left her home on 100th Street Everett, Washington to meet a friend in Seattle, Washington. She planned to travel by public transportation, either the Sound Transit #510 or Metro #101/358. She never arrived in Everett and has never been heard from again. At the time of her disappearance, Collins was carrying only a small black purse, her hairbrush, her identification and a few dollars in cash. Her cellular phone has been turned off since about 8:00 p.m. the day of her disappearance.

Collins's parents divorced when she was three years old, and her stepfather was violent and abused her, her mother and three siblings. Her mother eventually took the children, left the state and changed their names to get away from him. He is now serving a twenty-year prison sentence. Collins's mother said she began having problems when she reached puberty. She started running away from home when she was twelve years old, was truant from school, became sexually active, and used and sold drugs. As a teenager she got involved in prostitution after she started dating an older man who turned out to be a pimp. She walked the streets in Seattle and in Portland, Oregon, and worked under several pimps. Her mother saw bruises on her and believed her pimps beat her, but Collins denied this She was arrested for prostitution the first time at the age of sixteen.

In 2008, Collins agreed to testify against her pimp, and the man was charged with interstate sex trafficking of a minor. She continued to work as a prostitute, however, and was arrested again in April 2009, just days before she was summoned to testify against her pimp before a federal grand jury. She disappeared a few weeks later. The case against the pimp was dismissed for lack of evidence in March 2010, because Collins was unavailable to testify. Three months later, he pleaded guilty to trafficking of a minor in another case and was sentenced to fifteen years in prison.

Collins's family believes her disappearance is connected with her court testimony and she was placed in danger after she agreed to cooperate with the police investigation against her pimp. He has not faced any charges in connection with her disappearance. In spite of her lifestyle, it's uncharacteristic of Collins to be out of touch with her family, and she hadn't mentioned any plans to leave. She was a student at Mariner High School in 2009, where she attended special education classes due to a learning disability. Her case remains unsolved.