Crane's mother gave her money for a snack and dropped her off at the Challis Bowling Alley in Challis, Idaho on October 11, 1993. She went bowling with friends, then departed. She was last seen walking on Highway 93 towards Challis High School at approximately 6:00 p.m. that evening. The school was across the street from the bowling alley. Accounts differ as to whether Crane was going to the high school for soccer practice, or whether she was heading for her family's residence, about 500 yards away. She has never been heard from again. An extensive search covering 7,000 square miles in two counties turned up no sign of her. A yellow pickup truck with red pinstripes was seen in the area around the time she vanished, and may be connected to her disappearance.

Keith Glenn "Mark" Hescock has been investigated for possible involvement in Crane's case, and also the case of Amber Shawnell Hoopes. Hescock kidnapped a fourteen-year-old girl from outside her home in the early morning hours of June 5, 2002. He had known her family. The girl was able to escape that afternoon when he went to work, leaving her chained to a bed in his home. When the police attempted to arrest him, Hescock fled in his vehicle and lead them on a forty-mile high-speed chase, which ended at a dead-end road in the Big Hole Mountains. There he shot and killed a police dog, shot and wounded an officer, and then committed suicide.

Hescock had previously worked for Hoopes's grandparents, and his neighbor says he was hunting in Challis, Idaho the weekend Crane disappeared from that location. He also owned a yellow pickup truck similar to the one that may be connected to Crane's case. Authorities have not been able to link him to either disappearance, however. His only criminal record in Idaho had been for poaching, but he had felony convictions in other states.

Crane's case remains unsolved. Authorities have five to ten persons of interest in her case, none of whom are family members. They believe she was taken against her will by a stranger.