Downs was last heard from on on May 14, 1991, when she called her mother's San Jacinto, California residence from a pay phone at Weston Park in Hemet, California. She had planned to come home, but told her mother she had met with some friends and would come home later than scheduled. She has never been heard from again.

Authorities believe Downs is missing under suspicious circumstances and may have been murdered. Her apartment appeared undisturbed after her disappearance and she never picked up her last paycheck from her place of work, Carl's Jr. in Bermuda Dunes, California. Her mother describes her as a reliable and responsible person who would not have left without warning. San Jacinto police are investigating Downs's disappearance.