Maureen's husband of fifteen years, Paul Fields, says he last saw her at 8:00 a.m. on February 15, 2006 at their home in Pahrump Valley, Nevada. The couple had an argument just before Maureen left for her job at the Pahrump Valley branch of the Wells Fargo bank, where she had worked as a teller for the past three months. She never arrived at work and has never been heard from again. She didn't show up for work at 8:30 a.m. as scheduled, and after waiting twenty minutes her coworkers called Paul. He said he thought she had left for work. After getting off the phone he went directly to the police station. Paul later claimed he attempted to report Maureen as a missing person at this time, but the police wouldn't accept a report because she hadn't been gone for 24 hours. The police said, however, that Paul did visit the station, but only to ask if there'd been any accidents involving a green Hyundai, and that he left without mentioning Maureen.

On February 16, Maureen's green 2004 Hyundai was found in Inyo County, California, about twelve miles from the Nevada state line. It had been stuck in the sand in a desert area about 125 feet off the road. Her keys were in the ignition, the driver's seat was reclined, and slippers and eyeglasses were under the gas pedal. Some religious pamphlets were fanned out next to her purse, which contained her credit cards and wallet. A knotted pair of pantyhose was also present, as was an empty bottle that had contained 30 tranquilizer pills. There was no sign of Maureen at the scene. She left behind all her personal belongings, including her cherished pet dog. Authorities initially believed she wandered off into the desert and committed suicide. An extensive search of the area turned up no sign of her, however, and no suicide note was recovered.

Authorities believe foul play was involved in Maureen's case and have focused on Paul as the prime and only suspect; they believe he murdered his wife. Maureen's family claims the marriage was very troubled and she wanted a divorce. One of her friends described Paul as a jealous, domineering husband and said Maureen was afraid he would kill her. Maureen told many people she was afraid of Paul, but she denied any physical abuse. The day before her disappearance, Valentine's Day, she was extremely upset at work and told coworkers "something's going to happen."

Paul maintains his innocence in his wife's disappearance and said he believes she left of her own accord. He said he believed she was addicted to prescription painkillers. He stated that, just before she left the house, Maureen said, "I might as well do it now. Why wait?" He stated Maureen had been draining thousands of dollars from their joint accounts prior to her disappearance and he believed she had a gambling problem. She normally handled the couple's finances, but after Paul found out about the missing money he told her he was going to start checking their bank and credit card statements from now on. Paul said she took two $7,000 cash advances off their credit cards prior to her disappearances, and withdrew $2,000 from their joint bank account; he theorizes she staged a suicide scene and ran away rather than face up to what she had done. He also said he had evidence that Maureen had asked a third party to kill him prior to her disappearance, an allegation police do not believe. Police checked into the Fields' finances after Maureen disappeared, and they say she only took one $4,000 cash advance off a credit card and that was used to pay off another card.

Paul allowed the police to search his house and property several times. He initially consented to a polygraph, but later reneged on the advice of his attorney. He has stopped cooperating with police in Maureen's disappearance. After waiting the required 90-day period following Maureen's disappearance, he went to court to get her name taken off their jointly owned land, claiming abandonment. Maureen's father went to court to become her guardian, in an effort to keep Paul from getting her assets. In response, Paul dropped his claims that Maureen abandoned her property and changed her status to a missing person. While she is legally missing, he cannot divorce her. He can, however, have her declared legally dead after she's been missing for three days, and remove her name from their joint properties afterwards.

Maureen graduated North Arlington High School in New Jersey in 1983. Her loved ones stated she was very particular about her appearance; she had cosmetic nose surgery and liposuction, she never wore jeans or t-shirts in public and she never left the house without makeup. Her loved ones don't believe she would have left of her own accord and left behind her dog. Her case remains unsolved.