Elizabeth was last seen in the front yard of her home in the 300 block of south Lorimer Street in Cape Girardeau, Missouri at 4:00 p.m. on June 13, 1965. She was carrying a small pail of sand at the time of her disappearance. She has never been heard from again. An extensive search of the area turned up no sign of her. Authorities at first believed she wandered away from home and fell into the Mississippi River, but this theory has since been discounted because Elizabeth would have had to cross streets and railroad tracks and then go down a bluff to reach the water's edge.

In 2010, forty-five years after Elizabeth's disappearance, authorities stated they were investigating her case as a non-family abduction. They suspect a group of drifters who were staying at a nearby motel might have kidnapped her. Twice before she disappeared, members of this group tried to beckon Elizabeth towards their car.

Elizabeth is the youngest of ten children. At the time she went missing, she was in the care of her older siblings while their mother took her father to St. Louis, Missouri where he worked. Elizabeth's father died in 1970 and two of her siblings are also deceased, but her mother and remaining seven brothers and sisters are still alive. Elizabeth may resemble one of her sisters; photographs of them as adults are posted below this case summary.

Above: Elizabeth's sisters