Kopetsky was last seen at Belton High School, in Belton, Missouri on May 4, 2007. She was a junior there at the time, and had an after-school job at a Popeye's Chicken restaurant. She has never been heard from again. Authorities initially believed she had left of her own accord; she had a history of running away for a couple of days at a time. However, Kopetsky is now believed to be missing under suspicious circumstances. She has not accessed her bank account (which contained $150) or her MySpace page since she went missing, and the Motorola Razor cellular phone she always carries has been shut off. Kopetsky did not drive at the time of her disappearance, and she left her clothing, cigarettes, makeup, hair straightener, iPod, debit card and other personal belongings behind. She was carrying a black leather hobo bag when she disappeared.

There was a possible sighting of Kopestky in Louisburg, Kansas on May 17, thirteen days after her disappearance. She was accompanied by an unidentified man. A sketch of the man is posted below this case summary. Authorities have not determined that the girl seen in Louisburg was Kopetsky, but they would like to verify the sighting and identify the man. Another teenager, Kelsey Ann Smith, disappeared from Overland Park, Kansas in June 2007. She was found murdered a couple of days later. There was speculation that Smith's and Kopetsky's cases were related; they disappeared not far apart from one another and were of similar age and appearance. However, a suspect was charged with Smith's murder and investigators decided her death and Kopetsky's disappearance are unrelated.

Shortly before her disappearance, Kopetsky got an order of protection against Kylr C. Yust, her boyfriend of nine months. Kopetsky stated he was stalking her and that he had had choked her and threatened to slit her throat. She claimed that on a separate occasion on April 28, just a week before her disappearance, he had waited outside her workplace until she finished her shift, forced her into his vehicle and driven her around against her will for awhile before she was able to jump out of the truck and escape. Yust was charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct and assault in connection with the incident. He was considered a possible suspect in Kopetsky's disappearance, but he cooperated with the investigation, he has an alibi for the time she went missing and he also passed a lie detector test. He denied having ever abused her.

Kopetsky lived with her mother, stepfather and younger brother at the time of her disappearance. Her parents are divorced and her father lives in a nearby town. She smoked Marlboro Lights cigarettes and was occasionally truant from school at the time she went missing. Authorities stated there is no evidence of foul play in Kopetsky's case, but they do not believe she ran away from home. Her case remains unsolved.

Above: Unidentified individual possibly seen with Kopetsky