Luong was last seen in East Boston, Massachusetts on March 26, 2002. She left her family's apartment at Maverick Gardens to buy a gallon of milk and never returned. She apparently ran away after an argument with her mother, caused when Luong failed to turn in a report to her seventh-grade teacher at Umana Barnes Middle School. Luong contacted her brother after her disappearance, but refused to tell him where she was. Her family has not heard from her since about six weeks after she vanished.

Luong has a history of running away from home; in July 2001, she ran away and filed a child abuse report against her mother. The Massachusetts Department of Social Services investigated but found no evidence that any abuse had taken place, so Luong was returned to her family's home. She has several older female friends whom her mother and brother stated were a bad influence.

Luong may be with a female companion. She may still be in the general area where she disappeared, possibly in the Boston, Brockton, Lowell or Mansfield areas of Massachusetts. Her case remains unsolved.