Massa was last seen shortly after 1:07 p.m. on December 13, 2004 near one of the casinos in the Fitzgerald's River Park area off Fitzgerald's Boulevard in Tunica, Mississippi. She was carrying a dark-colored medium-sized purse with a long shoulder strap at the time of her disappearance. She may also have been carrying a Fitzgerald's Casino shirt and possibly had a yellow keychain on her wrist. She had little cash and no credit cards with her at the time of her disappearance.

There was a possible sighting of Massa at the Oak Court Mall in East Memphis, Tennessee after her disappearance, and police brought tracker dogs to the location. They caught a scent and followed it over seven miles east on Poplar Avenue toward Germantown, Tennessee, ending at Methodist Le Bonheur Germantown Hospital. A search of the hospital turned up no sign of Massa, however. The trail of Massa's scent is nearby to where her daughter, Laura LaScola, lives.

Massa is from the the Memphis, Tennessee area; she lived at a Memphis retirement center, St. Peter's Manor, in December 2004. She was visiting Tunica at the time of her disappearance and was supposed to take a bus back to Memphis, but never boarded it. The bus waited an hour before leaving without her. Several days after Massa vanished, she left a message on LaScola's answering machine which simply said, "Laura, are you there?" before hanging up. The message could not be traced, so it yielded no clues as to Massa's whereabouts.

Massa is described as a shy but sweet person who enjoys floral designing and decorating. LaScola believes she lost her memory or mistakenly got on the wrong bus at the bus station and does not know where she is. LaScola has filed a lawsuit against St. Peter's Manor, alleging that they were negligent and this contributed to her mother's disappearance.

Massa's case remains unsolved. Her family believes she may be homeless.