Meehan was involved in a head-on motor vehicle collision on Highway 200 near the town of Circle in eastern Montana during the evening hours of April 20, 1989. She crawled out of the wreckage, looked at the driver of the other vehicle as if she didn't see her, then climbed over a fence near the road and disappeared into the countryside. She appeared to be disoriented at the time. She has never been heard from again. Meehan was carrying a leather purse at the time of her disappearance.

Prior to her disappearance, Meehan had been distressed and had made an appointment to see a psychologist on the morning of April 21. She had asked to move back in with her parents in Pennsylvania and they agreed that she could come to them after she spoke to the psychologist. Meehan worked as a ranch hand in Montana and she liked horses; it is possible that she may still be employed in that field.

It is believed that Meehan may have amnesia and may be hitching rides with truck drivers across the country. There have been hundreds of sightings of her all around the United States since 1989. Over a year after her disappearance a woman who was arrested in Washington state was thought to be Meehan, but she turned out to be someone else.

Meehan resided in Bozeman, Montana in 1989. Her parents live in Pennsylvania. Her case remains unsolved.