Owens last seen in Clearwater, Washington on July 1, 1981. That night, she left her family's home to babysit an infant at a house ten miles away. When the baby's mother returned home that evening, Owens was gone and the baby was alone. A broken, blood-spattered Galliano liquor bottle was on the floor. Owens has never been heard from again. The blood at the house matched her type, but DNA testing was not available in 1981 and so the stains were not definitively linked to her.

Authorities have a suspect in the case, a transient logger named Ken Barry. Broken glass from a Galliano bottle and bloodstains were found in his pickup truck. Barry died suddenly of a heart attack in 1986 or 1987. He was never charged in Owens's case. Owens's disappearance remains unsolved.