Rains-Kracman was last seen at her parents' home in Columbus, Nebraska on September 24, 1965. She left her two children, who were then two years old and six months old, with her parents and told them she was going of a weekend trip to a wedding in Glenwood, Iowa with her female friend and roommate. Her friend returned, but Rains-Kracman has never been heard from again. When authorities investigated her case later, they discovered that the only woman who got married in Glenwood that day did not know Rains-Kracman or her friend. Rains-Kracman's friend subsequently refused to say where she had taken her.

Rains-Kracman's family did not report her as a missing person until the 1990s. They believe she left of her own accord. She had married at sixteen but was separated from her husband by 1965, and her husband had filed for divorce in September. Rains-Kracman's sister says she packed two large suitcases when she left home, which the sister found odd, since it was supposed to be only a short trip.

Melvin Uphoff disappeared a month after Rains-Kracman did and has never been heard from again. He was her husband's boss at a service station in Rising City, Nebraska and he and Rains-Kracman were apparently having an affair in 1965. Authorities and both families believe the couple ran away together to start a new life.

Both Uphoff and Rains-Kracman's family members believe the missing pair tried to contact them in the years after 1965. One of Rains-Kracman's sisters said a woman stongly resembling her missing sister attended their mother's funeral. The same woman appeared at Rains-Kracman's sister's place of work and stared at her, but disappeared again before she could be confronted.

Rains-Kracman is described as a lively, energetic person. She has eight siblings. She was working as coil winder at an electronics company in Columbus in 1965. She left her car behind when she disappeared. Both Rains-Kracman and Uphoff's cases remain unsolved; their families are continuing to search for them.