Karla's mother last saw her daughter as she left their family's Las Vegas, Nevada residence to walk to school during the morning hours of October 20, 1999. Karla was last seen at approximately 7:00 p.m. that evening in the 800 block of Bonita Street. She was speaking to a group of children at the time. The location was two blocks from her family's home and also near the Stratosphere Tower in downtown Las Vegas. Karla never returned to her house and has not been seen again. Authorities have few leads as to what happened to her.

Karla's disappearance was originally thought to be linked to a debt her parents owed a former brother-in-law. Karla's father had borrowed money from the man, who has not been identified, so he could start a business. A few months before Karla disappeared, the brother-in-law came to Las Vegas and demanded to be repaid. The family gave him $1,000 but he said that was only the interest and he wanted more money. It was theorized that the man abducted Karla in attempt to extort money from her parents, but he has since been ruled out as a suspect in her case. Investigators now believe Karla was taken by someone outside her family.

Another man police have been looking at is Curtis Dean Anderson. A photograph of Anderson is posted below this case summary. He was convicted of kidnapping an eight-year-old Vallejo, California girl in August 2000. He held her captive in his car for two days until she managed to escape. Anderson recieved 250 years to life in that case. While in prison he bragged about kidnapping and murdering Xiana Fairchild, a seven-year-old girl who disappeared from Vallejo in 1999. Her remains were found eighteen months later. Anderson lated pleaded guilty to Fairchild's murder. It has been established that Anderson was in Las Vegas in March of 2000; as of yet it is unknown whether he was there in October 1999. He has not been linked to Karla and is only considered a possible suspect in her disappearance.

Anderson died in prison in 2007. A month before his death, he signed a confession to the murder of Amber Swartz-Garcia, who disappeared from Pinole, California in 1988. Her body has never been found. Police spent eighteen months investigating Anderson's statement and could not refute it. In the summer of 2009, they announced they had accepted the confession and were closing Amber's case and ending the search for her.

Karla's disappearance remains unsolved.

Above: Curtis Dean Anderson