Ross's husband told authorities that his wife drove to a local pharmacy at approximately 12:00 p.m. on January 8, 1984 in their hometown of Apex, North Carolina. She was picking up medication for their daughter, who was ill at the time. When Ross did not return home in approximately one hour, her husband said that he drove to the pharmacy himself to check on her. He discovered his wife's car was abandoned in the Cary Village Mall (now called the Cary Towne Center) parking lot. There was no trace of Ross and she has never been seen again. Ross carrying a wine-colored purse at the time of her disappearance.

Ross's mother claimed that there was something amiss in her daughter's life at the time of her 1984 disappearance, but refused to divulge any information she may have known. Ross's family members did maintain that it was very uncharacteristic of her to leave without contacting her loved ones.

Ross was employed as a nurse at the time of her disappearance. Her husband has since remarried.