Carol was last seen in Rossville, Georgia, just south of the Tennessee border, on April 9, 1977. She and her five-year-old son, Lynn Dale Mahaffey, and husband, James Skidmore, were visiting relatives when they all disappeared together.

On May 5, Lynn's body was found in Parksville Lake in Cleveland, Texas. He'd been there for several weeks. The child was the victim of a homicide; his body was found wrapped in a plastic bag and weighted with a forty-pound rock. It wasn't identified until June 15. By then, his stepfather had also been found deceased: James was found dead of a drug overdose in a hotel room in Harrison, Arkansas. He had committed suicide. There was no sign of Carol; she has never been heard from again.

Due to the circumstances involved in her disappearance, foul play is suspected in Carol's case. Texas police are investigating her disappearance.