Tang lived at Unique Living, an assisted living facility in Lawndale, North Carolina, at the time of her disappearance. She had lived there since 2005. She left the facility at 7:15 a.m. on September 3, 2008, after refusing to take her medication. Tang was last seen in the student parking lot of Burns High School, about two miles from Unique Living in the 300 block of east Stagecoach Trail, at 7:35 a.m. on September 3, 2008. She has never been heard from again.

Other residents of Unique Living had gone missing from the facility for days at a time, and two died inside the home from accidents. One resident, Kelly "Buck" Whitesides, disappeared from there in 2006, only a week after he moved in. His body was found eight days later, less than 1,000 feet from the facility; he had diabetes and a history of strokes and heart problems and had died of natural causes. A month after Whitesides's body was located, another Unique Living resident signed himself out and didn't return. He was found safe 100 miles away.

Unique Living had a poor sanitation rating and was repeatedly cited for violations. It was licensed as a care home for the elderly, but many of its residents were younger people with mental illness. One week after Tang's disappearance, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHS) shut the facility down after deciding that it posed a danger to the health, welfare and safety of its residents. Tang's family filed a lawsuit against it and were awarded a $1.8 million settlement. A DHS committee recommended that the home be fined $50,000 for safety violations.

Tang remains missing and is presumed to be in great danger due to her medical and mental conditions. She is described as a very quiet individual, and she's considered illiterate. Her case remains unsolved.