Wakefield was last seen at her mobile home at the Bon-Aire Mobile Home Lodge in Iowa City, Iowa on September 9, 1975. She has never been heard from again. Initially it was thought that she had left with a religious cult which was active in the area, but her family did not believe she would have joined a cult. When investigators searched the cult's camp they found no sign of Wakefield, and the theory was thus discredited.

Wakefield was separated from her husband in 1975; she had filed for divorce about six months before she vanished and was romantically involved with another man. The day of her disappearance, she went on a bicycle ride with friends. A neighbor spoke to her after she returned to her home, and said she was behaving normally. Late that evening, one of Wakefield's neighbors heard someone yelling or screaming, but did not investigate the noises. Wakefield was discovered missing the next day.

Wakefield's Fiat was found parked in its assigned space and her bicycle was locked to a yard lamp. Inside her residence everything seemed to be in order. Investigators believe she had been taking a shower when she disappeared. Shortly after Wakefield vanished, an informant told police she had been murdered and her body cremated and scattered along Interstate 80. The informant passed a lie detector test, but his information was never confirmed. Authorities searched several locations, including two businesses owned by Wakefield's husband. They removed bone fragments, a piece of metal believed to be a tooth filling, and five vacuum cleaners from his property. Laboratory testing could not connect the items to Wakefield, however.

Authorities have identified a suspect in Wakefield's disappearance, but the individual has never been charged due to a lack of evidence. Wakefield was employed as a teacher at at Penn Elementary School in North Liberty, Iowa in 1975; her disappearance was reported by the school principal when she did not show up for work. She attended Morningside College before transferring to the University of Iowa, where she graduated in 1970. She is considered missing under suspicious circumstances and her case remains unsolved.