Investigators initially suspected Meehan had fled the scene out of fear or was suffering from amnesia as a result of head trauma.

[3] Meehan attended college in Oklahoma City, where she studied early childhood development in preparation for a career in childcare.

[4] In 1985, she abandoned that pursuit and relocated to Bozeman, Montana, where she worked as a ranch hand, citing her love of animals as the reason behind her career shift.

[8] Bueller managed to swerve onto the shoulder, avoiding a head-on collision, but the vehicle crashed into the car traveling behind her, driven by off-duty police dispatcher Carol Heitz.

[8]Bueller watched as the unidentified woman stood silently for several moments on the opposite side of the fence before walking away into an empty field, vanishing into the night.

[4] Meehan's family arrived in Montana shortly after their daughter's disappearance, and distributed over 2,000 missing person flyers throughout the area.

[4][7] Police initially speculated that Meehan fled the scene by hitchhiking,[12] or stowing away on a hay truck that had been parked 0.5 miles (0.80 km) from the crash site, though no sightings were reported to support either claim.

[8] Amidst her belongings, Meehan's family developed a roll of film from her camera, which revealed a self-portrait she had taken in front of a mirror.

[10] The driver offered her a ride, which she declined, and the woman told another passing female motorist that her car had broken down and that she was going to find a phone.

[17] On September 1, the woman appeared in a Kootenai County court, where she claimed before the judge to be a missionary traveling between Montana and Washington.