Genelle disappeared from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on April 27, 1999. That day she attended classes at Wilkinsburg High School, where she was an honors student due to graduate in two months. That evening, she went to her job at the YWCA on Ross Avenue and was last seen walking home. She never arrived.
Genelle's friends didn't believe she would have run away, because she was happy with her life and looking forward to her upcoming prom. Her father wasn't a part of her life, and her mother died when she was five, so she was raised by her grandparents.
Genelle's grandparents stated her grades had slipped prior to her disappearance; during her senior year, she had stopped studying and doing her homework as conscientiously as before.
Investigators believe Genelle left of her own accord and may still be local area. Her grandmother speculated she left home due to a boyfriend and/or an unplanned pregnancy. Her case remains unsolved.