Girard attended a court hearing in Gering, Nebraska on June 13, 1997. She was living with her boyfriend in Scottsbluff, Nebraska at the time. She was supposed to appear with her attorney for a proceeding on July 11, but never showed up. She has never been heard from again.
She was not reported missing until June 30, 1998, a year after her disappearance. Many agencies report her date of disappearance as May 5, the day she bonded of the county jail in Scottsbluff.
Prior her disappearance, Girard had been convicted of misdemeanor attempted forgery for stealing and cashing a check from a Gering man for $500. On May 1, a month and a half before she went missing, she attended her sentencing hearing and found out she was ineligible for probation and would have to serve a custodial sentence. Her family attended the hearing as well and stated she expected the sentence and was not upset about it.
Her public offender filed notice of intent to appeal, arguing that the sentence was excessive, and Girard was out on bond pending the outcome of this appeal when she disappeared. The appeal was subsequently denied, but by then she was missing.
She was in an abusive relationship at the time of her disappearance; her family saw her with black eyes and bruises and referred to her then-boyfriend as a monster. They helped Girard report the domestic violence to the police, but she would always withdraw the charges later.
The boyfriend, who was not very cooperative in the investigation, told the police Girard had simply taken her belongings and left one day. This is something her family doubts, as she only had about $20 on her when she disappeared, and she didn't have a car or access to one. The boyfriend died in 2000; he was never charged in Girard's disappearance or publicly named as a suspect.
In spite of the legal proceedings against her and in spite of her subtance abuse problem, both police and Girard's family believe foul play was involved in her disappearance. She always maintained contact with her family, called her twin brother on their birthday, and attended family holidays and other events.
