Chin was last seen in East Norwich, New York on July 8, 1981. She left her her home in the 30 block of Ross Lane at 10:00 a.m. to go to the supermarket, and never returned. She has never been heard from again. After her disappearance, her tan 1976 Chevrolet Nova with a vinyl top the New York license plate number 258FCL was found abandoned in the parking lot of a diner at Old Country Road and South Oyster Bay Road in Plainview, New York. Multiple tires were flat, and there was some cigarette ash on the floorboard; Chin did not smoke. The night before her disappearance, Chin fainted in the bathroom and struck the back of her head. She went to the hospital for an X-ray and medical check, and they couldn't find anything seriously wrong with her. Her mother theorized that her disappearance was a delayed reaction to the fall and head injury.