On the morning of November 7, 2001, Bianca arrived for classes and mentioned to her friends and a teacher that her uncle would be taking her shopping later in the day. At 8:30 a.m., before classes began, she was seen getting into an older-model, two-tone brown and tan van with tinted windows. The driver was described as a Hispanic male, estimated to be between 20 and 30 years old, standing between 5'8" and 5'11" with an average build. Bianca's classmates, believing the man to be her uncle, did not intervene when she entered the van. However, her family later informed authorities that Bianca did not have an uncle, and none of her relatives owned a van matching the description of the vehicle involved in her abduction.