Equilla and her mother were sitting on the front porch of their Briggs Avenue residence in the New York City borough of the Bronx on August 12, 1985. Her mother turned to talk to friends at approximately 6:30 p.m. that evening, and saw Equilla running to the corner of Briggs Avenue and 194th Street towards a parked Mr. Softee ice cream truck. Her mother was eight months pregnant at the time and unable to chase Equilla, but the child always returned quickly. Equilla's cousin told her mother that she saw Equilla playing video games in an arcade on the corner later in the evening. Equilla was never seen again. She has a scar near her right eye and a scar on her right cheek.