Cotta was last seen inside a barn tack house on her family's property in the Allenwood section of Wall Township, New Jersey on June 26, 1973. Her brother and his friend saw her sometime between 11:30 p.m. and midnight. A vehicle was heard driving away from the farm and afterwards, Cotta was discovered to be missing. She was five to seven months pregnant at the time of her disappearance. The identity of her unborn baby's father is unknown. Cotta wrote a letter to God before she went missing and referred to the baby's father, but she didn't say what his name was. In the letter, she stated she was giving three of her favorite horses to a friend. In August 1973, a newborn baby was found abandoned in a mailbox on a horse farm in Jefferson Township, New Jersey. The farm belonged to the friend Cotta gave her horses to, and the baby was born around the same time Cotta's baby was due. Due to these circumstances there was speculation that the child was hers, but DNA tests disproved this theory. Her case remains unsolved.