Ranshaw was last seen in Barryton, Michigan on May 17, 1987. She left home to go get a gallon of milk and never returned. She has never been heard from again. A few weeks after her disappearance, her vehicle was found abandoned at a hotel off Interstate 96 in Howell, Michigan. Ranshaw left behind a two-month-old daughter. They lived with the child's grandparents. Ranshaw has schizophrenia and hears voices as a result of her condition. Prior to her disappearance, she had said that the voices in her head were telling her to leave. She had left before and would sometimes be gone for months at a time, hitchhiking for transportation, but would always return. Foul play is suspected in Ranshaw's disappearance.