James was last seen by her family in Farmington, New Mexico on April 20, 2014. Her sister saw her walking with a man near McKinley Elementary School. On April 24, James's duffel bag and purse were found hidden in an alleyway on 20th Street in Farmington. The police officer who found the bags found two cellular phones in them, and dialed the last number the phones had called. The man told police that James had left his home the night before. He said she was drunk and kept knocking on neighbors' doors, someone called the police, so she left.