Steed was last seen at her residence in Piedmont, Alabama on November 25, 1997. Her 1982 beige Ford Fairmount with Alabama license plates 11DW289 was discovered abandoned on Interstate 20 in Cleburne County, Alabama on December 18, 1997, nearly three weeks after Steed's initial disappearance. There was no sign of her at the scene and she has never been heard from again.