Burr was last seen in her home in Tacoma, Washington on the night of August 31, 1961. She shared her bedroom with her three-year-old sister, who had a broken arm at the time. In the middle of the night, Burr brought her sister to their parents' room because she was crying. Their parents told them to go back to bed. Burr's mother got up at 5:30 a. m. The front door had been locked and chained the evening before, but Burr's mother found it open. A small living room window which had been closed the night before was also open, and a bench underneath the window had been overturned. Footprints were found outside the house, but they had been distorted by rainy weather and no one could tell if they were from a man, a woman or a child. There was no sign of Burr anywhere and no sign of a struggle in her bedroom. Her two siblings, who slept in the basement, and her sister had not been disturbed, and the family dog had not barked.