Hughes left her residence in Aliceville, Alabama with her boyfriend, Renard Simmons, at approximately 10:30 p.m. on September 1, 2000. She was last seen in Pickensville, Alabama later in the evening. Her friend told authorities that he dropped her off at her home at approximately 3:00 a.m. on September 2, but Hughes has never been heard from again.

Hughes's brown purse and her white shoes were discovered under a tree in a cotton field in Noxubee County, Mississippi sometime after she was last seen. An extensive search of the area produced no clues as to her whereabouts. The items were located just west of the Alabama/Mississippi state line. Hughes's disappearance remains unsolved.

Hughes's family members believe that she may have traveled to Texas with Simmons, who was the father of her baby, after her disappearance. Her family believes she is deceased. They had her declared legally dead in February 2008, seven and a half years after her disappearance. Hughes's case remains unsolved.