(NewsNation) — A survivor of human trafficking was on her way to get treatment, but after her flight landed, there was no trace of her on board. Now, her family fears predators may have found her again.
Lauren Steele left her home in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, last August, telling her family she had been trafficked and was fleeing her captors. She told her family she was heading to Las Vegas for a program that would provide rehabilitative care for what she had experienced.
“She was so excited about going to this program and really looking forward to it,” said her mother, Susan Steele.
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Lauren Steele said she was a trafficking victim
Lauren Steele had previously rented a room in Virginia after finding an ad. But after renting the room, she discovered she was in trouble.
Her godmother, Dorothy Field, said Steele was a trusting person.
“She wouldn’t think anybody would do that,” Field said. “It’s like, ‘Lauren, you’ve got to be careful, you’re a pretty girl.’ And she’s like, ‘Oh, stop it, you are so worried. You worry too much. People won’t do that.'”
But her family said Steele told them the men she rented a room from were traffickers.
Lauren Steele was traveling to Las Vegas for treatment. (Susan Steele) 
Lauren Steele told her family she was a victim of human trafficking. (Susan Steele) 
Lauren Steele said she was trafficked by men she rented a room from. (Susan Steele) 
There is no proof Lauren Steele arrived in Las Vegas. (Susan Steele) 
Lauren Steele feared her traffickers would find her again. (Susan Steele)
“She said they were tracking her phone, they were tracking her,” Susan Steele said. “When they’d go out, they had a lock on the outside of the other door.”
Lauren Steele notified the FBI, but her family said nothing came of it. Steele was able to break free but lived in fear that she’d be found again.
“She kept moving around and changing her phone number, and she was afraid that these people would harm her or her family,” Field said.
Steele was looking to get treatment
On Aug. 5, 2024, Steele was scheduled to fly from Pennsylvania to Las Vegas to get the help she needed. However, her flight was delayed due to weather conditions, and the airline accommodated her by putting her up in a hotel.
“She said that she was at a hotel and there was a man outside to help make sure she got to the airport, make sure she got on the plane,” Field said. “We don’t know who the man was, where the man came from, anything.”
That was the last time her family heard from Steele.
What they do know is that Steele’s phone took a flight from Pennsylvania to Chicago to Las Vegas.
But authorities say they have no proof that Steele had her phone on those flights.
Missing persons cases are common in Las Vegas. Three hundred adults go missing there every month.
“I just want Las Vegas police to go there. But they’re not going to do anything, I guess, because we can’t prove that she landed,” Susan Steele said. “Does anybody have proof that she physically landed there, besides her phone?”
Lauren Steele’s family is searching for her
Pennsylvania State Police have classified Lauren Steele as missing and endangered because of medical and mental health problems.
Her brother believes she’s still alive but being trafficked somewhere. Lauren Steele’s family says that if someone spotted her, she could be identified by the tattoos on her forearm, thigh and torso.
“I just want to make sure she’s not in somebody’s basement, chained up or being tortured every day,” Susan Steele said. “I mean, if she’s somewhere and it’s on her own, I’m okay with that if that’s what she wants. But I don’t know that, and they don’t know that.”