Nan Dixon was last seen in Grass Valley, California on September 21, 1978. She was leaving for a nearly three-hour trip to visit family in Seven Troughs, Nevada, near Lovelock. She never arrived at her destination and her family reported her missing a short time later.

In November 1982, Nan Dixon's Datsun was found by coyote hunters in a ravine below the main road of the Seven Troughs turnoff. It had been discovered in an area that had been previously searched from the air and by ground. The car appeared to have been deliberately driven over a rocky road and into the ravine. Tire tracks could be seen where it left the road and traversed down into the gulch. The tires were badly scuffed from having been driven over the rocky road, but otherwise held air and were considered to be in reasonably good condition. The car also contained a half tank of gasoline. (Information retrieved from NamUs.gov)