Laura Nimbach was a beautiful, caring, and intelligent young woman who vanished without a trace.

Laura was known to be fiercely independent and a truly amazing daughter. She was a model student in high school, graduating in 2004 and enrolling in Wayne State University in Detroit, MI, where she would study nursing. She soon changed her plans, leading her to drop out and move to Clearwater, FL, reportedly to flee an abusive relationship.

When Laura moved to Florida, she began struggling with prescription drug abuse. She suddenly became unstable and began moving around from place to place. In January of 2009, Laura found herself in yet another abusive relationship. Shortly before her disappearance, she began staying in domestic violence shelters in Clearwater. She was looking forward to joining the programs they offered, specifically rehabilitation programs.

Laura vanished without a trace in February of 2009.

On February 15, 2009, Laura reportedly told her cousin that she was mad at someone who was supposed to pick her up from the shelter for a date. The following day, she left the domestic violence shelter where she had been staying, for an unknown reason. The next day, she vanished. On February 17, 2009, Laura was last seen by a police officer sleeping behind a building near Memorial Park Cemetery in St. Petersburg, FL. The officer told Laura about nearby shelters where she could stay and let her know he couldn’t let her stay there overnight. The final official sighting of Laura was as she walked down the alleyway away from the police officer.

Between 10:00-11:00 pm that evening, Laura called and spoke with an ex-boyfriend several times. This was the last time anyone has heard from Laura. Though attempts were made to report Laura missing shortly after she was last seen, she was not officially labeled as a missing person by authorities until March 31, 2009, more than a month after she was last seen.

Where the case stands today.

Today, Laura has remained missing for the past 13 years. She has not been seen or heard from since February 17, 2009. For Laura to vanish without a trace and not be in contact with family is extremely out of character for her. Laura’s parents have shared that she was in contact with her abuser at the time of her disappearance, and that they believe that he may have had something to do with her disappearance.

At the time of her disappearance in 2009, Laura was described as a 22 year old caucasian woman with blonde hair and light brown eyes. She was 5’5” tall and weighed approximately 105 lbs. Laura's hair is naturally brown but was dyed light blonde at the time of her disappearance and is naturally curly, but she may straighten it. She has a tattoo of a pink flower with a tribal design on her lower back and a tattoo of her initials "LN" on her left wrist. She has her nose, tongue, navel, and upper lip pierced and has a scar on one of her eyebrows from a prior piercing. She suffers from asthma.

If you have any information regarding Laura's disappearance or her whereabouts, please contact the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office at (727) 582-6153 or Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay at (800) 873-TIPS (8477) or through their online tip form.