Patricia Action was last seen at the Ramada Inn Lounge on U.S 19 North in Clearwater on May 26, 1978. She was there having a drink with coworkers. She left the Lounge around 23:30 in her 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle. Her parents reported her missing when she was not home the next morning. Patricia's car was found abandoned on U.S. 19 in the parking lot of the Days Inn Motel in Tarpon Springs on June 1, 1978. Blood was spattered on the front seat and inside the car, the blood was type O. The keys to the car were not found. Patricia's shoes were in the car.

Patricia Action attended Stetson University in Sanford. While an undergraduate she got married. At the time of her disappearance a divorce was ongoing. She was forced to drop out of University because of illness. She had returned to Tarpon Springs six weeks before her disappearance, to stay with her parents. At the time of her disappearance she worked as a waitress at the Kapok Tree Inn in Clearwater.