CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) – Investigators are asking for the public’s help in locating a woman who escaped human traffickers but has left her Pennsylvania home and has not had contact with her family in more than a year.
The Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation is searching for Lauren Steele, who stayed at a hotel in Carlisle in August 2024 and has not had contact with her family since, investigators said Friday. She was 36 years old when she was reported missing.
Steele is originally from New York but lived in Virginia before moving to Pennsylvania. State police said she may be heading to Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Pennsylvania State Police are asking for the public’s help in locating Lauren Steele. Photo from PSP.
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Pennsylvania State Police are asking for the public’s help in locating Lauren Steele. Photo from PSP.
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Pennsylvania State Police are asking for the public’s help in locating Lauren Steele. Photo from PSP.
Steele, a survivor of human trafficking, reportedly left her residence in Carlisle to attend a program in Las Vegas that would help her receive rehabilitative care for what she experienced, according to a June 2025 report from Newsnation.
Steele was supposed to fly from the Keystone State to Las Vegas to seek help, but her flight was delayed and she was put up in a hotel, the report said. That was the last time her family heard from her.
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Family members told Newsnation she contacted them when she arrived at the hotel and said there was a man outside who wanted to help her board her flight. Her family has since said they have not heard from her.
Investigators described Steele as 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighing 115 pounds, with green eyes and strawberry blond hair.
Investigators said a $5,000 reward is being offered for information that helps solve the case.
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If anyone has information, they can call PSP Tips at 1-800-472-8477 or submit a tip online.
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