In 2017, Slusser dropped out of Bloomsburg Area High School one class short of graduation and moved in with living with friends in her hometown of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. She had been a cheerleader in school and dreamed of becoming a makeup artist. She didn't get along with her mother and hoped to move in with her aunt in Massachusetts in January 2017.

In the summer of 2017, she met a man named Yhovanny Peguero, who told her he could give her a place to stay in New York City. She traveled to New York in July, taking only her cellular phone and identification; she didn't even take any extra clothes.

After her arrival she kept in touch with her family and friends, contacting them on a near-daily basis. She indicated everything was going well, but after her later disappearance, her family found out she'd been working as a prostitute, advertising on the internet to get clients.

At 1:00 a.m. August 25, Slusser called 911 from the Harlem Vista Hotel in Manhattan and said Peguero, a man whom she identified as her pimp and called "daddy", had stolen $300 from her and that when she confronted him, he grabbed her by the throat, choked her and slammed her against the wall. When police arrived at the scene, she was still very upset, shaking and crying.

Peguero was arrested and charged with harassment, third-degree assault and criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation. A temporary order of protection against him was issued by the court on Slusser's behalf. When her family in Pennsylvania found out about the attack, she downplayed it and told them there was nothing to worry about.

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