Maleina and her sister, Faloma, were last seen standing at the bus stop in their village of As Sao on the island of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands at 6:10 a.m. on May 25, 2011. They were sitting on a cement slab waiting for the 6:30 but to take them to Kagman Elementary School. They missed the bus, however, and have never been heard from again. When the girls failed to arrive at school, their teachers marked them absent. Their families didn't realize they were missing until 3:30 that afternoon, when they didn't come home as scheduled. Their disappearances were reported to the police at 5:30 p.m.

Faloma and Maleina were both carrying backpacks at the time they vanished. One is described as dark-colored with the owner's name and telephone number written on the straps; the other is a purple Dora the Explorer pack with writing on the shoulder straps. Both backpacks disappeared along with the girls and they haven't been located.

Faloma and Maleina lived with their grandparents at the time of their disappearances; they had since 2007. At the time they went missing, their father was living on the island of Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia, and their mother lived in Guam. Their mother returned to Saipan after the girls' disappearances to assist in the search. Investigators ruled out the sisters' parents and most of their other relatives as suspects in their cases.

Alan Santos Aguon, a former firefighter, is a person of interest in Meleina and Faloma's cases. He is related to them by marriage, and he refused to take a lie detector test about their disappearances. In 2012, Aguon was arrested for domestic violence in California. He remains in custody.

Authorities believe Faloma and Maleina were abducted by someone outside their family. An extensive search has turned up no sign of them and their cases remain unsolved.