Mary Elizabeth lived in a seaside home in Felixstowe with her father, Ward Nayland Sarsfield, an accountant at the Stanton Shipping company. A Big Sister broke into their home at 2:30 AM in the morning of March 16 and captured Mary Elizabeth in her bedsheets, hefting her over one shoulder to carry away. Her father heard her screams, but he did not investigate immediately since he knew that his daughter was "prone to night terrors." By the time he went downstairs to check on her, the Big Sister was already escaping out of the window.