New details have emerged in connection with the disappearance of a 13-year-old Maine girl, who vanished in 2024.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Stefanie Damron disappeared on September 23, 2024, while under the care of a family friend, 80, in New Sweden, according to her parents.
Stephanie’s mother told police she left to complete job application paperwork while the man, reportedly known as “Grandpa,” watched four of her six children.
Maine State Police (MSP) said Stefanie’s parents stated she was last seen walking into the woods along West Road in New Sweden. She purportedly left after an argument with her sister.
According to Daily Mail, the teen had been living in a “wood-framed yurt” with her sister, 18, and the 80-year-old man when she vanished. Her parents lived nearby in a trailer with their younger children.
The teen’s father, Christopher “Dale” Damron, 48, has since given conflicting information regarding her disappearance, according to what neighbors told the outlet.
Two neighbors told Daily Mail that they heard a loud argument before Stefanie disappeared. Some neighbors have disputed the father’s claims that he asked neighbors for help right away, stating that they didn’t realize she was missing until days later.
One of the neighbors, 74-year-old Doug Tinsley, said that turmoil with the family had begun before the teen’s disappearance.
“People who think this all started with Stefanie’s disappearance have it all wrong,” Tinley said. “It was actually like watching a train wreck in slow motion from the time they got here.”
The family arrived to the area in 2021. Before that, while in Texas, the Damron couple reportedly lost custody of their other children for six months in 2015. It happened following the parents’ arrest for public intoxication.
There had also been issues in Texas that prompted Children’s Protective Services to become involved, with reports that Stefanie had run away in the past.
In Maine, the family lived with no indoor plumbing or running water, and only had a generator for power. Neighbors said the children were often seen in filthy clothing.
Dale Damron, according to NewsNation, told a local podcast that they chose to live a certain way to ease the financial burden on the family, and that the focus should be on finding his child.
“I was concerned that they had proper food, water, heat and clothing for the conditions that they were living under,” Tinsley said.
Dale Damron also told the podcast that his daughter may have used the grandfather’s flip phone to get someone to pick her up.
Investigators have not commented on whether they obtained information from the phone.
The Maine Warden Service and state police K-9 Unit have previously searched swaths of land near where the teen disappeared.
The FBI is also helping to search, and currently offering a $15,000 reward “for information leading to the safe return of Stefanie Damron and/or information leading to the arrest and prosecution of anyone involved in her disappearance.”
Stephanie is described as standing 5 feet tall, weighing 130 pounds, with green eyes and shoulder-length brown hair. She was last seen wearing blue jeans, a long-sleeve blue shirt, and black Harley-Davidson hiking boots.
Anyone with information is urged to call the Maine State Police at 1-800-924-2261 or (207) 532-5400. Tipsters can also contact the FBI’s tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI, or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.
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[Feature Photo: Stefanie Damron/Handout]
