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Fresh insights have come to light regarding the mysterious disappearance of a 13-year-old girl from Maine, who went missing in 2024.
Stefanie Damron was last seen on September 23, 2024, while she was in the care of a family friend known as “Grandpa,” an 80-year-old man residing in New Sweden. Her parents shared these details with the authorities as they sought answers to her sudden vanishing.
Her mother had reportedly stepped out to handle some job application paperwork, leaving “Grandpa” to look after four of her six children, including Stefanie. This arrangement was not unusual, suggesting a level of trust between the family and the elderly caretaker.
Maine State Police have gathered from Stefanie’s parents that the young girl was last observed making her way into the woods off West Road in New Sweden. Her departure followed a disagreement with her sister, adding a layer of complexity to the circumstances surrounding her disappearance.
As reported by the Daily Mail, Stefanie was living in a “wood-framed yurt” with her 18-year-old sister and the elderly man at the time she went missing. Meanwhile, her parents and younger siblings resided nearby in a trailer, indicating a somewhat unconventional but seemingly close-knit family setup.
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.
Check back for updates.
[Feature Photo: Stefanie Damron/Handout]
