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Fresh insights have surfaced regarding the mysterious disappearance of a 13-year-old girl from Maine, who went missing in 2024.
As CrimeOnline had reported earlier, Stefanie Damron vanished on September 23, 2024, while under the supervision of an 80-year-old family friend in New Sweden, according to information provided by her parents.
Stefanie’s mother informed the authorities that she had left to handle job application paperwork, leaving her children in the care of the elderly man, affectionately referred to as “Grandpa.” He was responsible for watching four out of her six children.
The Maine State Police (MSP) stated that Stefanie’s parents reported her last sighting as she headed into the woods along West Road in New Sweden, following a dispute with her sister.
The Daily Mail revealed that Stefanie had been residing in a “wood-framed yurt” with her 18-year-old sister and the octogenarian at the time she disappeared. Her parents, along with their younger children, lived nearby in a trailer.
Furthermore, neighbors have claimed that Stefanie’s father, Christopher “Dale” Damron, 48, has provided inconsistent accounts about her disappearance, as reported by 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]
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