NEW SWEDEN, Maine – As Christmas approaches, no one knows where Stefanie Damron went.
On Sept. 23, the then-13-year-old girl went missing from her family’s New Sweden home after walking into the nearby woods. Damron’s family reported her missing the following day, and since then her disappearance has led to a joint Maine State Police and FBI investigation and galvanized locals to search for her.
The FBI is now offering $15,000 to anyone with information that leads to her whereabouts or the arrest of people involved with her disappearance. So far, details on her disappearance remain scarce.
The Aroostook residents who have been leading local search efforts held a vigil for Damron Saturday at New Sweden First Baptist Church Saturday, hoping to keep her name in peoples’ minds. Saturday marked 90 days since she went missing.
Though most of them have never met Damron, the nine people who spoke offered prayers for her and those searching, and urged everyone to hold onto hope that she might one day be found.
Jess Babin of Fort Fairfield read from a letter to Damron, one of many that community members have shared on the Facebook page, “Letters to Stefanie,” hoping that Damron might one day read those words and reach out to someone who could help her.
“There are people all over the world looking for you. I have been blessed to meet some of those people working so very hard daily to find you,” Babin said. “We will never stop searching for you.”
The letters were displayed on posterboard at the church, along with law enforcement statements from a recent press conference and a timeline of events involved with the search for Damron.
Visitors were encouraged to write their own letter to Damron, leave a tip for law enforcement in a sealed box or take one of the many missing child flyers and holiday ornaments bearing the now-14-year-old’s face.
Over 20 people attended the brief vigil, many wearing purple, Damron’s favorite color, and lighting purple candles during a minute of silence.
Vigil organizer Kerowyn Guillotte of New Sweden and others used the phrase “Light Up the Sky Purple for Stefanie” while promoting the event and sharing information about Damron on multiple social media platforms.
Guillotte read a letter from Damron’s great-aunt Jerri Harms of Illinois, who urged Damron to contact someone, even if just to say, “I’m OK.”
“I know in my heart you are out there somewhere,” Guillotte said, reading from the letter. “There are so many people looking for you and worried about you, baby girl. You are loved so much and all want you to be found.”
Damron’s mother, Lisa Damron, and other family members were present at the vigil but declined to be interviewed.
Anyone with information regarding Damron’s disappearance can call the Maine State Police Houlton barracks at 1-800-824-2261 or the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324).
