NEW SWEDEN, Maine — It’s been one year since a New Sweden girl vanished after she ran into the forest surrounding her remote West Road home, just miles from the Canadian border.
Stefanie Damron, whose 15th birthday is on Oct. 6, remains missing despite exhaustive searches over thousands of miles of rugged terrain by multiple law enforcement and search units.
She first disappeared from her family’s house on Sept. 23, 2024, and was reported missing the following day. Now, her father, Dale Damron, said Stefanie’s “case is losing the flame and it needs to be rekindled.”
During an interview Monday at the family’s property, Christopher “Dale” Damron called on Maine State Police or the FBI to go on national or state TV to discuss the case. While law enforcement has asked the family to stay silent to protect Stefanie, her parents said, they believe it’s time to change course.
“It’s my daughter and I’ve played by the rules long enough; now it’s time for me to let my side be heard for my family,” Dale Damron said, as Stefanie’s mother, Lisa, dabbed away tears.
The search for Stefanie has included extensive searches across more than 4,500 acres of northern Maine wilderness, with authorities using drones, helicopters and dogs, according to Dale Damron.
Stefanie — whose case has drawn outsized attention from people in Maine and beyond, including on the Fox TV show “America’s Most Wanted: Missing Persons” — is one of several young northern Maine women who have vanished in recent years. They have included Attiin Shaw, who was last seen in Washburn in 2021, just 10 miles from the Damron home, and Tomis Hoyt, who was last seen in Mars Hill on July 13 of this year.
Lisa and Dale Damron have six children ranging from 8 to 22 years old, including some from previous relationships. Stefanie was the first child they had together. On Monday, they sat on their forested property facing a memorial Lisa Damron built to mark the one-year anniversary of her daughter’s disappearance.
Lisa Damron gently placed orange, yellow and green metal butterflies and birds onto a tough-barked tree stump. Nearby was the dense forest path that led to the mudhole where their children would catch tadpoles — and where they think their daughter last walked 364 days ago.
They now see the vibrantly decorated tree stump — surrounded by whirly gigs spinning in the September breeze — like a light in the window as they stand vigil for Stefanie’s return.
“We also have four candles always burning in the window,” Lisa Damron said. “The babies helped me with [the memorial] too, and I told them, anytime they feel like they need to talk to Stefanie or talk to God, come down here.”
As they recounted the details of the day Stefanie headed into the forest, the pain was evident.
“Stefanie was the light of our life. She kept things interesting. She was always a happy child. She could laugh when no one else could,” Dale Damron said.
When she didn’t want to be bothered, she would often go out in the woods, a place she loved, they said.
So when she walked off down the familiar trail, they thought she was just cooling off from a spat with her sister that morning. Her parents were not home at the time, as they were in Presque Isle for a job interview, they said.
“When we came home, no Stefanie. But we figured she’d just be a couple of hours,” Dale said, adding that he initially thought they had to wait 24 hours before reporting it.
Still, he said, he released their dogs to go look for her and bring her home, which they often did when the kids were out in the woods too long. But when morning came and it had been about 12 hours since she was missing, Dale Damron said he had to call someone.
The Aroostook County Sheriff was first, followed quickly by Maine State Police, he said.
At one point last year, out of desperation, Lisa Damron also went to Facebook to ask for help. Now, they both say that was a mistake, as they have received heated criticism on social media.
“We should have never involved the public in the beginning,” Dale Damron said. “The public is ate up with evil like cancer. What they are saying about our family, all of it totally unfounded. It’s nasty and we don’t deserve it.”
In the past year, the Damrons have replayed their life with Stefanie over and over again in their heads, trying to find a clue, or figure out where to look next. Dale Damron said he went through years of older photos to see if there was ever a time that Stefanie looked unhappy.
But they just don’t know.
“You can’t change the pain when you don’t know, and that’s what kills us: we don’t know,” he said. “Did she do it on her own? Was she kidnapped? Is she in the ditch? Is she shacked up with somebody? Did she get pregnant and don’t want to tell us? We need to know.”
The Boston office of the FBI is offering a $15,000 reward for information leading to Stefanie’s safe return, and law enforcement has followed leads around the U.S. and Canada, but they have turned up little new information.
“There are no new updates to report on the case and detectives are continuing the investigation,” said Shannon Moss, spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety.
At this time, Lisa and Dale Damron fear that Stefanie might be afraid to come home, that she might think she’s in some kind of trouble or that someone has convinced her she cannot go home.
“We just want her to come home. No matter what happened, we can work this out,” Lisa Damron said. “As long as I am breathing I will never give up hope.”
Last year, Stefanie was 5-feet tall, weighed about 130 pounds and had shoulder-length brown hair. She has green eyes. She was last seen wearing blue jeans, a long sleeve blue shirt, and black Harley Davidson hiking boots. Anyone with any information about Stefanie’s whereabouts is encouraged to call the Maine State Police Houlton barracks at 800-924-2261 or 207-532-5400.
Correction: A previous version of this story misspelled Attiin Shaw’s first name.
