Teen Who Disappeared After Argument with Sister Still Missing Over a Month Later: 'Keep Your Eyes Open,' Mom Pleads
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11/08/2024 05:04 PM
Stefanie Damron, now 14, was last seen on Monday, Sept. 23, walking into the woods near her home in New Sweden, Maine
Maine State Police
Stefanie Damron- Stefanie Damron, 14, of New Sweden, Maine, was reported missing on Sept. 24
- A spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety tells PEOPLE that the search in ongoing and that "detectives continue to follow up on any and all leads"
- On Facebook, the girl's mother, Lisa Marie Damron, has been asking for people with information on Stefanie's whereabouts to contact authorities
Maine authorities are continuing their search for a 14-year-old girl who was reported missing over a month ago, while her mother has been urging the public to share any information that might lead to her daughter's safe return.
Maine State Police said they received a report on Tuesday, Sept. 24, that Stefanie Damron, then 13, was missing.
"Stefanie was last seen walking out of her house and into the woods located on the West Road in New Sweden on September 23, 2024," they added.
However, despite their "extensive investigative efforts," authorities have so far been unable to find the teen.
"Investigators have conducted many interviews and followed up on leads in Maine, nationally, and in Canada," police said in their Oct. 22 statement. "The Maine Warden Service and Maine State Police K9 Unit have searched large parcels of land near Stefanie's last known location."
Last month, Stefanie's parents, Christopher and Lisa Marie Damron, said the teen "got into an argument with her sister" on the day she was last seen, and then "walked off."
"We live a half mile back in the woods and our kids are very comfortable in their surroundings so there was nothing to raise flags the first few hours," the parents, who said they weren't home at the time, added in a statement shared on social media and with local station WAGM-TV,
"We just want our baby home," they said.
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As previously reported by the Bangor Daily News, Jerri Harms, Stephanie's great-aunt, told the Brooklyn Squad podcast that the girl and her parents moved from Texas to New Sweden in 2020. Harms claimed that Stefanie had previously tried to run away a number of times, but was always found by relatives in the woods.
When contacted by PEOPLE on Thursday, Nov. 7, a spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety said that there have been no new updates in the case to report, and that "detectives continue to follow up on any and all leads."
Stefani's disappearance has also prompted a citizens' group to search the woods in New Sweden, the Bangor Daily News reported. "We're not going to stop until we find her," Whittni Nichols, who is also part of a Facebook group called Help Find Stefanie Damron, told the newspaper.
Meanwhile, on her Facebook page, Stefanie's mom, who did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment, has been resharing posts from police and posting her own pleas.
"Please keep your eyes open and sharing," she wrote on Sunday, Nov. 3. "Help us bring our baby girl home safe and sound."
"We love you Stef please baby come home…" she wrote in another post, while pleading in a third, "if you have a heart and know anything please please report it to the authorities....please we are begging."
Authorities described Stefanie as 5' 0" and 130 lbs., with green eyes, and shoulder-length brown hair— adding that 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 Maine State Police at 1 (800) 924-2261 or (207) 532-5400.
