*Last Updated – September 1, 2024*
EARLY LIFE:
Stephanie Crane was born on September 28, 1984, to parents Sandi and Ben Crane. The eldest of four children, she and her family lived in the scenic mountain town of Challis, Idaho.
Growing up, Stephanie’s mother stayed at home, while her father worked in the mineral mines and did taxidermy. Stephanie was especially close to her father, who’d take her fishing, hiking and rock picking. The two were always joking around and teasing each other.
Stephanie was described as a tomboy who’d rather spend her time outdoors, rather than be cooped up inside. She loved the freedom living in a small town afforded her, and she always had a huge smile on her face. When not at school or at home, she could often be found biking around or spending time with her grandparents.
LEAD UP TO DISAPPEARANCE:
October 11, 1993, was like any other day in Challis. After school, Stephanie and her classmates went to the town’s bowling alley for their elementary school bowling league. While there, they bowled three games and ordered food. Sandi visited the bowling alley between 4:00 PM and 4:30 PM to pay for her daughter’s games and give her money for a snack. She briefly spoke to Stephanie before leaving the premises.
At around 4:45 PM, the league wrapped up and the children began to head home. One of the mothers who’d been at the bowling alley keeping score claims to have seen Stephanie walking away from the building, presumably toward her grandparents’ house.
Around the same time, Stephanie’s friend offered her a ride home, but the nine-year-old declined, saying she’d forgotten her backpack at the high school soccer field. The last time anyone saw Stephanie would be while she was waiting to cross Highway 93, on her way back to the school.
DISAPPEARANCE:
Stephanie’s parents had set her nightly curfew at 5:00 PM, so her mother found it suspicious when her daughter didn’t arrive home by that time. By 5:15 PM, Sandi began to worry and called Stephanie’s grandmother, Hazel, who also hadn’t seen her. The neighbourhood boys who were seen playing outside were asked if they’d seen the nine-year-old, but she hadn’t been out with them.
When it became clear that no one in the area had seen or heard from Stephanie, Sandi and Hazel began driving around town, but they found no sign of her. As it got dark, their worry increased, as the young girl was known to be afraid of the dark.
Hazel thought Stephanie might have gone over to a friend’s house for a sleepover and had forgotten to inform the family. However, upon contacting those her daughter been close with, this theory turned out to be a dead end.
Without any sign of Stephanie, Sandi drove to the local sheriff’s office to report her daughter missing. The time was 8:15 PM.
INVESTIGATION:
The Custer County Sheriff’s Office began its search immediately upon learning of Stephanie’s disappearance. Search and rescue crews were called in, as was the local fire department. Boats, four-wheelers, helicopters and horses were used to scour the town and surrounding area, and search crews walked around on foot to see if any evidence could be found. When midnight came and Stephanie still hadn’t been found, the search was called off for the night.
On October 12, 1993, the search was renewed, with more than 100 volunteers showing up to help. State and federal law enforcement also became involved, and a photo and description of Stephanie was faxed to both state police and county sheriff’s offices across Idaho.
One of the first major tips to be called in revolved around an unknown yellow truck parked at the high school. No one in the area recognized the vehicle and, given the location’s proximity to the elementary school, it piqued police interest. However, when they went to take a look, the truck was gone, without anyone having taken down its license plate or its make/model.
Those closest to the Crane family formed “Friends of Stephanie” and mailed out flyers nationwide, hoping to spread the word about the young girl’s disappearance. The flyers reached as far away as California.
A search dog was brought in to help trace Stephanie’s movements after she was last seen outside of the bowling alley. However, it lost her scent after only a few yards.
On October 15, another possible vehicle sighting was called into police, this time regarding an unknown blue van seen parked along the shoulder of Highway 93, about a half mile from the bowling alley, on the same day Stephanie went missing. A convenience store clerk claims to have seen two men fighting nearby. However, police were never able to find the van and, similar to the truck, no license plate or make/model had been noted.
Four days after Stephanie’s disappearance, police interviewed the children who’d been at the bowling alley with her. From these discussions, it was learnt Stephanie might have gone to the high school to watch a soccer practice. It was also noted that many of the children had seen a suspicious man watching them. Described as White, he looked to be around 37 years old. He weighed about 175 pounds and had a height of approximately 5’10”.
A sketch was drawn up, in the hopes someone would be able to identify the mystery individual. Unfortunately, it resulted in no new tips.
Ten days passed and no new information came into police. A $50,000 reward was issued, in the hopes of garnering new tips, but nothing was called in. Desperate for information, investigators began canvassing door-to-door, hoping someone might have seen anything suspicious. However, they kept their expectations low, given it was deer and elk hunting season, meaning many different hunters and vehicles had driven through town via Highway 93.
In February 1994, an abandoned and weed-covered cistern, located about 50 feet from the path Stephanie typically took home, was searched. While investigators spent four days digging at the site, nothing of interest was found.
Given the lack of information, the Crane family began to feel as if police weren’t being completely honest with them about the investigation. In 1995, the state’s Attorney General visited Challis, stating there was no proof a crime had been committed, which angered the family, as Stephanie had no history of running away from home.
It’s important to note that the sheriff’s office has always treated Stephanie’s disappearance as a stranger abduction.
Given the lack of information, the case went cold. That is, until 1997, when the Idaho Department of Fish and Game alerted the sheriff’s office that a hunter named Keith Hescock was in custody for unlawful possession of wildlife. While being held, it was discovered he’d been in Challis during the time Stephanie disappeared and had killed a big horn sheep at Morgan Creek. He’d also driven a yellow truck similar to the one seen at the local high school.
Unfortunately, the truck was never found and a search of Hescock’s residence brought up nothing. As such, the authorities were unable to connect him to the disappearance.
In the spring of 2000, police got a lead from an inmate in Napa, Idaho, who claimed a female friend had rented a room in a drifter’s apartment back in 1993. At that time, neighbours had heard the screams and cries of a young girl coming from the residence’s basement.
The female friend had found the drifter’s behaviour suspicious, especially since he never allowed anyone to enter the basement. She asked him about it and he responded that he was punishing his daughter for running away. The news unsettled her, a feeling that only grew when she found women’s underwear in the man’s room. This led her to leave over fears something might happen to her or her children.
Upon learning this, police began to wonder if the girl locked in the basement could have actually been Stephanie. They began digging into the drifter’s background and learnt he’d been charged and convicted of sexual abuse in the third degree, but had never served time due to a plea deal.
The drifter was brought in and questioned with a polygraph, which he failed. When told his results, he became irate. A week later, a search warrant was executed at the old apartment, where blood samples and hair fibres were collected. While the laboratory was unable to determine if the bloodstains were human or animal, the fibres were determined to be human. However, given the lack of a follicle, DNA testing wasn’t an option.
Hoping to place the drifter in Challis during the time of Stephanie’s disappearance, police showed a photo line-up of potential suspects to a woman who’d been working at the bowling alley on the evening of October 11, 1993. The woman picked him out, but said she couldn’t be 100% certain of her identification.
The drifter’s name has never been released due to the ongoing nature of the case. However, law enforcement believe him to be involved, but a lack of evidence has prevented an arrest from being made.
In June 2002, Keith Hescock came back on police radar, this time for the kidnapping and rape of a 14-year-old girl. He’d left her handcuffed in his house, from which she’d escaped. The police pursued him, leading to a car chase that ended in a K9. A deputy was also shot in the leg, and Hescock took his own life.
Hescock still remains a person of interest in Stephanie’s case.
In December 2006, a potential lead was discovered when authorities in Thorn Creek, Idaho, were investigating a man’s suicide. He’d left a note saying he’d killed himself over information his friend had told him about the abduction, rape and murder of a young girl from Challis.
The FBI and state police were called in to help follow up on the lead. A polygraph was given to the dead man’s friend and cadaver dogs searched his property. The unidentified individual passed the polygraph and the dogs discovered nothing. As such, police no longer consider him a person of interest.
Acting on various different tips, the Custer County Sheriff’s Office conducted a search of various areas around the county, but their efforts failed to turn up anything of interest to the investigation.
In June 2016, a new round of interviews were conducted with the drifter. A new search of Challis was also done. However, the results of both have not been publicly released.
Police are still actively investigating the case and currently have five-to-10 persons of interest, none of whom are family members. They say one is a woman who refused to answer questions without an attorney present, while another is a man whose polygraph results were inconclusive. They’re re-interviewing people and re-evaluating possible evidence, and each year on Stephanie’s birthday release an updated press release about the case.
THEORIES:
1) The prevalent theory held by police and Stephanie’s family is that the young girl was abducted by a stranger while waiting to cross Highway 93. Given the lack of evidence and sightings, it’s believed her abductor was passing through Challis, as opposed to someone who lived in the area.
While there are many persons of interest, police haven’t disclosed much information regarding who they believe was involved.
2) The Idaho Attorney General implied in his meeting with the Crane family that Stephanie’s disappearance could be a runaway case. However, both local police and her loved ones disregard this theory, given a lack of sightings and the fact Stephanie didn’t have a history of running away from home.
3) Some believe Stephanie’s disappearance might be related to that of 20-year-old Amber Shawnell Hoopes, who went missing from her grandparents’ home in Idaho Falls on September 14, 2001. It’s believed Keith Hescock might have been involved in Amber’s disappearance, especially as it was discovered his family had lied to give him an alibi.
As a result of Hescock’s possible involvement in Amber’s disappearance, more credence is given to his likely connection to Stephanie’s case.
AFTERMATH:
After her disappearance, Stephanie’s classmates tried to resume their normal lives, but many found it wasn’t the same as before. This was intensified by the fact they weren’t allowed near Stephanie’s desk.
In 1993, the case was highlighted on America’s Most Wanted.
Following Stephanie’s abduction, the residents of Challis began living in fear that their children might meet a similar fate. Kids were no longer allowed to walk home alone and parents picked them up directly from their classrooms.
Stephanie’s family was never the same after her disappearance. In 1994, her parents divorced over the strain the case had caused. Sandi moved to Reno, Nevada, leaving Ben to raise the children on his own. Unfortunately, she passed away in May 1996, due to blood clots in her lungs.
In 1998, Ben moved the family to Washington, while Stephanie’s grandparents stayed in Challis. On October 11, 2012, Ben died of a heart attack on the anniversary of his daughter’s disappearance.
On September 27, 1994, the eve of Stephanie’s 10th birthday, the residents of Challis released purple balloons in commemoration.
DETAILS:
Stephanie Crane went missing from Challis, Idaho, on October 11, 1993. She was nine years old, and she was last seen wearing a maroon- and white-striped hooded sweatshirt with “GIMME” printed on the front; maroon sweatpants; and white shoes.
At the time of her disappearance, Stephanie was 4’2″ and weighed approximately 65-85 pounds. She has curly brown hair and blue eyes, along with freckles, a scar near her right eye and a gap between her upper front teeth.
CASE CONTACT INFORMATION:
Currently, Stephanie’s case is classified as a non-family abduction. There’s currently a $50,000 reward available for information leading the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible.
Anyone with information regarding the nine-year-old’s disappearance is asked to contact the Custer County Sheriff’s Office at (208) 879-2232. Investigators have also set up a dedicated tip line at (208) 879-5372.
Image Credit: NBC News
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