Authorities in Maine shared that they are still searching for Stefanie Damron two years after the teen walked into the woods and mysteriously vanished at the age of 13.
Her disappearance has been deeply unsettling for her family and their town of New Sweden, where residents have become fearful for their own children’s safety, according to the FBI, which is also actively looking for Damron.
Maine State Police said in a Friday, September 18, news release that New Sweden residents could expect a heightened law enforcement presence in connection with the search for Damron, who would now be 15 years old.
“The investigation into Stefanie’s disappearance remains active and ongoing,” the agency said. “Detectives continue to follow up on information and leads while also conducting proactive investigative efforts. Because this remains an active investigation, we are unable to discuss specific investigative efforts or details.”
FBI Boston Special Agent Jose Rodriguez Aguilar, one of the officials investigating the case, said last year on the anniversary of the teen’s disappearance that her family wants answers.
“In the local community, people were shaken by Stefanie’s disappearance and have been left feeling unsafe,” Aguilar said in September 2025. “They are wondering if they should let their kids go play with other kids in fear that their kid might not return for some reason.”
Damron was known to regularly frequent the woods near her family’s home, which the FBI has described as an “off the grid” residence in a rural area.
However, on September 23, 2024, she walked into a wooded area behind her residence on West Road and hasn’t been seen since.
The FBI is still offering a reward of up to $15,000 for any information that leads to Damron’s discovery or the arrest of a suspect or suspects linked to her disappearance.
Damron lived with her family, including her parents and five siblings, in a “wooden yurt” without running water or plumbing on more than 20 acres of land, according to the FBI. The family has previously lived in West Virginia, Texas and Illinois.
“Her upbringing, from what we’ve concluded, has been very off the grid,” Aguilar said in 2025. “It has been very untenable at times, with many Child Protective Services (CPS) reports filed for not only Stefanie, but the other siblings, as well. The parents didn’t like to expose their children to the public that often. And so, in some regard, that kept the children pretty sheltered, and their parents decided to teach and educate them however they saw fit within their land that they lived on.”
Dale Damron, Stefanie’s father, told WAGM-TV in September 2025 that he was informed Stefanie had argued with her sister before she went into the woods and vanished. He said the woods had a trail that Stefanie would sometimes take.
“Stefanie from what I was told, took off through the woods,” Dale said. “The trail used to be real prevalent through there and it would go straight down to where the mud hole was. The kids would go there and catch tadpoles and everything and that’s what everybody up here had assumed she had done was cut through the woods, went down the trail, down to the mud hole and played.”
Maine State Police asks anyone with information on Stefanie’s location to call the agency at (207) 532-5400.
