9-year-old left a bowling alley in 1993 to walk mere yards down the road. She never made it and hasn't been seen since.
On Oct. 11, 1993, Stephanie Crane had just finished bowling at an alley across the street from a High School in Custer County, Idaho.
She was either heading to her family’s home a mere 500 yards away or to the school to watch soccer practice.
She didn’t make it to either place and hasn’t been seen since.
Now, more than 25 years later, police continue to investigate and hope to one day solve Crane’s disappearance.
Stephanie’s mom, Sandi Crane, came to the Custer County Sheriff’s Office around 8:15 p.m. on Oct. 12 to report her daughter missing. But 9 p.m. crews were searching for her, and friends said she was not with them, according to the Custer County Sheriff’s Office.
During the following days, 300 searchers, two planes, FBI, tracking dogs and boat crews searched for Crane. They couldn’t find her and nobody knew what happened.
When the 9-year-old disappeared, she was 4-feet-2-inches tall and weighed between 65 and 85 pounds. She had brown hair and blue eyes and a scar near her right year, according to the sheriff’s office.
She was wearing a sweatshirt with the word “gimmie” on it, maroon sweatpants and white tennis shoes.
Over the years, sheriff’s officials have conducted searches in Challis, Idaho, where Stephanie went missing but have come up empty.
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Police ask anyone with information to come forward and a $50,000 reward is being offered. Anyone with information is asked to contact police at (208) 879-2232.
Stephanie’s grandmother, Hazel, spoke to the Post Register in 2008 as the family marked 25 years since the child went missing.
“It’s more like a slice with a razor than a tearing hurt. It’s a loss we’re not going to get over. After 25 years, you think it’s probably not going to be solved. For a long time every hunting season I thought, ‘Well, maybe this year maybe someone will find something.’ Why do I think that? Because there’s people out in the woods, I guess,’” Hazel told the Post Register.
Hazel said the family had given up most of its hope that Stephanie will be found — but not all of it.
“I still have the same phone number,” Hazel told the newspaper, “I still have the same house. If Stephanie should call …”
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