Missing
Stephanie Lyn Crane
Stephanie, approximately 1993; Age when reported missing: 31 (approximately 2015); Stephanie's "GIMMIE" sweatshirt
Date and time person was reported missing : 10/11/1993
Missing location (approx) :
Challis, Idaho
Missing classification : Non-Family Abduction
Gender : Female
Ethnicity :
White
DOB : 09/28/1984 (36)
Age at the time of disappearance: 9 years old
Height / Weight : 4'2, 65 - 85 pounds
Description, clothing, jewerly and more : A maroon and white-striped hooded sweatshirt with "GIMMIE" imprinted on the front in white lettering, maroon sweatpants and maroon and white shoes. A photo of the sweatshirt is posted with this case summary.
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Caucasian female. Brown hair, blue eyes. Stephanie has a cowlick on the right side of her hairline and a scar near her right eye. Her hair is very thick and curly, and her face is freckled. She has a space between her two upper front teeth. Some Age at the time of disappearance: ncies spell Stephanie's middle name "Lynn." Her nickname is Steffi.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Stephanie's mother gave her money for a snack and dropped her off at the Challis Bowling Alley in Challis, Idaho on October 11, 1993. She went bowling with friends, then departed at approximately 4:45 p.m.. She was last seen walking on Highway 93 towards Challis High School at approximately 6:00 p.m. that evening. The school was across the street from the bowling alley.
Accounts differ as to whether Stephanie was going to the high school for soccer practice, or whether she was heading for her family's residence, about 500 yards away. By 8:15 p.m., she hadn't arrived home and her parents notified the police. An extensive search covering 7,000 square miles in two counties turned up no sign of her. A yellow pickup truck with red pinstripes was seen in the area around the time she vanished, and may be connected to her disappearance.
Keith Glenn "Mark" Hescock has been investigated for possible involvement in Stephanie's case, and also the disappearance of Amber Hoopes. Hescock kidnapped a fourteen-year-old girl from outside her home in the early morning hours of June 5, 2002. He had known her family. The girl was able to escape that afternoon when he went to work, leaving her chained to a bed in his home. When the police attempted to arrest him, Hescock fled in his vehicle and lead them on a forty-mile high-speed chase, which ended at a dead-end road in the Big Hole Mountains. There he shot and killed a police dog, shot and wounded an officer, and then committed suicide.
Hescock had previously worked for Hoopes's grandparents, and his neighbor says he was hunting in Challis the weekend Stephanie disappeared from that location. He also owned a yellow pickup truck similar to the one that may be connected to Stephanie's case, and Stephanie's great-grandparents believe he was the "weird guy" with a yellow pickup truck who camped next to them when they went camping near Twin Peaks, Idaho the weekend before Stephanie went missing. Authorities have not been able to link Hescock to either Stephanie's or Hoopes's disappearance, however. His only criminal record in Idaho had been for poaching, but he had felony convictions in other states.
Authorities have five to ten persons of interest in Stephanie's case, none of whom are family members. One of them, a woman, refused to answer any questions without an attorney present; another, a man, took a polygraph on the case and his answers were "deceptive but inconclusive."
Investigators believe Stephanie was taken against her will by a stranger. Her case remains unsolved. She has three younger sisters and is described as a tomboy who was part of the youth bowling league and enjoyed going hunting and fishing with her father. Her parents divorced in mid-1994 and both of them are now deceased; her mother died in 1997 and her father in 2012, both of natural causes. Her sisters and many members of her extended family are still alive, however.
Other information and links : ncy
Custer County Sheriff's Office
208-879-2232
September 2021 updates and sources
Child Protection Education of America
Operation Lookout
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are not known. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2�5% of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
Several organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and imAge at the time of disappearance: s of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
Idaho Bureau of Criminal Investigation
Cyber Sleuths -- the Reality of Crime News
Interactive Missing Person Search Map
