Stefanie Damron's disappearance in Maine being investigated by FBI with $15,000 reward offered
NEW SWEDEN, Maine - The FBI is now offering a $15,000 reward for information in the case of Stefanie Damron, a 14-year-old girl who was reported missing by her family in Maine more than two months ago.
Damron's family said she was last seen walking out of her home and into the woods in New Sweden, a town near the Canadian border, on Sept. 23. They reported her missing the next day.
Kimberly Milka, the assistant special agent in charge with FBI Boston, said at a news conference Monday that the FBI brought in its Child Abduction Rapid Deployment team immediately after she was reported missing.
Stefanie Damron missing in Maine
Damron is described as a white female with green eyes and shoulder-length brown hair. She is about 5 feet tall and weighs 130 pounds. She was wearing blue jeans, a long-sleeved blue shirt and black Harley Davidson hiking boots at the time she went missing, her family said.
Maine State Police Maj. Scott Goslin said Damron did not have any kind of electronic device and had limited access to social media. He said she has run away before, but so far there has been no credible information or sightings of her since her disappearance.
Goslin was asked at the news conference why the FBI got involved in a case where the missing person had a history of running away.
"I think in any missing persons case, especially so close to the border like this, you're going to want to involve the FBI," he said. "Especially in any missing persons case where we haven't taken anything off the table, nothing has been ruled out or eliminated."
FBI reward in Stefanie Damron Case
The FBI said the reward of up to $15,000 is for anyone who has information that could help bring her home or evidence "leading to the arrest and prosecution of anyone involved in her disappearance."
"The FBI hopes this reward will incentivize anyone with information about Stefanie's whereabouts to come forward," Milka said.
State police and the FBI said they have spent hundreds of hours searching for Damron in the woods, conducting interviews and following leads. Now they're hoping an appeal to the public can help turn up clues.
"At this point, everything is still on the table for us, from her simply being missing, to running away, to the worst situation because we don't have any concrete leads or tips that have led us basically in one direction or the other," State Police Lt. Darrin Crane said.
Anyone with information can call Maine State Police at 1-800-924-2261 or (207) 532-5400. They can also call the FBI tipline at 1-800-CALL-FBI or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.
