Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - STEFANIE, 13, "WALKED INTO WOODS" AND DISAPPEARED: BIZARRE INCONSISTENCIES EMERGE

Episode Date: December 23, 2025

Deep in the Maine woods near the Canadian border, the Damron family sets up a homestead on 20 acres of land with a Yurt they use as a home. The family of 8 consists of Father and mother, Dale and Lisa Damron, their 5 children, and 80-year-old Richard Turgeon. Turgeon is not a blood relative but has lived with the family for so long the children call him grandpa. After two winters in the yurt with no running water, no indoor plumbing and power supplied by generator, Dale and Lisa Damron, and the youngest children move into a trailer offered to them by friend, Andrew Losiewicz, a mile away up the driveway from the Yurt, while 13-year-old Stefanie and her 18-year-old sister, Star, live with grandpa Richard Turgeon, in the yurt.  After a serious argument about chores around the yurt, Stefanie goes for a walk in the woods to calm herself. Not uncommon as Stefanie knows the woods like the back of her hand. Lisa and Dale Damron are in town on a job interview when Star calls to tell them about the argument and Stefanie running into the woods. It is 3pm and the Damron’s think Stefanie will return shortly. As the sun goes down and Stefanie hasn’t returned, the Damron’s are concerned and take to the woods calling out for Stefanie. When Stefanie hasn’t returned the next morning, the Damron’s report her missing to the Maine State Police and organize searches begin. Investigators conduct a neighborhood canvas and video search, K9 teams and volunteers conduct grid searches over the Damron’s property for days and the FBI’s Child Abduction Rapid Deployment—or CARD team is brought in to look for Stefanie’s activity online. Stefanie’s Father, Dale Damron, says he didn’t think Stefanie could get online and wasn’t aware the flip phone they got for “grandpa” Richard Turgeon, could access the internet. A quick check of the phone and the FBI realizes Stefanie could have been using the flip phone to get online. Joining Nancy Grace: Franz Borghardt - Criminal Defense Attorney, Founder of Borghardt Law Firm, Former Prosecutor, Adjust Professor at Louisiana State University Teaching Criminal Litigation, website: www.borghardtlawfirm.com, Instagram and Facebook: BorghardtLawFirm,  Dr. Jeff Kieliszewski - Forensic Psychologist, Author: “Darksides", darksides.podia.com, YouTube: "Dr. Jeff Kieliszewski, Forensic Psychologist" Brian Fitzgibbons - Director of Operations for USPA Nationwide Security, Leads a team of investigators specializing in locating missing persons, website: www.uspasecurity.com, Instagram: @uspa_nationwide_security, former Marine and Iraq war veteran  Christie Rand - Volunteer Searcher for Stefanie Damron Chris Carson Sr.  - Neighbor of Stefanie Damron Family Dave Mack - Investigative Reporter, ‘Crime Stories’   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Stephanie, just 13 years old, walks into the woods and disappears. No way. This little girl did not just walk into the woods and, poof, disappear. And tonight, bizarre inconsistencies emerged. amongst the various stories about what happened to Stephanie.

I'm Nancy Grace. This is crime stories. I want to thank you for being with us. A teen girl, Stephanie, just 13, is lost in the woods. Say, her parents. We're getting a lot of conflicting reports. The parents went overnight without reporting their 13-year-old girl was gone. As we all gather together, this whole.

holiday season, whether it's around a manger scene, a Christmas tree, or a menorah. We're together as a family. Not everyone has that blessing, that luxury to be together during the holidays. Tonight, please help us bring them home for Christmas. People across our country missing, sometimes for days, sometimes for hours, sometimes for years. Won't you help us bring them home for Christmas. Where is Stephanie? It's going to be a cold day in HEWL that I believe a little girl just 13 years old walks into the woods and disappears. Listen.

Despite extensive investigative efforts, including a neighborhood canvas and video search, along with an expansive grid search, utilizing canines from Maine warden service and Maine State Police, Stephanie is still missing. Everything is still on the table for us. from her simply being missing to run away to the worst situation because we don't have any concrete leads or tips that don't let us basically in one direction or the other. I find that very, very hard to believe that there are no concrete leads or tips. First of all, you're hearing from special FBI agent in charge, Kimberly Milka from News Center, Maine, then Lieutenant Darren Karn from the Maine State Police. there is a lot going on in this scenario and to figure out where is Stephanie tonight?

You have to go back to the bizarre living conditions where she and eight other children were living. Have you ever heard of a yurt, Y, Yellow, Utah, R, Rhode Island, T, Tennessee, a yurt? to Chris Carson joining us, special guest joining us tonight of New Sweden, Maine, and neighbor of the Stephanie Damron family. Chris, I want to thank you for being with us tonight because not very many people are willing to speak out, and I think I know why, but I'll get to that in a moment. Now, some of the children, along with the mom and dad, had left the yurt, which has no heating, no air condition, certainly no Wi-Fi. The mom and dad had gone up the street to live in a camper that had heating, water, the works,

leaving Stephanie and other children there with the grandpa, no blood relation. So tell me about the yurt that these children were living in. originally when they first moved here their year who built the side of the road two by four kind of style looking octagon and they actually carried it

a quarter mile back through their wood cutted row that's gone and then just been adding to it one of our neighbors was down in there once and it was just cardboard board and tar paper and stuff like that added on the sides of this thing.

They did have a wood stove on the inside of it to keep it warm, but it was very poor conditions at that time. I'm just trying to understand how the mom and dad move up the street into a camper offered to them by a friend that has heating and has running water and other amenities leaving their children behind in a yurt with grandpa. who is not even their blood relative. I don't know where this guy factors in. But how many children, how many people, to the best of your knowledge,

Chris Carson, were living in the yurt? At that time, when the parents moved up, it was just Richard, Stephanie, and Stark. So just the three of them. But before that, it would have been all of them down. I believe it would be seven. Speaking of Grandpa to Chrissy Rand, volunteer searcher for Stephanie. She knows these was like the back of her hands by

now. Question, Christy, who is grandpa? That would be 80-year-old Richard Turgeon. Richard is a friend of more than 15 years of Dale's. He helped Dale through a rough pet a long time ago. They became close, bonded. He helped the family to kind of get on their feet and through some of these moves and transitions. He's followed them from state to state for many years. Okay, right there. You really got my attention. State to state. Join me now, Dave Matt, Crime Stories, Investigator, reporter. I've done a little research on why they've gone from one state, starting in Texas, to another, to another. Now they've landed way off the grid in Maine. Dave Mack, these eight children, they don't all believe.

on biologically to Dale Damron, do they? Actually, Lisa Marie Damron was married at the time she met Dale Damron and had been in an 18-year marriage and four of the children are from that marriage, four of the eight children she has had. Now, isn't it true, Dave Mack? Let's be specific. Just before a court hearing where the mom, Lisa now Damron, was to appear, she took off. And she and Dale took the four children by the biodad and left the state. Isn't that true?

That is exactly what the biological father of those children, her first husband, had to say. He said they had an upcoming custody hearing. And she left. She took the kids and took off. And he has not seen them sent and didn't know where they were until this story broke. Well, I just wonder, you know, Brian Fitzgibbens, you're the director of operations, USPA nationwide security. you lead a team of investigators that go around the world trying to find people. That's your specialty, uspasecurity.com. Brian, maybe he couldn't find his four children because they're living in a yurt in New Sweden, Maine, way off the grid. You heard Chris Carson say, you can hardly get up the driveway, such as it is.

Let's see a shot of this place. There's no phone. There's no electricity. There's no heating, much less air condition. No wonder he couldn't find his children. Yeah, and just to give folks some perspective, you know, this is almost five hours north of Portland, Maine, and, you know, another almost eight hours north of Boston up in the northern tip of Maine by the Canadian border. So, you know, this you're living with no connectivity, no cell phones.

this is a very difficult and challenging case for investigators to get any leads or information to track down. To Christy Rand joining us, a volunteer searcher, she's been out, being the Bush, who's trying to find then 13-year-old Stephanie, who's just a beautiful little girl. I can't imagine her alone out in that wilderness. I know canines were brought in, and I'm going to get to that,

but they didn't pick up percent, which makes me suspect everybody's story because I trust a dog. Best witness I ever put on the stand, Christy, was a dog. That said, Christy, I'm biased in this case because I've learned that there was another young daughter, now an adult, that ran away as well. And she won't say why she ran away. Isn't that true? yes that's definitely true Lisa's oldest child would be one of the eight children being mentioned she is grown now lives out of state obviously is nowhere near where they are in new Sweden and just wants nothing to do with them see you know that is for me my worst nightmare

that I'm cut off from my children or I'm away from my children that would be hell to me people say what is hell that would be hell to me she ran away, and I guarantee you there's a reason why. Because, I mean, think about it. Dr. Jeff Kelshefsky is joining us, a renowned forensic psychologist, author of Dark Sides. And you can find him on YouTube, by the way, Dr. Jeff Kelleashevsky, forensic psychologist. It's like relationships when you break up and you break up and you break up over and over, the relationships don't work out. At some point, you have to think, wait, wait a minute, I'm the common denominator. Maybe I have the problem. When you have one, you have one, you have one,

child run away, I don't know whose fault that is, but when you start getting more than one child running away, both girls who run away at about the same time in their lives, the parents are the ones, they're the common denominator. That's true. And the one thing about this case from what we know already is that this hopping from state to state, living in a rural area off the grid. My big question is, it sounds like There's a lot of secrets going on in this family or family situation that could be part of the reason why children are running away. Off dissecting what happened in the past.

Why did the other daughter run away by the same time Stephanie Damron disappears, walks into the woods and poof, disappears. That's not true. That is not what happened. I don't know what happened yet, but it ain't that. Let's go to that night. Listen. After a serious argument about chores, Stephanie goes for a walk. Lisa and Dale Damron are in town on a job interview when Star calls to tell them about the argument and Stephanie running into the woods. It is 3 p.m. and the Damron's think Stephanie will return shortly. As the sun goes down and Stephanie hasn't returned, the Damron's hasn't returned, the Damron's report her missing. Let me understand exactly. to Dave Matt, crime stories investigative reporter.

What are they saying happened to Stephanie? They were not home when this happened and that that Dale was at a job interview and they got a text from Starr saying there'd been an argument and Stephanie took off. I mean, that's the story that they stick with, but it makes absolutely no sense because of where they're located, Nancy. There's no restaurant in town nearby. There is nothing. but open space. So there's no place for her to have just gone and left and without being in the woods.

I mean, she'd have been found. It's just impossible. I ask you what they said, and that is what they said. And I'm going to follow up on that. You can't just drop a bomb on me and not expect me to react to Chris Carson, senior. Joining us from New Sweden, and he's one of the only people with the backbone

to speak out about what happened to Stephanie. he's a neighbor of the Damron family. I've got a question. I thought Dale Damron was on disability. What job interview did he say he had? It was Ruby Tuesdays. Did he get the job? I'm curious.

He says that he did and he worked there for a little bit but the boss firing him because of the implications of definitely being missing. So what I'm getting at right now, Chris, Carson Sr. is did he really have a job interview that day? I do not know. No one's actually tried to even confirm that. Okay. Well, okay. That's interesting. No one has tried to confirm it. Even if he did have a job interview that day. And let's just go with that. He did have a job interview that day. And apparently the wife felt she had to go along. And coincidentally, it was then

that Stephanie, then 13, disappears into the woods, never to be seen again. Now, here we have Dad, Dale Dameron, first explanation as to what happened to his daughter. Listen. Her sister and her got into an argument. Stephanie, from what I was told, took off through the woods. 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 down there catch tadpoles and everything. And that's what everybody up here assumed she had done was cut through the woods,

went down the trail, down to the mud hole and play. Well, when we came home, that video from our friends at CBS News, they got home, no, Stephanie. So maybe it's just me, Christy Rand, but when I can't find one of my children, I don't know where they are, I immediately try to find them. Okay. Why did they wait? until the next day to report her missing? Well, according to the parents, Stephanie would walk away and kind of burn off steam, do exactly what they're saying, go for a walk,

and then return home eventually. So at first, they didn't immediately panic. They, according to them, they assumed that she would return home. I'll never understand why they didn't make a phone call as soon as it got dark, but maybe Stephanie was known to stay out all night just wandering the woods of New Sweden.

I've never heard Chris would know better. I don't think he'd ever seen and Stephanie just walk. What did you just say, Christy, that this 13-year-old little girl was known for staying in the woods all night? They say that she was known to go for walks and blow off steam

and for some reason they didn't become alarmed when it got dark. Well, going for a walk and spending the night in the woods are two very, very different things. To anyone on the panel tonight, has there been a suggestion that she would sleep in the woods at night?

I've never heard that till this very moment. Is that true? I have never heard of that either. That's the first time. Okay. All right. I never heard that. Maybe that's just someone's speculation. Okay.

What does the father, Dale Damron, have to say about not reporting her missing. Where we live at and the way we live the first few hours there was no reason to raise the right flag

so we got the phone calls that she took off up the road and we figured by the time we get home she'd be back and that would be the end of Stephanie still hasn't returned

an hour and a half later Stephanie is very familiar with the woods near their home and they check all her usual spots but find no trace of the 13 year old the family doesn't think

Stephanie would have headed to the main road but as they walk the half mile trail leading to the street Grandpa and some of her siblings remember hearing some kind of vehicle passed by just a few minutes after Stephanie left. You heard Dale Damron speaking to On Patrol Live. We asked Mr. and Mrs. Damron to join us tonight.

They did not want to answer questions about Stephanie's disappearance. Then nighttime falls. As sunset approaches with no sign of Stephanie, the Damron's become increasingly. increasingly concerned that Stephanie is no longer in the area. The teen isn't responding to anyone screaming her name, she does not have her own cell phone, and temperatures have dropped more than 10 degrees. First thing in the morning,

the Damrens officially report Stephanie missing. Tell me about the search that then ensued. Of course, law enforcement had lost 24 critical hours by the time Stephanie was reporting, was reported missing in just 13 years old. years old, please continue showing photos of Stephanie while we're talking in case it sparks anyone's memory. What happened then?

Chris Carson, Sr., joining us, the Damron family neighbor, when did you first discover Stephanie was missing? When I, Kelly and I first realized that she was missing, it was a few days after they actually called the police the authority. My neighbor, Doug, came over, him and I were. getting ready to go to town, and Lisa stopped in and asked, he calls him Mr. Doug, if he had an encamara across the road from, he had a career across the road from the Amaran's property. And then after she found out, no, he doesn't, he was like, oh, it's because Stephanie was missing again.

What was his demeanor when he told you, Stephanie, his daughter, was missing? It was Lisa that told us, and she was actually kind of calm. Chris Carson, Sr., you're telling me you didn't realize until how many hours later that Stephanie was missing until Lisa Damron told you, how long had it been? It wasn't hours. It was a couple days. And you're their next-door neighbor? Yep, right next-door neighbor, Stephanie used to come here through the summer. You know, it's interesting to me to Franz Borghar.

He is a high-profile lawyer, criminal defense attorney, founder of the Borghardt's law firm, former prosecutor, professor, LSU, on and on and on. Franz, when I put a witness on the stand, I weigh their credibility before I put them up to a jury. If they've got problems, I tell the jury in the opening statement. I'm going to put this guy up and he, let's just say, he has a record or he has lied in the past or whatever, his problem. problem is. So they know the problems. One thing I look at is whether they are willing to come forward. Tonight, Chris Carson is joining us willingly, but the mother and father won't speak out. They are in the middle of a search for their daughter. Yet they're shrinking violence

when it comes to answering my questions and asking the public for help. And I've got a problem because what Carson is telling me is very different from what the dad has been saying. Listen. Damron says in the first half hour after returning home from his job interview at Ruby Tuesday, he was knocking on every neighbor's door notifying them Stephanie was missing. But neighbor Doug Tensley says he and other neighbors, Chris and Shelley Carson, were not told for two days. Tensley said he and Carson were the first in the group notified about the disappearance, but not until 4.50 p.m. September 25th, more than 48 hours after Damron claims he notified everyone.

Well, if in the first half hour of me being home, I had already knocked on at least every door between here and the beginning of the road on one way and the creek turn off the other way. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. You were just hearing the bio dad, Dale Damron, on locating. the lost describing Franz Borghardt how he went all the way to the creek on one end and all the way to the highway on the other end. And that encompasses the home of Chris Carson and the other neighbor, Doug Tinsley. They say nobody told them she was missing for two days. Now, who am I supposed to believe? Well, if I'm defending Dale, Dale's certainly not coming on your show, Nancy, because his consistent, inconsistent statements are going to make my job very difficult.

That said, look, these guys clearly aren't going to win any parenting awards, and they really weren't even guarding the kid anyway. Okay, I don't know anything that you just said. It's like defense lawyer babble. I asked you who to believe, and you start talking about a parenting award. Nobody's walking out of this crowned Miss Congenial. or Miss Sweet Potato. That's not happening tonight, but I find it very, very disturbing. Christy Rand joining us in addition to Chris Carson, the neighbor. Christy Rand has been out

searching for Stephanie. Did you come in contact with any person that stated that night, that day when she was finally reported missing, that the parents, the parents told them, Stephanie's gone, have you seen her? Anybody? No, never. I want answers. Why you're saying you were screaming Stephanie's name in the woods, but your closest neighbors didn't even hear it. So the night Stephanie went missing, not only did you not knock on their doors, but you're claiming you were screaming her name in the woods all night and no one heard it. You know what, Chris Carson joining us, the neighbor. Chris, I want to tell you what happened a couple of weeks ago. I heard a neighbor was ill and I took them some food. I locked on the door and I said, hey, I'm your catty corner neighbor. And she said, are you the woman looking for her cat? I went, well, that was a while ago. She goes, that's when I first met you. I don't know if you remember. You were walking up and down the whole neighborhood screaming cinnamon. Cinnamon, that's the name

of our cat. And then you went by the next day in a car. screaming out the window. We heard you in the house. That was for the cat, Chris. The cat, who we found, by the way. That was for the cat. And they didn't do this for their daughter, their 13-year-old girl.

They haven't talked to any of the neighbors about anything. It's just very, very odd while they didn't. And we all would have jumped. And if we like the neighbors or not, It doesn't matter. All of us would have jumped up and got in our cars and walked to the woods right at that moment. And I want to stress that as of tonight, as we go to air, neither Dale Damron nor his wife had been charged. They have not been named a person of interest, a suspect. Neither has the fake grandpa that lives with the two little girls.

So why is there confusion about what happened to 13-year-old? Stephanie, the FBI, has been called in on the search for Stephanie. This little girl, just 13 years old, was either running away from something or running to something. Tonight, where is Stephanie? What about the search once the parents finally report her missing? Not really even going up and down the street, calling for her, as the dad says they did, according to neighbors. What happened during the search? Listen. The Damron's contact, the main state police, and organized searches began.

Investigators conduct a neighborhood canvas and video search. K-9 teams and volunteers conduct grid searches over the Damron's property for days. I honestly think that she got picked up by somebody. She thought she was going to come home that night, and they didn't bring her home. A harsh reality of it is, I don't think she's anywhere in New Suite. Now, I believe she walked out to the end of the driveway, had somebody on there that she found a number, and they swapped numbers back and forth, and she met him up at the top of the road. Okay.

That's not what the witnesses say happened. You were hearing the dad speaking on locating the lost. This is something I don't quite get. Chris Carson, Sr., the neighbor of the Damron family. Who is she supposed to be? This is a 13-year-old little girl, just turned 13. She's homeschooled, so they say. She has no contact with the rest of the world.

She and her sister, the older sister star, do puzzles that they get from the library occasionally. They're way up a dirt trail living in a yurt. If they don't have heat, air conditioner, water, they have to go up to the camper, how a mile away and drag water back down on a toboggan. yet I'm supposed to believe what the dad's saying is that she has internet access. He's also saying she went to the end of the driveway and somebody picked her up.

Nobody saw that happen. Nobody heard that happen. And they in fact say the opposite that she walked into the woods and quote disappeared. So they have Wi-Fi? At the time when Stephanie went missing, the only Wi-Fi

capabilities that they had was from a cell phone. I believe they were on a huge mobile network, and it barely works. They really didn't get Starlink control after Stephanie was missing. Let me talk to you about the cell phone. I'm very curious about the cell phone. Stephanie, or her sister, did not have a cell phone. It would have been Grandpa, the 80-year-old non-biological relative, living with them.

his flip phone? Is that what we're talking about? Yes, the flip phone. We actually saw Star using a flip phone that one time when they were up here. Okay. Let's talk about the search. I'm supposed to believe that this little girl just turned 13, get somebody, God only knows who, to go up to the Canadian border in New Sweden, out in the outskirts, not even in New Sweden. Look, there. There.

that. Somebody came there and got her and absconded with her. While the testimony is she went into the woods, not met somebody at the end of the driveway. It sounds bogus to me. Christy Rand, who has spent tears, sweat and blood, searching for this girl. How likely is it that this little girl just turned 13, uses grandpa's flip phone to have a hot romance and get somebody to meet her at the end of the driveway? Probability,

slim to none. It didn't happen. Not only do people like Chris that have met Stephanie seem to think that she didn't even have the personality type to be flirting or meeting men online.

It didn't happen. I think there's a possibility that she wanted a phone so that she could run away or get out, but I don't believe that she was successful with that, no. She doesn't seem to have the capability to do that, but that said, more importantly, to Brian Fitzgibbon's, who sends a team of investigators all around the world trying to find missing people.

That's ranked speculation that this little girl had a hot romance online and convince somebody to drive up to New Sweden, Maine, and take her away from it all. there's no indication, no one saw a car, no one heard a car, no one knows of anyone she was talking to online or calling on her grandpa's, her fake grandpa's flip phone. What I go back is to the witness account, the grandpa and the sister state. She had an argument with the sister in the moment, which means it wasn't planned.

in the moment about chores in the yurt, I guess sweeping the dirt floor. They had an argument and she, according to them, went off into the woods and disappeared. That is the original story. All this about meeting somebody online is concocted. I agree, Nancy. And we have to take those witness accounts for what they are. These are people that are wholly dependent on Dale Dammer. run, okay, that are providing this informational law enforcement. The second piece that I wanted

to say, when we're dealing with a flip phone that won't have apps that are encrypted, all of those communications are going to be readily available to law enforcement. So if it were the case that Stephanie was using this flip phone to communicate with somebody to pick her up, law enforcement would have that. That's an ideal scenario to track communications. This is not like an iPhone 16 that could have any number of apps where communication tracking would be very difficult. Even though he originally said, and you heard him from the horse's mouth, that he thought that Stephanie went angrily into the woods over chores in the yurt down to the tadpole hole. It was kind of like a ditch with water in it.

We were showing it earlier, and that's where he originally said she went. but then after he thinks about it comes up with a story that she obviously fell in love with someone and hid out listen or if she could just contact someone and let us know hey i'm all right mom and dad you know let us know let us know what's going on like i even told her i mean i'm from west virginia so i don't expect everybody to understand if she was 14 you know about turned 14 she fell in love with some boy and everything and she wanted to hide out and everything until whatever that's fine let us know what's going on so we can help and take care of her. Hide out with a boy. What boy?

Internet searches have been done. Forensic searches have been done. There is no boy. What is he talking about? I'm from West Virginia, so maybe everybody else doesn't understand, but falling in love at 14 with some boy or whatever, he's totally changing course, Dave Mack. Is there any indication she had an online romance? Any? None whatsoever, Nancy. There is no indication that she or her sister were able to get online. All of that story comes from Dale Damron. As of tonight, as we go to air, neither Dale Damron nor his wife had been charged.

They have not been named a person of interest, a suspect, neither has the fake grandpa that lives with the two little girls. What did the search for 13-year-old Stephanie entail? What was done to Christy Rand joining us, who is a searcher and has been spending time, effort, money, resources, trying to find Stephanie. Tell me about the search. I understand drones, canines, and more were used. Canines, basically any resource that our main state police or the FBI could have brought in, it was brought. dozens and dozens of vehicles all along the street. I know that some of what went on was kind of secretive.

We've heard reports from the Andrew, the neighbor, Uncle Andrew, that his property was searched as well. As far as I know, they've approached neighbors looking for security camera footage, anything that's relevant. I want to go to Chris Carson now, the neighbor of the Damon family. What did you observe of the search?

because the dogs didn't pick up anything. The first set of dogs that they brought in were just search dogs, normal search dogs. And my property, I opened it up to anybody, you know, that was a search team to come on my property and do whatever you got to do. And I'm cool with it. And so they, the search teams were just,

honestly, there were nuts. They were all over the place. It was crazy. It was a, It was just a huge thing going on. And then they brought back another set of dogs, but these ones were, unfortunately, cadaver dogs, which are different from search dogs.

And those guys, I mean, we had everything going on, helicopters over my house. It was shaking my house. It was, they were searching. They did a good job searching. Despite extensive investigative efforts, including a neighborhood canvas and video search, along with an expansive grid search, utilizing canines from Maine warden service and Maine State Police,

Stephanie is still missing. Investigators remain tight-lipped about what exactly was found on the grandfather's cell phone, but calls in the FBI's child abduction rapid deployment or card team to assist in the investigation. Investigators follow up on leads in West Virginia, Texas, New Hampshire, and even Canada, but none have led them any closer to Stephanie. There are tips from the public that maybe she had a social media friend at the time or an acquaintance. So we just try to follow up on any information for those outside states. First you were hearing from a special agent, FBI agent Kimberly Milka, and then you were hearing from News Center, Maine.

And then also from New Central Maine, you were hearing Lieutenant Darren Karn, Maine State Police. Did you hear what they said, Brian Fitzgibbon's, what Karn said? said. He said there have been tips from the public that maybe she had a social media friend. We follow up on any information. Yet there has been no name. There has been no online friend. In other words, that's a dead end. Yeah, absolutely. And the question is, in order to have a friend on social media, you have to have an ability to connect to social media. And that's not happening on a flip phone that the grandpa has, right? So, you know, this is a dead end.

These tips from the public seem to be from the parents, right? And then the next thing is, you know, knowing that neighbors heard about this days after Stephanie was missing, you know, investigators are right about one thing that they don't have any leads to go on. And now we learn another. piece of the puzzle tonight. Everything is not as it seems. Listen. Neighbors report hearing Dale Damron and loud arguments that went on for more than 30 minutes at a time directed at his wife and

children. The screaming matches recalled by neighbors Shelley and Chris Carson happened frequently in the weeks and days before Stephanie vanished. With one such scream fest happening, the day Stephanie vanished. Chris Carson, neighbor to the Damron's, Chris Carson Sr., did you ever hear Dale Damron screaming at his wife and children? Absolutely, I did. Yes. And it was not just once a week or something. Coming up to the time when I was almost daily, constantly, it was almost daily, constantly. It sounded like the kids were jumping their car, slammed doors and honked the horns, beeping, beeping, beeping, and it was just like that. It was just kind of crazy. What was he used?

yelling at them about? You really couldn't hear. You could hear a lot of profanity, the F-bombs and stuff like that. You really didn't hear anybody yell back. And if you did, you really couldn't tell what they were saying. Dale, when he yells, he makes sure that you hear him yell. Speaking of dropping the F-bombs and screaming at the children so loudly, the neighbors could hear it. This is out in the middle of the wilderness.

we actually have some of that caught on video with Damron screaming and cursing out the neighbors. Listen. Oh, you're in my yard? I'm waiting out here in the street. What would I go to the street? I'm not an idiot. Come on the street.

Why are you yelling in my yard? Because you're a damn piece of shit. No, fuck you. Your daughters came here for help. What in the hate? Chris Carson, is that him cursing out your wife? Absolutely. We didn't even,

Shelly's never met him before. He just came up and we saw him out the window. Well, Shelly did. I was in the basement. And while my wife, she's going to protect her property and her family and what's hers. She usually doesn't yell like this, but that day, obviously, she did. And he was just, I don't know how to say that.

but you just wasn't making sense of anything, just saying that we need to keep our mouths, his family out of our mouths. And they kept going on like that, and he kept threatening Shelley to, hey, you know, about in a row, so I'll punch you, lay you right out. So I was calm. I had my hands up, you know, crossed over, and I didn't have a firearm, but up here in Maine, you can. And we got bearers. I mean, they'll show up anywhere. So I always have one. And I walked out there and he said, what are you going to do? Shoot me?

And I was like, well, if you touch my wife, I will shoot you. And then shortly after that, Lisa came down and made him get in the car and she took him back home. I noticed that your wife said your daughter came here for help. Oh, yes. She came, both daughters, Stephanie and Starr. would come here to get water because we had a bad drop that summer when the rest of the family was living up the road at Andrews. So the girls, they came up here and were in water and apples off of our trees and they enjoyed the chickens. They would come out and play with my chickens,

but they wouldn't stay very long and then they would just rush back to their house, almost like they kind of weren't supposed to be here. And I want to stress that, that as of tonight as we go to air, neither Dale Damron nor his wife had been charged. They have not been named a person of interest, a suspect, neither has the fake grandpa that lives with the two little girls.

Take a look at more of that ring camera footage. You have you out there? Why don't you shut up? Whatever you have down there is your fucking best thing. Huh? They can't cut! Bulls!

They can't tell! We don't lie on them! We don't lie! What's the lie? What's the lie? What's the lie? Tell me right there. You're not in your goddamn mouth on the...

We don't say shit about you. I'm a liar. Where is the what is that? What do we say? about CPS. CPS? What the fuck are you doing that? How many times do you guys call CPS on us?

How many times? Who? You are... You can go f*** yourself because we never got a whole of C. See my family. Your daughters came here. This 13-year-old little girl is missing. Stephanie argues with a sister about chores and she tears up.

She tears up and walks out of the home, into the woods. Where is Stephanie, bizarre inconsistencies emerging tonight? And the theories from the dad become even more and more unpredictable listen. I hate talking about one of my kids any way, shape, but I really at this point don't trust anything that Star is telling me about the whole situation. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Dale Damron goes so far as to accuse Stephanie and her sister star of waiting until the old man they call grandpa, 80-year-old Richard Turgeon, would take his medication at night, then grabbing his phone from under his pillow

and using it to talk to boys. So Christy Rand, who has been searching for Stephanie, the theories are getting zanier and zanier at the beginning we were told by the sister star and the fake grandpa that there was an argument over chores Stephanie walks into the woods and is never seen again she just magically vanishes now the dad is claiming that the little girl poisons the fake grandpa giving him medication so they could get on his phone and using the phone to talk to boys There's nothing that makes sense here.

We've gone from, she walked into the woods, walked to the street, had a friend online. At this point, it wouldn't surprise me if we'll come out with more theories. Dave Mack, we just showed Chris Carson, the neighbor, Chris Carson Sr., the neighbor's ring cam, where the dad, Del Damron, is screaming about CPS. He's got good reason to suspect CPS was called. Isn't it true CPS took the children away for a period of time when they lived in Texas? They did. They actually lost, they being the Damron, we're talking about Dale and Lisa. They lost custody of their children for six months, Nancy, and it went back to, and this is incredible judgment on his part.

They actually, Dale Damron was smoking marijuana. in the car with the kids in the car and of course the police see them and they follow him into a McDonald's where he's just puffing up and uh you know that's the type of man we're dealing with somebody who thinks that's perfectly acceptable behavior but yeah that's how cps got involved with his family to start with was from the public intoxication and putting all of his children at risk for his own well-being maybe that's That's why he thinks everyone calls CPS on him. This time, as a matter of fact, CPS was called on them because the children looked like they

hadn't had bass and were basically wearing rags. But I want you to hear what Damron has to say on locating the lost. Stephanie was sneaking around when Papal was taking his sleeping pills and we weren't around because my dad is 80 years old, just had a massive heart attack about a year and a half ago. So they got them on sleeping pills and a bunch of heart pills. What Stephanie was doing and her older sister was involved in it just as much. They were waiting until a papal took his sleeping pills or wasn't paying attention. They would sneak off with his phone.

That's what is called an alternative narrative. We didn't hear anything about that when Stephanie first disappeared in the woods. Wouldn't a parent say, I think she's met somebody online. Look at the grandpa's phone. That's not what the story was. to Jeff Kelshevsky. What is an alternate narrative? Right. It's a false narrative. And how many cases have we covered when the person was guilty and they try to build a false narrative for people to go chase down? That's exactly what's happening here. This guy knows more than what he's

disclosing. And I'm glad the FBI is involved because if this is something that was this child taken across state lines. Who knows where this is going to go? And I want to stress that as of tonight, as we go to air, neither Dale Damron nor his wife had been charged. They have not been named a person of interest, a suspect, neither has the fake grandpa that lives with the two little girls. To Franz Borghardt, veteran trial lawyer, criminal defense attorney, founder of the Borghardt Law Firm, former prosecutor, professor of Louisiana State University. Franz, there's another word for alternate narrative. Tonight, we know there is a $15,000 reward. Do you believe, Franz, that rewards work? I don't think 15,000's

going to get it done, Nancy. I also think that the fact that there's no significant forensic leads gives me pause, so I just don't think we're going to find her. Brian Fitzgibbon's director operations USPA nationwide security. What do you think? Just like Attorney Borghardt said, with no substantial forensic leads, with no network of friends and associates, you know, Stephanie was living a very isolated life. Who are you offering this reward to is the question, right? So a reward can work in a suburban or urban scenario where there are a number of people. to offer it to who might have information. Well, if you don't think the reward's going to work, Fitzgibbon's, what now? I think I'm just going to quit because the reward may not work?

No, you know, we can't quit, obviously. The FBI, I believe, has to continue this search in that woods. You know, I think there's a very good chance that she is out there and that there are more questions to be filled in with that cell phone. I'd like to know what's going on with that, with grandpa's cell phone. Christy Rand, for once in my life, I disagree with Fitzgibbon's. I don't think she's in those woods. Because if canines, scent dogs, cadaver dogs can't find her, I don't think she's there.

Christy, what do you think? You've been the one out in the woods looking for her. I think there's a possibility that none of us knew that we do not know when Stephanie actually disappeared. which would mean we could have had not only the 24 hours missing of time to be looking for her, but as many as two full days before the 23rd. I think they had a lot of time, whatever happened to Stephanie, if she is in the woods, it is not directly behind her home and was placed somewhere. I believe an accident or something may have happened.

But no, I don't believe she's directly behind her. the home, I don't think she just walked into the woods and got lost. I'd like to hope that the search was thorough enough, but if she had walked in the woods and was injured within a mile or so of her home, that someone would have found something in those first initial large searches, and there was nothing. Chris Carson Sr., you are the neighbor of the Damron family. You know these little girls. Chris, one thing that's very disturbing to me is that this could have been avoided.

I don't know what neighbor called Child Protective Services, but somebody did call. And CPS came out, Chris Carson, Sr., and did nothing. They saw the girls living in these horrible conditions and did nothing. Yeah, it was, Shirley and I, we definitely did not call CPS. Other folks in our little tight neighborhood here happened because of what, I mean, the weather conditions, I mean, sometimes it would be 30 below zero living in that year. So they would call out and try to get like a wellness check. And the response we got from DHS or CPS was, oh, we don't have anybody right now available to go check. And this is like theory below zero.

And they refused to even send somebody out here. CPS, Child Protective Services, add it again, and now Stephanie is gone. If you know or think you know anything about missing Stephanie Damron, it's not over yet. Please call Maine State Police. 800 924-2261. Repeat. or 800-2-25-5-3-24, 800-2-25-5-3-24. There is a $15,000 reward.

And tonight, when we remember American heroes, I want to remember and honor people that come forward, people that have the backbone, the bravery, the courage, to come forward and try in their own way to save children, that are being abused, that are being mistreated, that are suffering. Those are my heroes tonight, and I ask you all to please help us find the truth about Stephanie Damron. Thank you to our guests for coming forward tonight.

Thank you to Chris Carson and Christy Rand for speaking out on behalf of this little girl who has no other voice for her. Again, no one has been named a suspect. No one has been named a person of interest. As we wait for justice to unfold, we remember an American hero, Officer Darren Burks, Dallas PD, survived by his grieving mother, Cherie. American hero, Officer Darren Burks.

Rest in peace, honest. Nancy Grace, signing off. Goodbye, friend.