She was last seen at a bowling alley in 1993. The search for Stephanie Crane continues 29 years later.
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The following is a news release from the Custer County Sheriff’s Office.
On Monday, Oct. 11, 1993, at approximately 8:15 p.m., Sandi Crane came into the Custer County Sheriff’s Office and reported that she could not find her 9-year-old daughter Stephanie who was last seen at the Challis Lanes Bowling Alley between 5 and 6 p.m.
Stephanie was 4’2’, 65-85 pounds, has brown hair and blue eyes. She has a cowlick on the right side of her hairline and a scar near her right eye. Her face is freckled and she has a gap between her two upper front teeth.
Stephanie would have celebrated her 38th birthday on Sept. 28 of this year.
An Amber Alert was not sent out for Stephanie as Amber Alerts did not come into existence until 1996. However, Stephanie’s case would not have met the criteria for an Amber Alert.
For an Amber Alert, there has to be a belief that the child was abducted, there has to be a description of the child along with a description of the suspect. The suspect’s name, age, sex, race, hair color, eye color, height, weight and clothing description. A description of the vehicle is also needed along with the last known location and direction of travel.
Stephanie’s case would have fit the “Endangered Missing Persons Alert,” which Governor Little just signed into law this year. This alert would notify the public in and around Idaho about a missing person. For this alert you need the missing persons description and last known location.
Neither of these alerts were available at the time of Stephanie’s disappearance.
To get the word out that Stephanie was missing, the Custer County Sheriff’s Office relied on volunteers to hand out fliers and stuffed envelopes with a flyer of Stephanie along with a cover letter for a nationwide mailing.
Also, in October 1993 Stephanie’s, case was also featured on the show “America’s Most Wanted”
In November 1993, a benefit concert was held for Stephanie’s cause by the Braun Brothers. Her case was also featured on a short-lived news magazine show on Fox network called “Front Page.”
In 2016 Stephanies case was featured on Dateline’s “Cold Case Spotlight” on the internet. Also in 2016 the Custer County Sheriff’s Office started reviewing and re-evaluating possible evidence and even traveled out of state to conduct some interviews.
In April 2018 Stephanie’s case was featured on the Investigative Discovery Channel on a show called “Disappeared”. The episode was entitled “Into the Mist”.
Stephanie’s case is still open and will remain open until she is found. Every tip that the Custer County Sheriff’s Office receives is followed up on.
Anyone with any information about Stephanie is encouraged to call the Custer County Sheriff’s Office at (208) 879-2232, or you can call the Custer County Sheriff’s Office tip line at (208) 879-5372 and leave a message. You can also call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1- 800-THE-LOST (1-800-842-5678. You can also send an email to stephaniecranetips@gmail.com.