30 years since Stephanie Crane’s disappearance
CUSTER COUNTY, Idaho (KIFI) - It's been 30 years since Sandi Crane walked into the Custer County Sheriffs on Oct. 11, 1993, to report she could not find her nine-year-old daughter Stephanie who was last seen at the Challis Lanes Bowling Alley between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Stephanie had just celebrated her 9th birthday on September 28, 1993, and this year she would be celebrating her 39th birthday.
She was last seen walking towards the Challis High School in 1993.
Stephanie was 4’2’, 65-85 pounds, she has brown hair and blue eyes. She has a cowlick on the right side of her hair line and a scar near her right eye. Her face is freckled and she has a gap between her two upper front teeth.
An AMBERT 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 suspects name, age, sex, race, hair color, eye color, height, weight and clothing description. A description of the vehicle, (make, model, style and color) 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 Stephanies disappearance.
To get the word out that Stephanie was missing, the Custer County Sheriff’s Office relied on volunteers to hand out fliers and also stuff envelopes with a flyer of Stephanie and a cover letter for a Nationwide mailing to get the word out that Stephanie was missing. Also, in October of 1993 Stephanies case was also featured on the show “America’s Most Wanted.”
In November of 1993, a benefit concert was held for the 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 of 2018, Stephanies case was featured on the Investigative Discovery Channel on a show called “Disappeared.” The episode was entitled “Into the Mist." You can read about that HERE.
Stephanie’s case is still open and will remain open until she is found. Every tip 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.
