Custer County continues 23-year search for Stephanie Crane

Wednesday marks what should have been Stephanie Crane’s 32nd birthday.

Stephanie disappeared on October 11, 1993 while walking away from the Challis Lanes Bowling Alley. Her mother reported the 9-year-old girl missing at 8:15 that night. Investigators believe she was either walking hme or to watch a soccer practice.

By 9 p.m. the Custer County Sheriff’s Office, Search and Rescue, and the Challis Fire Department had launched an all-out search.

The next day, 300 hundred people had joined the search. But even with two planes, FBI agents, Sheriff’s deputies, Idaho State Police, the Idaho Bureau of Investigation, Idaho Fish and Game, and a team of tracking dogs failed to turn up any sign of the girl.

Stephanie’s case was featured on the television show “America’s Most Wanted” in 1993.

Both of her parents died without ever knowing what happened to their daughter. Her mother,Sandi Anderson, passed away in 1997. Her father, Ben Crane, died in 2012.

The Custer County Commissioners approved a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsbile for Stephanie’s disappearance.

The Sheriff’s office has not given up. In the past year, it has reviewed reports and re-evaluated possible evidence. Investigators have re-interviewed local people and traveled out-of-state for other interviews.

Anyone with information may call the Custer County Sheriff’s Office at 208-879-2232 or the Sheriff’s Office Tip Line at 208-879-5372 to leave a message or post a comment on the county’s Missing Persons Page on Sheriff Stu Lumpkin’s Facebook page.

Stephanie Crane’s case is also still active with the National Center for Missing Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678.