Idaho Falls boy acts in new TV special about the disappearance of Stephanie Crane
The story of Stephanie Crane’s disappearance is well known around Idaho, even with it happening 25 years ago. An Investigative Discovery television special is scheduled for Sunday night, and there are local Idaho Falls actors who worked in this special.
Colter Simpson, a fourth-grade boy, plays a role that was important to Crane.
“His name was Chase, and he basically was Stephanie Crane’s best friend and he went bowling and playing soccer and like arcades with her,” Simpson said.
At about the same age Crane was, Simpson fit the part of one of her friends perfectly.
“I heard about the opportunity by my mom’s friend and I’ve always wanted to act so I said, ‘Why not?'” Simpson said.
Simpson’s mother, Fawn Molyneux, remembers hearing the news of Crane’s disappearance in 1993.
“When I heard about it, I was a new mom. I have a 25-year-old son as well and I just had him and so it was really scary for me. It made me not want to leave my child anywhere or let him grow up. And it was a sad thing to know it was so close to home,” Molyneux said.
To be in Challis and reenact the possible moments before crane’s disappearance was chilling.
“It was kind of a strange feeling, because you know what happened there and it was one of the last places so it was kind of sad in a way. But it gave you a perspective of — I doubt know, as a mother, to think how sad that a happy day could end with a lost child,” Molyneux said.
The filming process with Investigative Discovery was a positive one and a cool experience for Simpson as an aspiring actor. For this project, he worked for two to three hours for two days.
“They make it a positive thing for the kids that are in it. They don’t make it seem sad or depressing at all and they are really good to their actors,” Molyneux said.
The hour-long special is called “Disappeared.” It airs on the Investigation Discovery channel this Sunday. For DirecTV: channel 285 at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. For Dish Network: channel 192 at 6 p.m.
