Mystery as teenage girl, 14, vanishes after wandering into woods

A teen girl from Maine mysteriously vanished over a month ago after she was last seen leaving her home in New Sweden and walking into the nearby woods.

Stefanie Damron, 14, was last seen on September 23 'walking out of her house and into the woods located on the West Road in New Sweden,' the Maine State Police Department said in a statement.

Her family, who locals say have not joined search efforts, reported her missing the following day on September 24. 

After a near month of 'extensive' efforts by Maine State Police and the FBI's Child Abduction Rapid Response Team, an October 23 report revealed that the girl remains missing.

State police added that all available resources have been utilized in order to find the missing girl, including collaborations with the state's Computer Crimes Unit and the FBI. 

Ongoing search efforts for the missing girl have also inspired locals of the small town and those in the surrounding areas to come together and search for anything that may lead them to the missing teen.

Despite the community's push to find the girl, searchers say that the Damron family has declined to become involved.

'We’re not going to stop until we find her,' Whittni Nichols, who has helped to lead the citizen search parties, said.

The disappearance comes years after after the Damron family moved to New Sweden from Texas following what one member called a 'CPS fiasco'. 

Stefanie's father, Christopher Dale Michael Damron, said in a 2019 Facebook post that the family would 'be heading to Maine away from these bad memories.'

While the family was living in Rusk, Texas, Stefanie's parents were arrested after officers found them allegedly intoxicated inside of a McDonald's while two of their children were in the car, according to a police report obtained by DailyMail.com.

The children involved were not identified. 

Following the incident, Stephanie's mom, Lisa Marie Damron, was initially charged with abandoning a child with intent to return, but she later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of deadly conduct and received a deferred sentence. 

In a post after Stephanie's disappearance, Lisa Marie claimed 'Stefanie got into an argument with her sister' while her parents were away and she 'walked off.' 

'We live a half mile back in the woods and our kids are very comfortable in their surroundings so there was nothing to raise flags the first few hours,' Lisa Marie added, concluding the note saying 'we just want our baby home'.

The search remains ongoing as 'investigators have conducted many interviews and followed up on leads in Maine, nationally, and in Canada,' police wrote in a statement.

'The Maine Warden Service and Maine State Police K9 Unit have searched large parcels of land near Stefanie’s last known location.'

New Sweden is located in Aroostook County about 200 miles from the Canadian border, boasting a population of a little more than 500.

Stephanie  who was 13 at the time of her disappearance but has since turned 14 - is 5-feet tall, weighs 130 pounds and has green eyes and shoulder-length brown hair.

She was last seen wearing blue jeans, a long sleeve blue shirt and black Harley Davidson hiking boots, according to Maine State Police.

Maine police ask that anyone with information about Stefanie’s whereabouts contact the Maine State Police at 1-800-924-2261 or 207-532-5400.