CA CA - Stacy Arras, 14, Yosemite National Park, 17 Jul 1981

[Alleykins]

Stacy's case was added to NamUs on 06/09/2016
https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/34023/1/

 

[theforgotten]

I know why the agent called and refused to give the case out. Everyone that you mention that filled out a FOIA request could reasonably be a person of interest. No LE agency is going to give an unsolved case over to the possible perp. That is just how the federal gov't mind works. Trust no one. Never share info. How do you think 9/11 happened? This implies no guilt to me. It is just the way they are. How many times have you seen a Namus entry or listing on a missing persons site with the name and number of a federal agent to call?

Well they can always black out information that can't or shouldn't be released!Then hand over what they can!

 

[lisette]

Cant imagine what could have happened to her in such a short length of time! Maybe a bear or mountain lion grabbed her and carried her off? Or maybe somebody else was down at the lake and abducted her? But it sounds like they started looking for her fairly quickly " After a few minutes"...Maybe it was a longer period of time than we are theorizing? They weren't really specific on times...Wow! What could have happened to her?! I bet her father has regretted a million times that he didn't go with her!

 

[Cryptic]

Cant imagine what could have happened to her in such a short length of time! Maybe a bear or mountain lion grabbed her and carried her off? Or maybe somebody else was down at the lake and abducted her? But it sounds like they started looking for her fairly quickly " After a few minutes"...Maybe it was a longer period of time than we are theorizing? They weren't really specific on times...Wow! What could have happened to her?! I bet her father has regretted a million times that he didn't go with her!

Sadly, I am guessing it was a human predator. The area was searched by people familiar with animal predation. They knew what signs to look for to determine the presence of predatory animals, and what particular animals are likely to do with a kill (consume on site, relocate it to a lair, hide it in a tree for later) etc.

I also think the victim becoming lost and say, dying after wandering into an even more remote are and falling off a cliff at night is not likely. The family had horses, and appears to have been familiar with back country camping. Thus, the girl was probably an experienced camper and more likely to be able to orientate herself.

 

[ekardh]

Sadly, I am guessing it was a human predator.

Doubtful. Someone just happened to be lurking in that particular part of the woods that Stacy voluntarily walked into? And kidnapped her within that small window of opportunity without leaving any tracks?

 

[allmybecsloveme]

Doubtful. Someone just happened to be lurking in that particular part of the woods that Stacy voluntarily walked into? And kidnapped her within that small window of opportunity without leaving any tracks?

Leaving any tracks? I haven't read anywhere that it was raining or wet. It was in the summer. There was likely grass in the area.

If an animal took her, where were those tracks?

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[kemo]

Anyone familiar with the area Stacy vanished in knows that this is a classic case of someone lost in the wilderness who succumbs to the elements. This is very rough terrain, a day's walk from any road. There are trails that backpackers use but very few people would venture off trail.

Stacy had just arrived at Sunrise High Sierra Camp which is a cluster of "tent cabins" that are on a fairly flat open area up hill from several lakes less than a mile away. Walking from the camp to the lake would appear fairly easy and it would seem like both the lakes and the camp would be visible along the route. It isn't that simple however.

The area 8000' in elevation. The land is mostly bare granite that is very irregular . There some areas of scattered trees and some areas where the trees are thick enough to call forested. The land slopes steadily to the north and east but is a mishmash of ridges and gullies. It is impossible to walk in a straight line because you will keep encountering steep rock but granite affords good footing and there is usually a way to keep going if you poke around for a route and keep changing directions.

The danger with this kind of walking is that it is very easy to become disoriented and to believe your destination is a completely different direction than it really is. If Stacy lost sight of the camp or the lake, she might assume she knew the correct direction and continue on.

Once you realize that you should have arrive at your destination by now, but you haven't, you are lost. The decision to "keep going" can easily take you further away from where anyone might search for you. Continuing to walk after dark greatly increases the chance of injury.

People lost in the wilderness who are weakened by injury, hunger and cold, will often seek shelter in crevices or under fallen branches. This "shelter" often conceals extremely weakened lost hikers from searchers and ultimately results in bodies never being found.

This is hardly the first time a camper has wandered away from a campsite and gotten lost.

 

[scriptgirl]

one of the most fascinating stories I have ever heard. Don't think she succumbed to the elements.

 

[Ozoner]

Anyone familiar with the area Stacy vanished in knows that this is a classic case of someone lost in the wilderness who succumbs to the elements. This is very rough terrain, a day's walk from any road. There are trails that backpackers use but very few people would venture off trail.
...
The area 8000' in elevation.
...
Once you realize that you should have arrive at your destination by now, but you haven't, you are lost. The decision to "keep going" can easily take you further away from where anyone might search for you. Continuing to walk after dark greatly increases the chance of injury.

I'm not familiar with that particular area of the park, but I did some hiking around Yosemite in July in the 1990's. I had to sleep in my car because every single camp site, room, and cabin was booked, but even so I did not run into a single other person on most of my day hikes. That's because most of the visitors did not stray very far from Yosemite Valley or from their respective campgrounds. In other words, abduction is extremely unlikely.
I'm sure I had a trail map with me; I would not have strayed from the marked trails. I would have considered that tantamount to suicide.
The temperature in the park varies greatly with elevation. In Yosemite Valley (4,000 ft.), overnight lows are around 57° in July; for Tuolumne (8,600 ft.), they're around 38°.
https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/weather.htm
Death from hypothermia is a real possibilty, even on the first night.
I've heard about many cases where a person got lost in the wilderness and was later found many miles from the search area. Searchers tend to underestimate how far a person might wander, so I'm not surprised thst she wasn't found. She may decided to go fifty feet to try to get a better view of the lake or simply to pee. Maybe she saw an animal and tried to follow it to get a picture. It wouldn't take straying any more than 10 or 20 yards from a trail for a person to be lost and gone forever.

 

[theforgotten]

Bumping for Stacy! 35 years is too long without any answers!

 

[ekardh]

Stacy was still wearing her braces when she vanished. They should be confident of an identification if they can locate her remains.

 

[MOTORUNNER]

Here's a bump for Stacy. This seems like the weirdest case... I don't believe she was attacked.

 

[Fede]

Here are the documents that have been released: https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/foia/upload/Released-files-for-Stacy-Arras-case.pdf

 

[Fede]

Did she had some psychological problems or was using medication? Maybe she got lost or maybe she ran away. There is no much more options:
1- She got lost because of the place that is a difficult one.
2- She got lost because she had some medication or something that made her feel bad.
3- She had an accident.
4- She was murdered.
5- She ran away.

A couple of things that make me think: 1- Why did she left the camera lenses?; 2- Why nobody found some of her clothes?

 

[Gardener1850]

Bumping with pictures from NAMUS:

https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/34023/

 

[Plumber101010]

Seeing as how the lens cap was found right at the entrance to the wood line, to me is an indication of abduction. That’s exactly where someone would hide as to not be seen, while being able to see others. Abduction makes as much sense if not more, than any other theory. Yes an animal could have pounced on her and carried her away. The got lost? Don’t buy it. It takes days and days to succumb to the elements. I’m sure they yelled and she could yell back as well. What would help is the actual time frame that they started to get worried and went looking as no where can I find that info. Was it 30 mins? Or 3 hours? That helps bolster the lost possibility

 

[Plumber101010]

Maybe starting to change my mind already.. I figured the easiest way to solve these missing hiking mysteries was to start researching hikers who were lost and then found alive. And almost every single story it’s the exact same. They wandered off trail or lost their way along the trail, kept walking and wound up miles and miles from the original spot outside of the search area. And a lot of the cases, they were right there and saw search helicopters and people but yet STILL weren’t found until days later.

I guess some people just don’t have a good sense of direction and once they get off the trail, so even losing the trail, it’s simply amazing just how easy it is to get lost from there and how easy it is for search and rescue not to find you!

So now suddenly I think the possibility that most of these people just got lost and died and we never found is much higher than I previously thought after listening to two dozen plus stories of people this happen to who were found right before death.

 

[Alleykins]

Maybe starting to change my mind already.. I figured the easiest way to solve these missing hiking mysteries was to start researching hikers who were lost and then found alive. And almost every single story it’s the exact same. They wandered off trail or lost their way along the trail, kept walking and wound up miles and miles from the original spot outside of the search area. And a lot of the cases, they were right there and saw search helicopters and people but yet STILL weren’t found until days later.

I guess some people just don’t have a good sense of direction and once they get off the trail, so even losing the trail, it’s simply amazing just how easy it is to get lost from there and how easy it is for search and rescue not to find you!

So now suddenly I think the possibility that most of these people just got lost and died and we never found is much higher than I previously thought after listening to two dozen plus stories of people this happen to who were found right before death.

Here is the story of Geraldine Largay who went missing on the Appalachian Trail in Maine to add to your theory (If you haven't already read about her): https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/27/us/missing-hiker-geraldine-largay-appalachian-trail-maine.html

 

[theshadow45]

Stacy has been missing for 37 years today.

 

[MOTORUNNER]

Wherever you are Stacy, I wish the best for you. I am surprised no trace has been found, especially the camera or boots.