On July 25th, 1981, Stacy Arras went horse riding in the Sunrise Meadows area of Yosemite National Park in California, with her father and six other people. She hasn’t been seen since. She was just 14 years old.
Before Stacy disappeared, the group had made their way to a cluster of cabins at the Sunrise High Sierra Camp, where they planned to stop for a while before carrying on with their excursion the next day.
After arriving at the camp, Stacy changed into different clothes with the intention of going to the nearby lake to take photos.
She asked her father if he wanted to go with her to the lake, but he declined, telling her to change out of her flip-flops into more appropriate walking shoes.
An older man in his 70s, who was with the group, named Gerald, decided that he would go with Stacy Arras but after a short while got tired and had to sit down. This was witnessed by some of the group who were watching the pair from above.
They watched as Stacy continued walking behind the tree line and out of sight. When she didn’t return, the group gathered together and started to search for her but with no luck. Gerald had spoken to a group of hikers who came from the direction that Stacy was heading, but they had not seen anyone, so Stacy was reported missing.
A massive search operation was launched involving 150 people, including 67 Mountain Rescue Association volunteers, search dogs and helicopters over ten days. Unfortunately, the only thing found was the lens cap to Stacy’s camera in the trees where she was last seen. There was no other sign, not even tracks, and the dogs failed to pick up any scent.
Since then, there have been no more updates, no strong theories, and no sightings of Stacy Arras.
Some people have suggested that perhaps she was the victim of an animal attack, but there most likely would have been some sign of this. Others think she may have been taken by someone, but again there was no evidence of any third party involvement, and no witnesses to suggest this happened. Another theory is that Stacy ran away as she was having some trouble at school, but why would she choose to go on the horse ride and leave mid-way? And if she planned to run away at that moment, why invite her father to accompany her on her walk to the lake?
Author and missing person investigator David Paulides has tried multiple times to get access to the Stacy Arras case via the Freedom of Information Act but has come up against brick walls. It isn’t a criminal case, there are no suspects, and Paulides has managed to get access to other missing person cases within the area, so the resistance for this specific case file is unusual.
Unfortunately, with so little information to go off, it seems unlikely that there will ever be any answers to what happened to Stacy Arras.
Sources:
https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2021/03/the-bizarre-vanishing-of-stacey-arras/
https://locationsunknown.org/stacy-ann-arras
https://www.strangeoutdoors.com/mysterious-stories-blog/stacey-arras
https://truecrimediva.com/stacy-ann-arras/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-eight-stacey-arras/id1492748625?i=1000465281477
https://podtail.com/en/podcast/locations-unknown/ep-26-stacey-arras-yosemite-national-park/
