A teen girl from Saratoga, California, vanished in Yosemite National Park while on a horseback trip with her father in 1981 and has remained missing for over four decades.
Stacey Anne Arras was just 14-years-old when she and her father, George, began a four-day excursion on the High Sierra Loop at Tuolumne Meadows on July 17, 1981.
She and George were part of a 10-person group and rode mules to the Sunrise High Sierra Camp. The camp sat 9,400 feet above sea level, and the plan was to spend a night at the camp’s cabins before continuing along the High Sierra Camp loop.
Stacey and her father were supposed to share a cabin that night. They arrived there at 3:00 p.m., at which point she decided to take a shower and change her clothes.
Afterward, Stacey told her father that she wanted to walk down a trail with Gerald Stuard, a 77-year-old man, to take photos with her camera.
George told his daughter to wear more appropriate shoes, as she’d been wearing sandals, so she put on hiking boots before leaving with Gerald for their 1.5-mile hike along the trail to Sunrise Lakes.
However, Gerald reportedly became tired at one point during the hike and took a seat to rest. Stacey supposedly told him that she was heading toward the lake and would return in a few minutes.
Meanwhile, a tour guide who’d led the group Sunrise High Sierra Camp had been nearby at the time, working at the corral, and reportedly saw Stacey standing on a rock approximately 50 yards south of the trail. The guide became the last person to see Stacey alive.
She never returned, and the National Park Service immediately began investigating her disappearance. A 9-day search ensued, involving hundreds of people and helicopters, but aside from Stacey’s camera lens being found on the trail, no other sign of her was ever uncovered.
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Stacey’s strange case has prompted numerous theories, ranging from animal attacks to abductions. Both of these seem unlikely, though.
Bear attacks are extremely rare in Yosemite National Park, and executing an abduction would be difficult, given how only one road, Tioga Road, travels through Tuolumne Meadows. Moreover, the Sunrise Lakes are over four miles away from the road and close to visitor hot spots.
It’s possible that Stacey became lost in the dark and fell. Nonetheless, exactly what happened to her has remained a mystery for over 43 years.
Stacey was five foot five, weighed 120 pounds, and had blonde hair. She was last seen wearing shorts with maroon, white, and sky-blue stripes, a white short-sleeve blouse with lace trim, a white windbreaker, and gray hiking boots.
Anyone with information regarding her case is urged to contact the National Park Service at (209) 379-1992.
