Three Women Vanish in Isolated Maine County, Sparking Fears of Serial-Killer Case
In Aroostook County near the Canadian border, investigators probe disappearances near Route 161 as residents weigh foul play and cross-border risk.
Three women have vanished from Maine's sparsely populated Aroostook County, a remote stretch near the Canadian border, fueling fears that a serial killer may be at work. Attiin Shaw, 36, disappeared from Washburn in September 2021; Stefanie Damron, 14, vanished September 23, 2024, from New Sweden near her family's home; and Tomis Hoyt, 36, disappeared in July this year in the Mars Hill area.
Shaw and Damron disappeared about ten miles apart, with three years separating their last sightings. The region is threaded with long, empty stretches of road, particularly Route 161; there is no public transportation, and fuel supplies can be scarce, making the area difficult to search when someone goes missing. The isolation has compounded anxiety for residents.
Authorities have pursued leads across thousands of acres and have even followed tips into Canada as they search for Damron. FBI agents with the Child Abduction Rapid Deployment team and Maine State Police have been active in the dense woods, trying to turn up new information.
Damron grew up in New Sweden and lived largely off-grid with her family, which was homeschooling the children. Damron's father, Dale, told WGME the disappearance was sudden and unexplained, and he described his daughter as a white girl with green eyes and shoulder-length brown hair, about 5 feet tall, last seen wearing blue jeans and a long-sleeved blue shirt. He said the family lived largely off-grid, and the children often wandered in the woods but would reappear. The FBI notes that the family was close-knit and spent time wandering in the woods, though the children would reappear. Dale said the case felt like an alien abduction, noting the lack of answers.
Damron was last seen entering a woodland area near her New Sweden home on Sept. 23, 2024, and investigators have followed leads for months without finding her.
In Shaw’s case, relatives say she moved to Washburn with her husband and four children in 2020. A friend told NBC News that she had bipolar disorder. Maine State Police have said there is no evidence she is living elsewhere, and officials have not disclosed new details about her disappearance; she was last seen inside her Washburn home in September 2021.
Hoyt, a mother of two, was last seen on Sunday, July 13, in the Mars Hill area walking down a road before vanishing. Surveillance footage shows her on the day wearing a tank top and ripped jeans, with no footwear. Her family said she had previously struggled with addiction and mental health problems but was nine years sober at the time. Her sister, Rici Hoyt, urged the public to come forward if someone knows of her whereabouts, saying there are anonymous ways to help.
Maine Department of Public Safety spokesperson Shannon Moss said detectives continue to investigate and follow up on leads.
The cases have drawn attention to the remote nature of Aroostook County, where proximity to the Canadian border can complicate jurisdiction and limit transportation options for those living far from urban centers.