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August 2008 marked the second anniversary of the disappearance of 70-year-old fire lookout Stephanie Stewart.

In the two years since she was reported missing the RCMP, dozens of search and rescue personnel and hundreds of volunteers have looked for the woman.

To date, no trace of her or her personal belongings has been found

When the RCMP released their 2007 year-end report, Stephanie's case was listed as a homicide investigation.

In August 2007, the RCMP, family and friends raised the issue of Stewart's disappearance back into public awareness with the release of a home video of the woman taken shortly before she disappeared.

It was the last weekend of August 2006.

And despite some of hottest summer weather in recent Alberta memory, the forest fire season had been relatively quiet.

Stephanie Stewart had spent the last 13 years of her 18-year fire-spotting career manning the Athabasca Lookout Tower.

A popular tourist spot, the 40-foot tower is just 25 kilometres northwest of nearby Hinton, about 280 kilometres west of Edmonton.

About a thousand visitors a year drop by the site and many make the climb up the tower -- with a stunning view of the Rocky Mountains' eastern slopes serving as a reward.

The land on which the tower sits also affords a perfect launch point for hang gliders. Aerial trips to Edson, some 80 kilometres east, are not uncommon.

Stewart liked the work.

Like others who have chosen the solitary and seasonal professional, she had taken special training to deal with the isolation the job often entails.

She also had the patience to speak with all her visitors, pointing out to them the features of the tower while explaining the nature of her work.

Lookout observers are required to call in a minimum of three times a day to file reports ... and often just to let folks know they're okay.

Stewart did not respond to a call on Saturday, August 26th. An Alberta Sustainable Resources supervisor went out to the tower and checked her cabin.

Stewart's grey pickup truck was parked out front, but the 70-year-old woman was not to be found.

Family members last heard from Stewart Friday night.

Hinton RCMP acted quickly and through media releases asked for the public's help in locating Stewart.

Within hours, the numbers looking for her grew from a dozen to a hundred.

Volunteers joined RCMP members from other divisions and detachments, representatives from Parks Canada, Alberta Forestry and search and rescue teams from various locations around Alberta.

Helicopters were brought in to cover steep terrain cloaked with challenging dense brush. August's shortening days also hampered search efforts.

Stewart was described as being in good physical condition with no known medical conditions, about 5-feet 1-inch, 100 - 105 lbs, with blue eyes, permed shoulder length grey/auburn hair and glasses.

"Everyone is very concerned for her safety," said an Alberta Sustainable Resource Development spokesman. "We're all hoping for a happy ending. It's a sad mystery. It's completely out of character for her not to check in."

According to the spokesman, it was the first time a lookout observer had gone missing under mysterious circumstances.

Police were also treating the disappearance as suspicious.

"It's very unusual for this lady. This is not your little old lady that we usually think of," an RCMP spokesman said. "She would put any healthy 50-year-old to shame. She's very fit."

Stewart had recently climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

A former bookstore owner, Stewart lived in Canmore, Alberta during off-season. She had moved to the rugged area west of Calgary more than 20 years ago.

A close friend of Stewart's said the mother of one daughter lived for her job and the outdoors.

"She had a house at the base and would cook and read and do all kinds of crafts," the friend said. "Then she'd climb up there first thing in the morning. She loved it."

The friend said she was somewhat surprised when she heard Stewart had gone missing, considering her tremendous outdoor skills.

"If something has happened to her, then she went doing the things she loved."

As their investigation continued, RCMP noticed that a number of articles had gone missing from Stewart's log-cabin quarters.

Police issued a list of items they asked the public to watch out for:

- 2 pillows with blue pillow covers
- a burgundy bed sheet
- a duvet with a Navajo pattern on it in earth-tone browns with blue highlights on the top (the back side is blue and burgundy)
- a women's gold analog watch with a second hand that displays the day of the week and the date

A missing poster was created and was made available for distribution (.pdf format).

On August 30th RCMP announced they terminated their ground search and were now conducting a criminal investigation into Stewart's disappearance.

Police said they were satisfied the woman had not wandered away or was attacked by animals, and now believed she was a victim of foul play.

When questioned by media, a police spokesman would not say if there was specific evidence to idicate foul play.

The spokesman simply reiterated previous statements about Stewart's nature, length of lookout service and the items missing from her cabin.

On the afternoon of August 31st, Stephanie Stewart's daughter Lorie spoke at a news conference held at RCMP "K" Division Headquarters in Edmonton. She read from a statement prepared by her family.

Thank you for coming. I’m Lorie, Stephanie is my mother.

We all love Stephanie very much and are very concerned that she is missing and has been for six days. We ask that anyone with any information about her disappearance to please come forward.

We also encourage you to contact police if you have any information about other individuals who may be involved in Stephanie's disappearance.

We thank every person and there has been so many. Every person who has given so much time and effort to search for Mom. Thank you for your care and energy.

We wish to thank the Hinton RCMP for this and other efforts to obtain information related to Stephanie’s disappearance.

If you have any information, please contact Hinton RCMP or any police agency or Crime Stoppers. Please help to bring her home.

Thank you.

Fielding questions at the conference, Lorie was asked if any part of her mother's past could lead to a person who might wish her harm.

"She was well-known and well-liked in her community." Lorie then described her mother as an old pro at tower work.

"The tower life is her life. She's a very strong individual."

Lorie did not wish to disclose her last name, and RCMP asked the media not to contact the family.

Although the search by police had been called off, volunteers said they would return to the area over the Labour Day weekend.

A police spokesman said up to 24 officer were continuing to follow up on incoming tips.

By the end of the official ground search, nearly 50 square kilometres had been covered.

Helicopters flew over 7,500 square kilometres, and vehicles had covered 4,000 kilometres of roads and trails.

"There are three scenarios when someone goes missing," said Jason Cottingham, a search crew supervisor with Alberta Sustainable Resources.

The missing person could be missing or lost, or could have fallen victim to an animal attack. "If you eliminate those two things after a thorough search, you are left with number three -- foul play."

An Alberta Sustainable Resources spokesman said an automatic safety review would be conducted to determine if any policies need to be changed.

Spotters in Alberta's 128 towers don't have to work alone, and can have a pet, spouse or friends stay with them, the spokesman added.

"Many choose to live alone; that's what attracts them to the job."

On September 1st, 2006 the Edmonton Journal carried a story that suggested people living in the Hinton area feel the growing scourge of drugs may have brought a killer into their community.

"We've had a horrible problem with crack cocaine in Hinton in recent years," said a 16-year resident.

"And God knows what kind of people are going up and down the highway up to Grande Cache. There are also the transients who go to Jasper every summer."

"We had a suspicious death across the highway from us two or three years ago," said an operater of a nearby bed and breakfast.

"That was connected with methamphetamine. This problem isn't specific to Hinton. It's international."

When made aware of the Journal's suggestions that Hinton's thriving drug trade may be behind the disappearance, an RCMP spokesman dismissed the article out of hand saying investigators have to investigate all the possibilities and can't be narrow in their focus.

On September 8th, 2006 the RCMP issued a statement updating the progress of their investigation into the disappearance of Stephanie Stewart.

Police said they are searching specific areas around the lookout tower for a second time.

The effort to look at these areas again was the result of tips received from the public. Police did not give specific details.

On September 14th, 2006 a reward was offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the disappearance of Stephanie Stewart.

The $20,000 reward was put up by the Province of Alberta and the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees. Stewart was an AUPE member.

"We're not blaming anyone. We're not saying who is at fault. We just want more information," said AUPE president Dan MacLennan.

"We will do everything in our power to find out what happened to her and to prevent this from happening again.”

MacLennan added he expects the reward will grow quickly as other union locals add money.

“We appeal to anyone with any information to please come forward,” said Sustainable Resource Development Minister David Coutts.

A ministry spokesman said it was the first time the department had offered such a reward, adding it was uncertain if the provincial government had ever taken the step.

Through the RCMP, the Stewart family said:

"The family greatly appreciates the reward offer made jointly by the Government of Alberta and the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees.

"We are encouraged and strengthened by everyone's commitment to help find Stephanie.

"We again ask anyone with any information regarding Stephanie's disappearance to please contact Crime Stoppers or any police agency. Please help to bring her home."

As the 2007 holiday season began, Hinton RCMP made another appeal to the public for any information in the disappearance of Stephanie Stewart.

The RCMP took the occasion to remind the public the investigation was still ongoing and asked campers and hikers to look out for the woman or some of the items reported missing from her cabin – in particular pieces of bedding and a gold analog watch.

A new missing poster was created and was made available for distribution (.pdf format). RCMP were also mailing letters to campers who were in the area at the time of Stewart's disappearance in an effort to see if anything new may have come forward.

RCMP also announced they were reviewing the previous search conducted to address anything that may have been overlooked. They remain confident that Stewart was not the victim of any form of animal attack.

"There is no reason for her to walk away," RCMP spokesman Al Fraser told the Edmonton Journal. "Investigators believe Stewart is a victim of foul play."

A steady flow of tips have been coming in from campers and hikers in the area last year, Fraser said.

Between 7,600 to 8,000 missing persons cases are reported to Alberta RCMP every year, a figure that does not include the areas covered by municipal police services such as Edmonton and Calgary.

Of these cases approximately 2.4% per cent require police investigations and cases similar to that of Stewart are very rare, according to an RCMP press release.

The Edmonton Police Service receives about 7000 missing persons reports a year.

In a story published June 9th, 2007 the Edmonton Sun confirmed the $20,000 Alberta Union of Provincial Employees reward was still in effect.

RCMP Cpl. Wayne Oakes again asked hikers and campers to keep their eyes open when travelling through the area.

"If you have a GPS device with you, mark the location and report it to police at your earliest possible opportunity," Oakes advised those who might spot something.

On July 23rd, 2007 Alberta Sustainable Resource Development released results of their internal review conducted after Stewart disappeared. The document, The Expert Panel Review: Personal Safety and Site Security at Athabasca Lookout Report can be viewed online as a .pdf.

The report made a number of recommendations that will require all fire lookout staff to carry radios equipped with panic buttons and receive personal safety training.

All signage pointing out the location of Alberta's 128 towers has been removed, and some lookouts, including Athabasca, now have gates surrounding them. Site security was also addressed with deadbolts to be installed on new steel doors and security bars on windows.

August 2007 marked the one year anniversary of the disappearance of 70-year-old fire lookout Stephanie Stewart.

The RCMP, family and friends raised the issue of Stewart's disappearance back into public awareness with the release of a home video of the woman taken just weeks before she disappeared.

Continuing to treat Stewart's case as a homicide, RCMP said the timely release of the video might remind persons of the importance of the smallest unreported tip that may hold the key to her disappearance.

Investigators also revealed a bit more of Stewart's last known moments, that as she was preparing for her early morning report on August 26th, 2006 she placed a pot of water on the stove to boil for use during the day. At some point she was interrupted.

When Stephanie failed to report in to her coworkers, they arrived at the lookout site to find the pot of water boiling and Stephanie missing.

The 44-second video, without audio, can be seen at the RCMP web site. Selected images from the video are shown below.

Police said Stephanie thought of the Athabasca Tower as her home and not simply a place of work. During the family's last visit with Stephanie, her family took the video of Stephanie doing what she loved.

RCMP Cpl. Al Fraser addressed the media and spoke of Stewart's disappearance, the nature of the investigation and the video.

"It was very out of character for her not to be there to make her reports and out of character not to contact family and that sort of thing. And so all of that and the investigation at the scene it was suspected foul play was involved," Fraser said.

"When we have an investigation like this that is suspicious and there's a whole bunch of questions, we have to gear it at the highest level. We triage it, if you will, as a homicide investigation. If things change and it's scaled down to something else, so be it.

"The video is quite remarkable in that it shows a very lively effervescent woman who is enjoying life. Here's how the woman looked, here's how she would walk and turn and some other features that is difficult to describe in a news release or a poster."

Fraser described the impact hoped for in releasing the video.

"We want to show a three-dimensional aspect of her in case someone now knows that look – 'that way she looked at the camera, I remember seeing a woman who looked like that and I can provide you with some more information.'

"As time goes on it can become a bit more difficult. Investigators are still involved, investigators are still optimistic that they will find Stephanie.

"To say that we have no where to go when we may still have tips coming in – I don't want to be the nay-sayer, I don't want to say 'no' to that.

"We're still looking for that one tip that could take us in a particular direction: here's where we should be going or let's refute this.

"So any of that information is still very very valuable to us. We're not giving up on this."

In the wake of the release of the video, the Edmonton Sun posed an online poll.

The one-day voluntary poll allowed only one response per computer.

The $20,000 reward offered by the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the disappearance of Stephanie Stewart remains in effect.

Updating the case in August 2008, media spoke with RCMP spokesman Craig Albers.

"Investigators just wanted us to let everybody know they are still working on the case," he said. "It's not something we're going to forget about."

Keeping the case in the public eye is key to helping investigators gain tips, Albers added.

"The biggest thing we're trying to do is rekindle the public's interest in the case. There is somebody out there who has information.

"Were always hopeful. There is somebody for sure, at least one person out there who knows what went on, " Albers continued. "Even a little tip a person might think is nothing, please call us and let us decide."

Albers said it could be something as simply as a piece of clothing found by a trail.

"All tips are very actively pursued. Sometimes people find information that they might not think is pertinent," Albers said. "It is better to give us that information and let us decide than to shrug it off.

"Obviously, somebody knows something about this."

Albers indicated RCMP officers speak with Stewart's relatives at least several times a month. Since making a public statement shortly after Stephanie's disappearance, her family has chosen to refrain from comment.

The man who managed the first search for Stewart continued to hold out hope.

"As I talk to you right now, on my deck, I can see the tower. It is pretty near and dear to me," Marc Symbaluk, president of the Hinton Search and Rescue Association, said.

"Two years haven't faded my desire to seek some closure to this."

Search and rescue teams continue to use the area where Stewart disappeared for training purposes.

Mike Jenkinson, a spokesman for the Sustainable Resource Development Department which oversees Alberta's lookout towers, said Stewart that has not been forgotten.

"Two years later, I can tell you that this still hurts, and there are people in this department for whom this is still an open wound," Jenkinson said.

"They miss her, and they would like to see some resolution to this."

The spokesman added that most of the recommendations of the 2007 Alberta Sustainable Resource Development report have been implemented as part of a 'target hardening' philosophy.

"We remind Albertans that these are places of work," Jenkinson said.

"These are employees of the government. You wouldn't go into somebody’s government office on Jasper Avenue randomly to go jogging in their office. It’s the same kind of mindset."

The spokesman declined to comment on the specifics of revised training that new and existing lookouts have received "for operational security reasons."

Police are asking anyone who may have visited the Athabasca Lookout Tower anytime over the weekend of August 25th/26th, 2006 – or knows of Stewart's whereabouts – to contact the Hinton Detachment at 780-865-5544, Edmonton RCMP at 780-412-5300, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), or online at www.tipsubmit.com - a secure tip submission web site.

Tips can also be text messaged. In Edmonton, text TIP250 + message and send to CRIMES (274637). In Northern Alberta, text TIP205 + message and send to CRIMES (274637).

deadmonton 2006 - other police matters - stephanie stewart