Missing on March 3, 2015 after a dental appointment at Jess Ranch Dental in Apple Valley, CA.
There is a $10,000 reward offered to anyone confirming her whereabouts, or leading to the arrest and prosecution of the person(s) responsible for her disappearance.
Please contact Detective Grantham at 760-248-7655 or Message her page at Help find Krystie Stuart.
Bipolar disorder, weaning off meds under doctor’s supervision. The morning of her disappearance she was struggling a bit, but her father Don had reassured her that she was very loved. He suggested she relax, maybe go to the park and she agreed. She hadn’t mentioned her dental appointment she had that day to her father.
The employees at the dentist’s office would later tell Krystie’s parents that Krystie arrived for the appointment, but the dentist couldn’t fix the tooth until Krystie took a course of antibiotics, which the then dentist prescribed. The employees said Krystie seemed to have lost her car and house keys in the short time she was at the dentist’s office and seemed to be under stress. Krystie did have a spare car key and left the office shortly thereafter.
Krystie’s friend would later tell police she had been expecting Krystie to come over after her dentist appointment to spend the night. At 4:21 p.m., cell phone records show Krystie called that friend, who says Krystie told her she was on her way over
Krystie never arrived.
After not hearing from their daughter later that night or the following day, Krystie’s parents Don and Ginger began calling her friends from church to see if anyone knew where Krystie was. Nobody had heard from her. The next morning, on March 5, 2015, Don and Ginger called the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office to report Krystie missing.
Police initially listed Krystie as “voluntary missing” because she is an adult and could have left on her own. Krystie’s parents are certain she would never have left without telling them. (This slowed the response on the investigation) A classification of “suspicious missing” would have escalated the investigative efforts.
MISSING PERSON: Detectives are Searching for Krystie Stuart of Lucerne Valley Last Seen March 2nd ... from SBSD - Victor Valley Sheriff's Department : Nixle
A few days later, on March 8, 2015, Krystie’s “pickup was located, unoccupied, in the desert area of north Apple Valley,” a
press release from the Victor Valley Sheriff’s Department said. The release said investigators were processing the vehicle but did not believe foul play was involved. The Stuart’s attorney, Cris Armenta, told Dateline that if Krystie had been labeled as “suspicious missing,” police would have had to process Krystie’s truck immediately on scene, rather than after it was towed from the desert.
A bloodhound did not find Krystie’s scent at the scene where her truck was found.
Krystie’s parents Don and Ginger told Dateline that police found her shoes, glasses, bra and medicine in the truck, but her phone was nowhere to be found. Three days after her truck was located, Krystie’s phone pinged on a cell tower “at least 10 or 15 miles away from where her truck was found,” investigator Herring told Dateline. But when Krystie’s parents were allowed to retrieve the truck a few weeks later, they found Krystie’s phone in the driver’s seat, her father told Dateline.
It took over a year to process Krystie’s laptop and phone.
No movement in the case.
In December of 2017, Krystie’s parents were victims of a cruel text extortion scam. The texts said Krystie was being held in Tennessee and they needed $500 to take her to the hospital, as she’d recently fallen sick. After hours of working with police to verify the texts, Don and Ginger were disappointed to find the texts to be pat of a scam originating in Nigeria.
Current status on case remains unsolved with no new information in 2018. There is an article to a Dateline interview I will post here:
Family at dead end searching for information on missing daughter Krystie Stuart
UPDATE: New information to add to this case. When the bloodhounds had been brought in to track Krystie’s scent, they tracked her from the dentist office to the Bed, Bath and Beyond across the street, into the store and into the women’s restroom. Then back out the store and towards the side of the building. There is a blind area in back of this area, and it is secluded from view of the rest of the stores. I shop here regularly, and avoid parking in that area. Also, the Rite Aid pharmacy is also in this center, and Krystie had picked up her prescription there that the dentist office had prescribed. It was later found in the truck that was left in the desert.
This case may be linked to another missing woman's case in the same area within months of Krystie's disappearance. Cal Advocates is working on both cases.
Cal Advocates For The Missing
*I want to say this about the mental health aspect of this case. A diagnosis of bipolar disorder does not automatically mean that is the cause for the person to be missing. This is especially true in a case like Krystie's where she had strong parental support and no history of running off or going any length of time without being in contact with her family. There are many strange things about this case, none of which point to her bipolar disorder being the only cause of her missing status.