REVISITED: The Lens Cap

Park Predators

The episode investigates the 1981 disappearance of 14-year-old Stacy Arras from Yosemite National Park's Sunrise High Sierra Camp. While exp

Key takeaways

• Stacy Arras disappeared on July 17, 1981, while hiking near Sunrise High Sierra Camp in Yosemite.
• The only physical evidence recovered during the massive search was the lens cap to her Olympus camera.

Main topics

• Stacy Arras disappearance
• Yosemite National Park mysteries

Notable quotes

The only clue left in her wake was the lens cap to her camera.

Conclusion

The case remains a haunting unsolved mystery that highlights both the

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) Hi everyone, it's Delia D'Ambra here, and I want to tell you about a podcast that's one of my personal favorites that I know you're going to love too, Dark Down East. Hosted by my friend and fellow investigative journalist Kylie Lowe, Dark Down East dives into New England's most haunting true crime cases. From unsolved mysteries to stories where justice has been served, Kylie brings her meticulous research and heartfelt storytelling to uncover the truth behind these cases. If you love the way I take you deep into the details of a case, then I know you'll appreciate Kylie's dedication to honoring the victims and uncovering their stories. There are so many episodes of Dark Down East already waiting for you and new episodes every Thursday. Find Dark Down East now wherever you listen to podcasts. Hi, park enthusiasts. I'm your host, Delia D'Ambra, and the case I'm going to tell you about today is one that's gone unsolved for more than four decades. It's the story of a teenage girl who did something every single person does while visiting a national park, took photos. But at some point, after just walking a short distance away from one of her parents to snap pictures, this young woman vanished, never to be seen again. The only clue left in her wake was the lens cap to her camera. Even 42 years later, the mystery of what really happened to Stacey Aris continues to haunt the history of Yosemite National Park. I've told you about other cases of missing people and murders in Yosemite before on this show, but there's just something about Stacey's case I can't let go of, and I think it's because I'm partly just always overwhelmed and in awe of the vastness of Yosemite. The section of the park Stacey was in during the summer of 1981 is called Sunrise High Sierra Camp. According to Yosemite.com and Travel Yosemite, it's known as a place to catch amazing sunrises and provides exquisite views of distant mountain ranges. It's also designed for visitors. There are designated trails and nine cabins at the camp, which allow hikers to leave their belongings behind while exploring the area. Speaker 1 (2:14) A lot of people venture into the high country of the park from this spot, either on foot or by mule. And that's exactly what Stacey and her father were doing one afternoon when she briefly slipped out of his sight and disappeared. Rumors about what happened to her have ranged from accident to abduction to runaway. And getting to the truth has proven harder than anyone back in 1981 could have ever imagined. Speaker 1 (2:41) This is Park Predators. Around 3 p.m. on Friday, July 17th, 1981, George Aris and his 14-year-old daughter Stacy had just arrived at Sunrise High Sierra Camp in Yosemite National Park. They'd spent the last few hours horseback riding, and so far their journey had taken them roughly three miles, and they still had another mile and a half or so to go before they reached their destination, a place called Sunrise Lakes. The adjacent lakes were back in the direction of the trailhead George and Stacey had entered on, but were technically through a different part of the terrain. So to help break up the hike, Stacey and her dad had decided to stop for the day at the cabins at Sunrise High Sierra Camp to offload some of their gear and enjoy a well-deserved rest. The plan was to stay the night in a cabin there and then start toward the lakes the next morning, Saturday, July 18th. Speaker 1 (3:56) Deciding to stop on Friday afternoon was good for the rest of the people they were with, too. You see, based on which source material you read, Stacey and her dad were part of a group of anywhere between six and 20 travelers who were on a week-long pack ride with horses or accompanied by mules. And I don't know about you, but I've been horseback riding in mountainous terrain like this before. And let me tell you, a break from being in a saddle on the back of a horse is life-giving. especially after you've gone for a few miles. So I completely get why the group wanted to take a pause and recharge. Something to note about Sunrise High Sierra Camp is that it's located several miles from the closest paved road on the southeast side of Tenaya Lake. The terrain all around the camp is rugged with some patches of alpine meadows, but then out of nowhere, large swaths of rock just pop up and go for miles. There are some areas with steep ravines, too. The uneven landscape makes it difficult to traverse, even for the most experienced hiker. The website Yosemite.com states that the camp sits 9,400 feet above sea level, or about a mile and a half up in altitude. By the late afternoon, Stacy and her dad had cleaned up and changed out of their sweaty clothes, and she was eager to check out the views around the area. According to an article by Strange Outdoors, Stacey asked her dad if he wanted to go with her for a short walk to a nearby ridge so she could take some pictures. But George told her that he wasn't interested in doing any more walking and said it was okay if she went by herself. Speaker 1 (5:34) According to McClatchy News Service and that same article I mentioned from Strange Outdoors, before Stacey took off, George cautioned her to change her shoes. After showering, she'd put on open-toed sandals, and he thought it would be safer if she wore hiking boots up to the ridge. So Stacey took her dad's advice and switched into her gray hiking boots. Before walking away, she pointed about 100 yards away to an older man who'd been traveling with their group. And she told her dad she wouldn't venture far from where that guy was sitting on a boulder. The source material isn't specific about how much time elapsed after Stacey walked away from her father, but the later it got, nobody at the camp, including George, really noticed that Speaker 2 (6:20) Stacey hadn't returned. Speaker 1 (6:22) None of the articles I read go into detail about if her dad started asking around for her or not. But what is clear is that shortly after Stacey left to go take pictures, the elderly man who she pointed to sitting on the boulder walked back into camp and alerted everyone that he thought something might have happened to her. According to several news reports, this man was 77 years old, and most of the research material doesn't state his name, but that one article by Strange Outdoors that I mentioned earlier did give his name, Gerald Stewart. So I'm going to refer to him as Gerald. And Gerald's story was that when Stacy passed him while he'd been sitting on the boulder, she mentioned she was headed to a nearby lake. Now, just to give you some context,