Arizona girl who vanished 32 years ago has been found alive, sheriff says

An Arizona girl who vanished in 1994 has been found alive, the Gila County sheriff said Wednesday. 

Christina Marie Plante disappeared from Star Valley, Arizona when she was 13 years old, the Gila County Sheriff’s Office said. She was last seen on May 19, 1994, around 12:30 p.m., after leaving home on foot to go to a stable where her horse was kept, according to a missing persons poster. She was last seen wearing shorts, a t-shirt and tennis shoes, and was considered “missing/endangered and under suspicious circumstances,” according to the sheriff’s office. 

Sheriff Adam J. Shepherd said in a news release that the girl was reported missing at the time, and “extensive search efforts” involving local and regional resources were conducted. Plante was listed in national missing children databases, and missing persons posters were distributed around the region, state and country. 

“Despite exhaustive ground searches, interviews and investigative follow-up, no viable leads were developed” at the time of her disappearance, Shepherd said,and the case remained open.Over the decades, investigators re-examined evidence and pursued any new information that became available, he said. 

The sheriff’s office eventually established a cold case unit, which focused on unresolved investigations, Shepherd said.  Detectives in the unit used “advances in technology, modern investigative techniques and detailed case review” to develop new leads that “ultimately led to a breakthrough,” Shepherd said. 

Shepherd did not say where Plante was found, or share any circumstances of her disappearance “out of respect for Christina’s privacy and well-being.” Shepherd said that investigators have confirmed her identity, and that her status as a missing person “has been officially resolved.” 

Shepherd said that the case “underscores the importance of cold case review initiatives and the impact of evolving technology in bringing long-awaitd answers to families and communities,” and said the sheriff’s office “remains committed to pursing all unresolved cases.”