Stephanie Stewart

Stephanie Stewart was a woman who found peace and purpose in solitude and the vast, wild beauty of the Canadian Rockies. At 70 years old, she was vibrant and extraordinarily fit, having recently cycled solo across Canada and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. For 13 seasons, the Canmore resident spent her summers as a wildfire observer for Alberta's forestry department, a job she loved. Her post was the remote Athabasca Fire Lookout Tower in William A. Switzer Provincial Park, a densely forested area near Hinton, Alberta. There, she lived in a small cabin at the base of the tower, spending her off-hours painting, reading, and tending to her garden, surrounded by the stunning mountain scenery.

The evening of Friday, August 25, 2006, was quiet and routine. Stephanie spoke with her family by phone around 9:00 p.m. from her cabin. The next morning, however, the dependable and punctual Stephanie failed to make her scheduled daily radio check-in. Her supervisor, knowing this was highly unusual, tried to call her. Someone picked up the phone, said nothing, and hung up. When the supervisor called back, the line was disconnected. An employee was immediately dispatched to the lookout. Upon arrival, they found a disturbing scene. Stephanie’s truck was still parked outside her cabin, but she was gone. A pot of water had been left to boil on the stove and was still warm. On the steps leading to the cabin, there was a smear of blood.

Investigators from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) were called in and quickly determined that Stephanie Stewart, a female, had not been the victim of a medical emergency, an animal attack, or a voluntary disappearance. The signs of a disturbance, along with several missing items from her bedroom, pointed to foul play. A gold analog watch, two pillows with blue cases, a burgundy bedsheet, and a duvet were all missing from the cabin. It appeared that Stephanie had been interrupted during her morning routine and forcibly taken from her home.

A massive search was launched in the rugged terrain surrounding the fire tower. For days, hundreds of search and rescue personnel, police, and scent dogs scoured the area around Jarvis Lake and Highway 40 North, but they found no trace of Stephanie or her missing belongings. The investigation fell to the RCMP Major Crimes unit and, over the years, was eventually passed to the Historical Homicide Unit (HHU). In February 2018, the RCMP officially announced that Stephanie’s disappearance was being investigated as a homicide, even though her remains have never been found. That August, investigators organized another large-scale ground and water search near the tower, hoping that new techniques or a fresh set of eyes might uncover the clue that had been missed for 12 years. Again, nothing was found.

Stephanie's case is one of three unsolved disappearances of women from the Hinton area that the RCMP are investigating as unrelated homicides, including the 1983 case of 16-year-old Shelly-Ann Bacsu. Investigators have used social media to generate new leads and have repeatedly appealed to the public for information. "We know that there are people out there who have knowledge of what happened to... Stephanie," said Staff Sgt. Jason Zazulak of the "K" Division HHU. "We want to hear from those people." Police believe that over time, allegiances change and people who were once afraid to speak may feel they can finally come forward.

In the wake of Stephanie's disappearance, the province of Alberta implemented significant security upgrades across its 128 fire lookout towers to protect its seasonal employees. New protocols included self-defense training, locked gates to prevent unauthorized vehicle access, and two-way radios equipped with panic buttons. A faded missing poster for Stephanie remains stapled to a trail kiosk near the tower where she spent her final summer.

As of March 2026, Stephanie Stewart’s case remains an unsolved homicide. Her body has never been recovered, and no arrests have ever been made. The RCMP Historical Homicide Unit continues to investigate, believing that even one small piece of information could be the key to bringing closure to her family.

Anyone with information regarding the disappearance and murder of Stephanie Stewart is asked to contact the Hinton RCMP at (780) 865-2455 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).