The Secrets You Keep
Imagine yourself on a deserted island. You can choose three things to bring with you. Are you the romantic, taking photos of your loved ones, the practical one, taking your favorite book or game, or the survivalist, bringing flint and steel? No matter your answers, each one of us has our favorite possessions. Things that give us purpose or fill up our free time as a hobby. But what if possessions are all you felt you had in life? No support from your family, no friends to share them with. If you wanted to disappear, would you take them with you, or leave them all behind to start anew? These are some important questions we will speculate further in today’s story.
First, I would like to give the biggest thank you to who currently runs the Facebook page for Tyler's disappearance. Although you are anonymous, I can tell you genuinely cared for Tyler and that is really all that matters. You are doing a great thing for not only Tyler but for Jessica as well. I appreciate the time you took to speak with me about Tyler's case and answering any questions I had.
Tyler Stice
Tyler Andrew Stice was born to parents Stephanie and Brian Stice. He was born in Wyoming on February 8, 1996. For a period in his young life, Tyler would only be raised by his mother, as his father was in prison, for reasons I will get into later. Tyler had two half- sisters, biologically Stephanie’s daughters and Brian’s stepdaughters. Jessica Curtis was one of his sisters that he would grow close to. Tyler was an incredibly happy kid who enjoyed playing with his sisters. He was a good student and graduated high school in 2014. It was that year that his family would relocate to Kingman, Arizona. Once Tyler settled in, he would enroll in some college courses. He initially started with general education but was determined to work for the police department flying drones. He also found work in the area, nothing concrete career wise but something just enough to pay his parents rent and his car payment on his beloved Mustang. He had a few jobs over the couple of years, one was for a toilet paper manufacturing company and a couple of others were for a wood furnishing warehouse. Tyler was described as a good worker that always showed up. With full time work and college courses Tyler enjoyed his free time playing video games. Tyler has been described as very introverted and did not have many close friends, only some online friends and his sister. All the spare time Tyler had was filled up with video games, usually playing in the afternoon and late into the night. It would be one of the last activities Tyler engaged in before his disappearance.
On Monday, June 20, 2016, it was an average day according to family. Unlike normal, however, Tyler had skipped work. It appears he never called his boss to let him know either because later that day, Tyler’s boss contacted Stephanie as she was his emergency contact. He inquired about Tyler and why did not show up for his shift. Stephanie did not have an answer for him and seemingly did not know Tyler had missed his shift. When she saw Tyler at home, she asked him why he did not go into work that day. His response was that he just needed a break and “time to think.” We can all agree there are days that we just do not have it in us. The rest of the afternoon was normal. Brian and Tyler worked on a car outside the family home, the three had dinner and Tyler retired to his bedroom to immerse himself in the online world of gaming.
Tyler & his sister Jessica
On Tuesday, June 21,2016 Tyler woke up in the morning and got ready for work. He left his home at about 5:30AM to drive to his 6:00AM shift. Although Tyler had only been working at his job for a month or so, he was described as an exceptionally good employee. However, this was the second day in a row Tyler would no call-no show which prompted his boss to reach out to Tyler’s mother again. This day was different than the previous though. Stephanie heard Tyler up that morning although admits to not seeing him. All the signs pointed to him getting ready, packing his lunch and driving off in his mustang. Stephanie attempted to call his cellphone but that would go straight to his voicemail, like it had been turned off. As stated before, Tyler did not have many, if any close friends that anyone knew of, but Stephanie did reach out to Tyler’s sisters to see if they had seen or heard from him that day to no avail. Stephanie had no other options and reached out to the Kingman police department in an attempt to file a missing person's report on her son. She was only met with despair because Tyler was an adult, she would have to wait 48 hours to make that report. Being stuck, Tyler’s family did not know what to do so they just waited.
On June 25, 2016, just four days after Tyler disappeared, his black Mustang would be found. Tyler was not in his vehicle. The mustang was found on a road that runs through the Hualapai Mountains. The mountains are known for adventure seekers. There are many trails you can navigate, that will bring hikers to scenic views. The area is described as desolate and remote with not much activity. The first thing that was noticed about Tyler’s car was that it was exceptionally clean. Anyone that travels up there knows their car is about to get a little dirty, especially being on a dirt road. When they looked inside the car they noticed his keys, wallet and laptop were among the belongings missing. In the trunk was nothing of interest aside from Tyler’s beloved camera. He was known to take his camera everywhere he went because Tyler was keen on capturing little moments in time. Jessica noticed that there was a chocolate milk and a chai tea in the door of the passenger’s side and was right away very adamant that the tea had to belong to someone else because Tyler disliked tea and particularly hated chai. Additionally, because it was on the passenger side that could possibly mean that Tyler traveled up the mountain road with someone in tow. But who would he skip work for and take a drive up to the mountains with?
Tyler’s Mustang
Now that Tyler’s car had been located and it had been nearly a week without any contact from Tyler, investigators started to dig into the days before Tyler went missing. Among the discoveries was something no one expected. On June 19, 2016, just two days before Tyler’s disappearance, investigators claim to have surveillance footage of Tyler walking into a local Walmart and buying a rifle. Investigators stated that Tyler went to another store and bought ammo for the rifle. When bringing this up to Tyler’s family they were at a loss for words. Everyone stated that Tyler hated guns and had never owned one. They also stated that Tyler was not an outdoorsy type, never interested in fishing or hunting. He was interested in photography but had no affinity for the outdoors. As stated previously, Tyler was extremely introverted and would rather enjoy his time inside and engaging in his video gaming. If it was uncharacteristic of him, there had to have been a reason for this strange purchase.
On Sunday June 26,2016, the Mohave County Search and Rescue deployed to the area with search dogs. Their findings concluded that Tyler’s scent was tracked to a nearby girl scout camp, approximately a mile away and then ended. This was very hard for Jessica to believe because his scent was not even on a trail and knowing Tyler was not experienced for this type of activity. His scent followed very steep and rigorous terrain that she could not picture Tyler taking a chance of climbing. Since then, all answers to Tyler's disappearance have gone cold.
Tyler’s sister Jessica was the face of her brother’s case. She set up the Tyler Facebook page very quickly. She would even do an interview with Ed Denzel, the host of Unfound Podcast. Additionally, not being pleased with the department’s movement in Tyler’s case, Stephanie would go on to hire a private investigator, even with the disapproval from law enforcement, which would warn her if she were to pursue with hiring this person, they would stop all investigation on Tyler’s case. She was head strong in finding out what happened to Tyler no matter the cost. Unfortunately, Jessica would pass away just a little over two years after Tyler disappeared in October 2018. However, before her passing she made claims against her mother and Tyler’s father Brian, blaming them for Tyler’s disappearance. Not everything was as it seemed. It would take Tyler’s parents only two months to sell all his belongings and to convert his bedroom into an office. They also sold his spare car and Brian drove Tyler’s mustang around the town of Kingman. The internet has thrown both parents into the suspect pool, not just because of Tyler’s parents’ actions so soon after his disappearance but also because Jessica would drop a bombshell about a family secret. Jessica stated a brief time before Tyler’s disappearance, she confided in him that his father Brian Stice went to prison for sexually abusing her as a minor. However, it did not seem to affect Tyler’s relationship with his father. The two of them still enjoyed hanging out and working on cars together, just like that Monday, June 20, 2016. I am sure Tyler was upset about why his father was really in prison for some time during his childhood. We are just unsure how much it impacted the family household that Tyler shared with his parents. Jessica would also tell the world that during her podcast interview Stephanie was sitting with her, and after it was over Stephanie was upset that Jessica “let out too much.” Jessica was steadfast in finding out what happened to Tyler. It is unfortunate that she was never able to get the answers she hoped to uncover.
What happened to Tyler Stice on June 21, 2016? What happened the weekend before his disappearance? What happened on the morning of June 20, 2016, that made Tyler not arrive to work? Why did he also skip the following day? Why would he drive his car up to the remote mountain road? Did he plan to hike? For what reason if he did not enjoy the outdoors? Why did he buy the rifle at the store? I pondered this question the most. I was confused how Tyler could just walk into a store and just buy a gun. If he had a dislike for guns then, more than likely he did not have a gun license or at the very least a permit. Looking further into the gun laws in Arizona I did come across that to make a gun purchase you did not need any type of verification. Even though you did not need these you did need to be at the minimum 21 years old and or 18 years old with an active-duty exception. So, the age really made me question the purchase of the rifle, because Tyler was only 20 years old. Since the surveillance was never made public, I am not sure what to make of it. There may be some more exceptions that I am not aware of since I do not live in the state of Arizona. If Tyler did in fact buy the rifle, what would it be for? Tyler seemed to have a basic life. Average job, in college part-time, but did not have much of a social life or any close friends. He did have his two sisters and, being especially close with Jessica, she did not seem to have any intimate knowledge of his private life. She also did not realize that Tyler drank chai tea, because after his car was found investigators did test the cup that held the tea and to her shock it was her brother’s DNA on the cup. Why did investigators test the chai cup but not the chocolate milk that was also found in the vehicle? Is it because Jessica did not throw doubt like she did with the tea? Why would Tyler drive and park his Mustang on the mountain road? Why would Tyler leave behind one his most important possessions, his camera? Jessica told investigator's when she went through Tyler's camera, the pictures, he took of the both of them the week prior were deleted. Why were those photos deleted? Better yet who deleted them? Did Tyler ever confront his father about the abuse his sister endured at the hands of Brian many years before? Why did Tyler’s parents erase his existence in their home two months after his disappearance? More importantly why would Stephanie stay in a relationship with a man that hurt her daughter? Family dynamics can be the strangest rabbit holes to dive into. I tend to come back to one question and that is who was Tyler Stice? Maybe there is more to Tyler that we have yet to uncover, or maybe someone is holding on tight to the secrets that they keep.
NAMEUS: MP34250
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/34250
If you have any information in the disappearance of Tyler Stice, call the Kingman Police department. @ 928-753-2191Please follow the Facebook page that Jessica set up for her brother when he vanished and even though she is no longer here to run the page, someone is, and they want nothing more than to bring Tyler home.
