Family’s Hopes for Missing Hiker Fading

Three months after Michael Dean Stephenson was reported missing in Los Padres National Forest north of Ojai, his parents are hoping for the best but realize they may never see him again.

Stephenson, 44, was reported missing July 20 and neither his parents nor authorities have heard from him since.

In September, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department found a body in Hungry Valley State Vehicular Recreation Area in eastern Ventura County, but it was not Stephenson’s.

Bill and Sandra Stephenson said they know that the likelihood of their son being found alive decreases with each passing day. “We’re doing OK. We try to go on with things as normal,” said Sandra Stephenson of Simi Valley.

In early July, Michael Stephenson, a Ventura resident, set out on a hiking trip in Apache Canyon, near the Ventura-Santa Barbara county line. This was a planned vacation from his job as a counselor at the Ventura-based Turning Point Foundation, and Stephenson had told friends he would be staying at a cabin belonging to a friend in Apache Canyon.

Days after Stephenson left on his trip, authorities found his truck in Nettle Springs, about eight miles east of California 33 on Apache Canyon Road. But Stephenson, a diabetic who needs daily insulin injections, was not found.

“We believe he’s somewhere in the mountains,” Sheriff’s Sgt. Larry Robertson said. “His gear was in his car and it appeared he was going for a day walk and then [would] return.”

Authorities do not suspect foul play.

It’s the lack of information that most frustrates Stephenson’s family. “The not knowing is always much harder than the knowing,” Sandra Stephenson said. “We always hope he is alive. But we’re resigned to the fact that he may be dead somewhere.”