The Disappearance of Tina Stadig (Maine)

In the spring of 2017, the phone calls came almost every day. Tina Stadig always stayed in touch with her twin sister, no matter where life had taken her. The last time they spoke, Tina talked about what was next in her life. She mentioned finding a new place to land, possibly with her sister, like old times.

They never made a plan. And then, one day, the calls stopped. Days passed. Then weeks. And the silence that followed was louder than any conversation they’d ever had. It would take months before anyone realized just how long Tina had been gone… and by then, the search for answers had already become something much more complicated.

If you or someone you love is struggling with substance use or mental health challenges, you’re not alone and help is available.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness offers free support and education for individuals and families. You can call the NAMI HelpLine at 1-800-950-NAMI, that’s 1-800-950-6264, or visit nami.org to chat online.

You can also visit shatterproof.org, a U.S. nonprofit dedicated to ending addiction stigma and helping families find treatment and recovery resources.

No Calls from Tina

It was spring of 2017 when Tammy Stadig’s phone started ringing with a familiar number on the caller ID. Her twin sister, 40-year old Tina Stadig was calling again. She’d been incarcerated for a few months at that point but she called all the time. Through all of the highs and lows in her life, no matter where she was or the reality she faced, Tina always stayed in touch with her twin. 

Tina’s release date was coming up, so this conversation was different. This time, Tina had a question for her sister. She asked if she could move in with Tammy once she was released. 

Tammy wondered why Tina wanted to move – she lived in Southern Maine, over an hour and 45 minutes away from where Tina typically stayed – but whatever the reason, Tammy never really got an explanation during that call and they didn’t make any official plans for Tina to move in.

A little while later, in late May of the same year, Tina was released as planned. Tammy got another phone call from another familiar number that day. It belonged to a man Tammy described as Tina’s ex-boyfriend, and Tina still stayed with him on occasion. We’ll call him Adam, but that’s not his real name. 

Now, Tammy isn’t sure who was calling from that number. It could have been Adam or her sister using Adam’s phone, but either way, she didn’t answer and she didn’t think anything of it.

Tammy expected Tina to check in again soon, but she didn’t realize just how long had passed without a phone call from her twin until about a month later when Adam’s number popped up on her phone screen once again. This time she answered. It was Adam asking if she’d heard from Tina.

“That’s when we figured out something was wrong,” Tammy explained.

Tammy and Donna and other family members called around to places where Tina was known to stay. The circumstances of her life made it difficult to figure out where she might be, but they knew if Tina wasn’t at Adam’s, she might be at another guy friend’s house, or possibly seeking a bed at area shelters. 

No matter who they spoke to, everyone said they hadn’t seen Tina for weeks. She’d missed a scheduled check-in with her probation officer. Her last contact with law enforcement was May 25, 2017. The people Tina usually stayed with said they’d last seen Tina on May 28th.

Exhausting every other option, Tina’s family went to the police. On July 4th, 2017, her sister filed a missing persons report with the Skowhegan Police Department. The officers there were familiar with Tina. They knew about the struggles in her life and had picked her up a few times on various charges. Although Skowhegan PD agreed that Tina being MIA for over a month was unusual, Tina’s family got the sense that police assumed Tina was just hiding out because she had warrants for her arrest. 

For families like Tina’s, those assumptions sting. A person’s record can sometimes overshadow their reality, and missing people who’ve struggled with substance use disorder are too often written off before the search even begins. The warrants wouldn’t have been enough to make Tina go no-contact. Tina’s sister and mother were sure she would have called by now regardless.

What the family learned next solidified their worry that something was seriously wrong: Tina hadn’t touched her Social Security Disability Insurance accounts; money she depended on for survival. She hadn’t accessed any benefits since she was last seen.

On July 11, 2017, Skowhegan Police Department posted a missing persons alert on its official Facebook page. The post has since been shared over 1500 times and the comment thread is flooded with concern…And rumors and possible sightings.

Finding Tina would not be simple. The rhythms of her life were marked by instability, substance use disorder, and stretches of housing insecurity which made it easy for her to slip through the cracks, even for those who cared deeply about her.

This is an excerpt from the full episode covering the case of Tina Stadig. Press play wherever you get your podcasts to hear the full episode on Dark Downeast.