Can You Help Bring Karlie Gusé Home?

Karlie Lain Gusé

At 9:35 a.m., Karlie's mom, Lindsay, received a call from Karlie's dad, Zac. He told her that Karlie was "gone." Lindsay's heart sank. Her mind was racing as she asked an inebriated Zac what was going on. He responded with, "She's just gone. She just went to a party with some friends and Melissa went and picked her up. And from there we got her home, tried to settle her down, and after that she, you know, up and down through the night."

Karlie was born on May 13, 2002. She was happy, sweet and fun to be around. She had a lot of friends and did well in school. She was liked by everyone she met. She was a junior at Bishop Union High School, Karlie liked to dance, hang out with her boyfriend, Donald Arrowood III, and make money working after school with her stepmom. 

Despite her mother living in Nevada, Karlie and Lindsay were very close and would talk on the phone all the time. Karlie's parents divorced when she was little, but she lived with her mom until she moved to another state. Karlie didn't want to leave her friends behind.

On Friday, October 12th, 2018, 16-year old Karlie  was living with her dad, Zac, a construction worker and her stepmother, Melissa, along with her two half brothers. They lived on Ponderosa Street near White Mountain Estate Road in Chalfant. Chalfant is a small census-designated area just about a twenty to thirty minute drive from the California-Nevada border. The Gusé family had just moved there at the beginning of October, from Bishop, California. 

That day, Karlie asked her dad if she could go to her high school's football game. Her dad gave her permission to go and off she went, but not to the game. Instead, Karlie went with her boyfriend, Donald, to a party at a mobile home park.

Around 8 p.m., Melissa text Karlie to see if she needed a ride home. She text Melissa back no. Karlie then started feeling sick, so she changed her mind and called Melissa back urgently asking for a ride. While on the phone with Melissa, Karlie asked her to stay on the phone with her until she arrived. Melissa tried to stay on the phone, but the service was bad and he call got dropped. 

By the time Melissa got Karlie back on the phone, she wasn't at the mobile home park anymore. Instead, Karlie was running down Dickson street. When Melissa caught up to Karlie, she frantically hopped in the car. She seemed agitated and frantic. When Melissa asked her what was wrong, Karlie stated that they were smoking weed at the party. It took Melissa 15 minutes to calm Karlie down so they could drive home.

Around 9 p.m. Karlie and Melissa arrived back at the house where Zac had just gotten off of work and was drinking beer. He noticed that his daughter was acting kind of strange and paranoid. Karlie had smoked weed before and never acted like this. Zac deduced that either someone slipped her something at the party or her weed had been laced with something.

Melissa decided to make a recording to show Karlie the next day how ridiculous she was being. In the recording, Karlie kept saying she was scared. Melissa tried to get her to eat a salad, but she refused. When asked why she wouldn't eat the salad, Karlie said that it was the "devil's lettuce." Melissa then told her to go to bed, to which Karlie replied, “No, I don’t want to sleep. You’re going to kill me.”

Melissa' stories changed a bit on what happened next. Melissa first said that when they finally got Karlie to bed, she went to her own room to go to sleep. When Melissa woke up at around 5:45 a.m. on October 13th she opened her kids’ doors and said good morning. She said when she checked in on Karlie, who was sound asleep in her bed.

Melissa then went back to sleep and woke up again sometime between 7:15 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. She walked into her stepdaughter’s room to see how she was feeling. Karlie was gone. Melissa checked the house for her, but she was no where to be found. 

When Melissa went back into the bedroom to tell her husband that their daughter was not there, he seemed puzzled and asked what she meant. Melissa said. “She’s gone. She’s not in her room. She’s not outside. She’s not in the backyard. She’s not anywhere.”

They thought that Karlie maybe went for a walk, so they got into their cars and drove around town to find her. They thought they’d find her walking down the road. But after two hours they became concerned when the search came up empty.

Melissa and Zac returned home at around 9:30 a.m. and called Lindsay, to tell her that her daughter was missing. Zac then called the Mono County Sheriff’s Office and filed a missing persons report.

A few hours later the deputies arrived and began questioning the neighbors.

Days later, Melissa changed her story and claimed that Karlie had asked her to sleep in her bed with her. Melissa said that she never left Karlie's side and when she woke up at  5:45 a.m., she saw Karlie asleep in the bed next to her. Melissa said that she fell back to sleep in Karlie’s bed. When she awoke sometime between 7:15 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. she noticed Karlie was gone.

Three witnesses came forward to say they might have seen Karlie in the early morning hours of October 13th.

Richard Eddy was a 78-year-old retired Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department employee who lived down the street from the Gusé family, He said that between 6:30 a.m. and 6:45 a.m., he was sipping coffee and relaxing in his Jacuzzi when he looked out the window of the enclosed room and saw a tall, slender female with long hair walk by. Eddy said that she was staring up at the sky with a piece of paper in her hand.

Two other witnesses said that they saw Karlie that morning near White Mountain Estates Road and Highway 6. Highway 6 is a major highway that runs east-northeast from Bishop, California to Provincetown, Massachusetts.

Investigators didn't treat the Gusé's house like a crime scene, because they just assumed that Karlie was a runaway. Despite this, a multi day search went underway for Karlie. Helicopters and sniffer dogs were brought in to search the nearby area, but nothing was found. 

Melissa changed her story a few times of what Karlie was last seen wearing. Karlie might have been wearing gray sweatpants, a white shirt and vans shoes.

When police got a hold of the family's phone records, they found out that on October 13th, around 2:30 a.m., Melissa had sent a text to Donald's phone that said "Pray for her."

Lindsay believes that Karlie overdosed on drugs and passed away. She believes Zac and Melissa know more than what they are saying.

This is one of the Facebook live video's that Melissa did after Karlie went missing. Some people have come to believe her slip up of the word  "Mourners" indicates that she is guilty and knows that Karlie has passed away. Other people just think this is a grieving mother. I'll let you be the judge.

What do you think happened to Karlie? In my opinion, i think that her dad and stepmom might know more than what they are letting on. i don't know if Karlie is alive or dead. Wherever she is, or whatever happened to her, i think that someone is not letting her come back or that she has passed away by now. Regardless, Karlie needs to be brought home.

If you are alive somewhere Karlie and you see this, you are loved and missed. If you can, come home. If you can't come home there are people out there that won't give up on you, so don't you give up.

At the time of her disappearance, Karlie had dark blonde hair, blue eyes, she was 5'7" tall and weighed about 110 pounds. She also had her left nostril pierced. 

If you have any information concerning the disappearance of Karlie Lain Gusé, you PLEASE come forward and be Karlie's hero. You can contact the Mono County Sheriff's Office by emailing them at karliegusetips@monosheriff.org or calling them at 760-932-5678. You may also contact the Sacramento Office of the FBI by calling 916-746-7000, your local FBI office, the nearest American Embassy or Consulate, or you can submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov. All tips can remain anonymous.