Karlie Gusé has been missing since October 13, 2018, after she reportedly walked away from her home in Chalfant Valley, California, following a troubling experience where she became paranoid after smoking marijuana.
Despite extensive searches and investigations, there have been no confirmed sightings or definitive leads regarding her whereabouts since that day.
Her case remains unsolved, and her disappearance continues to be a subject of concern and investigation by both local authorities and the broader community.
The circumstances surrounding her case are still unclear, and her family continues to seek answers and maintain hope for her safe return.
Karlie Gusé was a typical teenage girl who enjoyed spending time with her boyfriend, hanging out with her brothers, and watching scary movies.
However, her life took a tragic turn in October 2018. After attending a party with her boyfriend and friends, Karlie smoked marijuana, which caused an intense paranoia reaction.
Her father and stepmother feared the marijuana might have been laced with something due to the severity of her response.
Despite their efforts to calm her and get her home safely, Karlie slipped out of the house during the early hours of the morning.
She walked away from her family’s home in Chalfant Valley, California, and disappeared into the cold desert nearby. Despite extensive searches and numerous investigations, Karlie hasn’t been seen since.
“We will not give up on Karlie,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ragan said of the ongoing case. “People don’t disappear into thin air.”
Meet Karlie Guse
Karlie Lain Gusé was born on May 13, 2002, and lived a relatively normal life until her mysterious disappearance in 2018.
Her parents divorced when she was just two years old, and after spending some time with her mother, Lindsay Fairley, she eventually moved in with her father, Zachary Gusé, and his wife, Melissa, in Bishop, California.
Karlie attended Bishop Union High School, where she was known by her classmates as “sweet and quiet.”
She was well-liked, and to most people, she appeared to be a typical teenager without any significant troubles.
However, in the weeks leading up to her disappearance, there were subtle signs that something might have been amiss in her life.
Karlie had experienced a couple of adverse reactions to smoking marijuana, which seemed to trigger episodes of paranoia.
She reportedly expressed concerns to friends that she was being “tracked” on her phone, indicating a heightened sense of anxiety.
These incidents, though not immediately alarming, took on a more concerning significance after she went missing.
On the night before her disappearance, after attending a party and smoking marijuana, Karlie became severely paranoid. Her father and stepmother suspected that the marijuana might have been laced with something due to the intensity of her reaction.
Despite their attempts to comfort her and get her safely home, Karlie left the house in the early morning hours and vanished into the nearby desert.
She hasn’t been seen since, and her disappearance remains an unsolved and heartbreaking mystery.
On the night of October 12, 2018, everything appeared to be normal for Karlie Gusé. She attended a small party with her boyfriend, Donald Arrowood III, and some friends.
However, around 8 p.m., things took a concerning turn. After smoking marijuana at the party, Karlie began to experience severe paranoia, an intense reaction that deeply alarmed her.
Her boyfriend and friends noticed her distress, and her behavior became increasingly erratic.
Worried about her well-being, Karlie’s boyfriend and friends called her stepmother, Melissa, to come and pick her up.
Melissa and Karlie’s father, Zachary, managed to get her home safely, but despite their efforts to calm her down, Karlie remained deeply unsettled.
Her paranoia persisted throughout the night, with her parents doing their best to reassure her and keep her safe.
Despite these efforts, sometime in the early hours of October 13, Karlie slipped out of her home and disappeared into the cold desert surrounding Chalfant Valley, California.
Since that night, she has not been seen, and her disappearance continues to be a tragic and unresolved mystery.
Karlie Guse’s Disappearance: What Happened To Her?
On the last night Karlie Gusé was seen, she called her stepmother, Melissa, in a panic, asking to be picked up from the party she was attending.
Karlie had smoked marijuana and appeared to have an adverse reaction, leading her to become extremely paranoid and frightened. Her boyfriend, Donald Arrowood III, later recalled that Karlie became scared of the music playing at the party and even became frightened of him, indicating how deeply affected she was by the substance.
Concerned for her safety, Melissa immediately went to pick Karlie up and brought her home.
Despite being in the familiar surroundings of her house, Karlie’s anxiety and paranoia persisted throughout the night.
“She was frantic,” Melissa Gusé later recalled to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “She wanted me to pick her up.”
When Melissa arrived to pick up her stepdaughter, Karlie Gusé, from the party, she found that Karlie had already fled. The 16-year-old was running down a dark lane, clearly in a state of panic.
Despite Melissa’s efforts to calm her, Karlie continued to act extremely paranoid even after getting into the car.
According to reports from Fox News, Karlie repeatedly told Melissa that she was scared, expressing fears that seemed irrational.
She moved around within the vehicle, changing seats multiple times, and at one point, she even voiced concerns that the car might kill her.
Melissa did her best to reassure Karlie and brought her home safely. However, Karlie’s paranoia persisted throughout the night, causing her stepmother and father, Zachary, significant concern.
Unfortunately, despite their attempts to watch over her and keep her safe, Karlie managed to leave the house in the early hours of October 13, 2018, and disappeared into the night.
She has not been seen since, and her disappearance remains an unresolved and tragic mystery.
Once Karlie Gusé was safely back home, her paranoia was so intense that her father, Zachary, suspected the marijuana she had smoked might have been laced with another drug.
Concerned about her extreme behavior, Zachary and his wife, Melissa, decided to record their conversation with Karlie, hoping to use it as a way to show her the dangers of drug use the next day.
The recording, which lasts eight minutes and 45 seconds, captures the depth of Karlie’s paranoia that night.
In the audio, Karlie can be heard expressing irrational fears, her voice filled with anxiety.
Her parents’ intention was to help Karlie understand the seriousness of what she had experienced, but tragically, they never got that chance.
Hours later, in the early morning of October 13, 2018, Karlie left the house and vanished into the surrounding desert.
Despite extensive searches and ongoing investigations, Karlie has not been seen since, and her disappearance remains a heartbreaking and unresolved mystery.
“I really messed up today,” Karlie says at one point, to which Melissa responds: “We all do things in life that we regret. Drugs especially.”
During the recorded conversation, Karlie Gusé accused her stepmother, Melissa, of wanting to kill her. When Melissa dismissed this as “preposterous,” Karlie sobbed and said,
“I’m just thinking all this demonic stuff. I can’t help it.”
This exchange highlighted Karlie’s intense paranoia and distress.
The timeline following this moment becomes unclear. Initially, Melissa told the media that she had checked on Karlie at 5:45 a.m. and found her still at home. When she returned to check again at 7:15 a.m., Karlie was gone.
Later, Melissa revised her account, stating that she had actually stayed in Karlie’s room throughout the night.
She said that when she woke up around 7 a.m., Karlie was no longer in bed.
Despite these efforts to monitor and care for Karlie, she had disappeared completely by that time.
Her whereabouts remain unknown, and the circumstances of her disappearance continue to be a tragic and unresolved mystery.
Theories and Assumptions
Given the harsh conditions of the desert, it is possible that Karlie Gusé perished after she vanished.
The desert near Chalfant Valley experiences extreme temperatures, with freezing cold mornings and scorching hot days.
On the night of her disappearance, Karlie was dressed in sweatpants or jeans, a white t-shirt, and Vans, which might not have been adequate for the severe weather conditions.
If she wandered deep into the desert, she could have faced severe exposure to the elements, potentially leading to dehydration, hypothermia, or heat stroke.
The remoteness and vastness of the desert could have made it difficult for anyone to find her, contributing to the tragic possibility that she might have died from exposure.
Several theories have emerged regarding Karlie Gusé’s disappearance. One possibility is that someone may have picked her up as she walked along the road in the early morning hours.
This theory suggests that she might have been taken by someone who later became involved in her case.
Another theory involves accusations directed at Melissa Gusé. Some, including Karlie’s mother, Lindsay Fairley, suggested in 2019 that Karlie might have died from a drug overdose and that Melissa and Zachary Gusé might have concealed evidence.
However, this theory has been scrutinized and dismissed by investigations.
Melissa and Zachary Gusé were cleared of any wrongdoing after undergoing polygraph tests, and police reportedly found no evidence linking them to Karlie’s disappearance.
The changing details in their accounts were likely due to the stress and confusion surrounding the situation, rather than any involvement in the disappearance.
“My whole body and soul. I’d give it all up,” her father Zachary told the FBI in an interview. “Just to have her home safe.”
