Karlie Gusé.Photo:National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
Something wasn’t right with Karlie Gusé on the night of Oct. 12, 2018.
The 16-year-old had told her dad and stepmother that she was going to a football game at her Bishop, Calif., high school — but they later learned she’d skipped the game to attend a party where she smoked marijuana with friends.
Karlie called home to ask her stepmother, Melissa Gusé, to pick her up, and when Melissa saw Karlie, the teen “looked pale as a ghost,” Melissa tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. Karlie seemed high on drugs, leading her father to believe the marijuana was laced with other substances.
A concerned Melissa sat in Karlie’s room and comforted her as she struggled to go to sleep, but Melissa dozed off around 5;45 a.m., and when she woke up, she realized Karlie had disappeared.
Karlie at 13 years old with her siblings Kane, then 17, Cole, then 8, and Cody, then 6.Courtesy Melissa Guse
Courtesy Melissa Guse
For more on the mysterious disappearance of Karlie Gusé,subscribe now to PEOPLE, or pick up this week’s issue, on newsstands Friday.
Karlie remains missing to this day, and the mystery of her disappearance is the subject of next Monday’s episode ofPeople Magazine Investigates, titled “The Strange Disappearance of Karlie Gusé,” which airs on Investigation Discovery and streams on Max Monday, Aug. 7, at 9/8c. (An exclusive clip is shown below.)
Karlie’s mother, Lindsay Fairley, suspects she died of a drug overdose. In a 2019 episode ofDr. Phil,Fairley questioned the account of Melissa and Karlie’s father Zac, accusing them of hiding evidence, but a polygraph has since cleared the couple.
Zac and Melissa Gusé.Discovery Investigation
Discovery Investigation
The night before Karlie vanished, Melissa made an audio recording of Karlie; she has said she wanted to make the recording to show Karlie the impact of drugs on her behavior. For the first time ever, onPeople Magazine Investigates, that recording will be played for the public.
For their part, Melissa and Zac believe Karlie might still be alive — and a tip from a recovering drug user who says he saw Karlie at a party in 2021 gives them hope.
“We all love her so much,” says Melissa, “and we’re praying she’ll be home soon.”
People Magazine Investigates: The Strange Disappearance of Karlie Guséairs on Investigation Discovery and streams on Max Monday, Aug. 7, at 9/8c.
source: people.com
