TV Show Profiles 1993 Death of Popular Local Teacher

Nearly 19 years after schoolteacher Stephen Stewart Wood’s disappearance and murder, the case continues to amaze.

The 42-year-old old Yucaipa Junior High School science teacher, described by law-enforcement officials as a kind-hearted family man, was found shot to death four months after his family reported him missing.

By the end of the case, two teens accused of the teacher's kidnapping and murder, would end up behind bars for the crime. But not before touching off an investigation that evolved from a puzzling disappearance to a tale of brutality.

On Monday, Investigation Discovery’s “Stolen Voices, Buried Secrets”, will retell the story of the Wood murder investigation. The episode is scheduled to air at 10 p.m.

Wood disappeared on June 1 after attending a school board meeting, according to District Attorney officials. The following day, police discovered his truck abandoned along a remote stretch of highway in Riverside County.

DA officials said hunters discovered Wood’s remains in a remote wilderness area in San Timoteo Canyon. Investigators were left to decipher confusing clues and evidence.

District Attorney Michael A. Ramos, a deputy district attorney at the time, was assigned to prosecute the case. Robbery appeared to be part of the motive behind the killing. In 1995, Curtis Lee Elsey, 23, and Michael Lee Davis, 19, at the time, went to trial and were convicted for the crime.

Ramos has said he will remember this case for the rest of his life, DA officials said.

“These animals took the life of a loving father, son and educator who gave so much that it ended up costing him his life,” said Ramos in a written statement. “His murder and the parents that he left behind is what inspire me every day to fight for victims and their families."

“Stolen Voices, Buried Secrets” is a true crime drama that revisits mysterious murders. An actor voices a scripted first-person perspective of the victim.