Last few times I bought "fresh" stone fruit the stone was gone
I've seen it, and I was told that the stone fruit pits are often sold to drug and other remedy companies. The young man I spoke with said that apricot pits, for example, have compounds useful in fighting or treating cancer. I'm not sure if that is why the pits are removed, but it makes a lot of sense to me. Removing the pit lessens the weight of the fruit, so someone must be buying that missing weight for as much as or more than the amount for which you are buying the rest of the fruit.