A Colorado school has cancelled classes after two middle schoolers vanished midway through a basketball game Monday night.
Elbert School, which is around 58 miles from Denver, closed so it can be used as a command post for the search effort working to locate the girls.
Dave Fisher, the undersheriff for Elbert County, said in an appeal on social media the girls are named Eva and Neillily and both are 13 years-old. He has also urged anyone with information to contact law enforcement.
The middle schoolers were last seen wearing blue shorts and hoodies along with their school backpacks, according to a Facebook post by Elbert School District #200.
Although they vanished at Elbert School, Eva and Neillily were from the visiting Colorado Springs School basketball team. Their hometown is 37 miles away from Elbert.
The school district wrote that the girls were seen leaving at 5 p.m., which meant they left the campus just half an hour after their basketball game started, according to the school’s sports timetable.
After they left, school officials immediately contacted authorities, with the Elbert County Sheriff’s Office launching a search which lasted until 11.30 p.m.
ECSO officials told CBS Colorado that the search involved drones and trained canine units, as well as officers on foot.
The ECSO spokesperson added that authorities will “ramp up operations in the morning” and that Douglas County Search and Rescue and the Arapahoe Rescue Patrol have joined the investigation.
The search so far has been limited to a five-mile radius surrounding the school.
In an update on Facebook, the school district confirmed Tuesday’s basketball game has been cancelled and that counselling response teams have been set up to support students struggling with their classmates’ disappearance.
“We will continue to support our law enforcement partners and thank the community for their outpouring of support to the search and rescue operations,” the school district added. “We will do our best to keep the community up to date on information.”
Residents have been urged to check their security cameras by Elbert School District #200, in the hope that footage may provide clues as to the girls’ whereabouts.
Elbert is a small, unincorporated town in eastern Colorado. According to the most recent U.S. Census, which was conducted in 2020, the community has a population of 188.
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