School cancels classes after two middle school girls go missing during basketball game

A Colorado The school canceled classes after two high school students disappeared during a basketball game Monday night.

Elbert School, which is approximately 58 miles from Denverclosed so it can be used as a command post for search and rescue operations to locate the girls.

Dave Fisher, an Elbert County sheriff's deputy, said in the appeal. social media The girls' names are Eva and Nellily, both 13 years old. He also urged anyone with information to contact law enforcement.

According to the source, the middle school students were last seen wearing blue shorts and sweatshirts along with school backpacks. Facebook Elbert School District #200 message.

Although they disappeared from Elbert's school, Eva and Neily were on the Colorado Springs High basketball team. Their hometown is located 37 miles from Elbert.

The school district said the girls were seen leaving at 5 p.m., meaning they left campus just half an hour after the basketball game started, according to the school district. school sports schedule.

After they left, school officials immediately contacted authorities and the Elbert County Sheriff's Office began a search that continued until 11:30 p.m.

ECSO representatives told CBS Colorado that the search involved drones and trained dog handlers, as well as officers on foot.

An ECSO spokesman added that authorities will “intensify operations in the morning” and that Douglas County Search and Rescue and the Arapahoe Rescue Patrol have joined the operation. investigation.

The search is currently limited to a five-mile radius around the school.

In an update on Facebook school district confirmed that Tuesday's basketball game had been canceled and that advisory response teams had been created to support students coping with the disappearance of their classmates.

“We will continue to support our law enforcement partners and thank the community for their support of search and rescue efforts,” the school district added. “We will do our best to keep the community updated with information.”

Residents were urged to check security cameras in Elbert School District 200 in hopes that the footage might provide a clue to the girls' whereabouts.

Elbert is a small, unincorporated town in eastern Colorado. According to the latest US Censuswhich was carried out in 2020, the population of the locality is 188 people.