PRINEVILLE, Ore. – Two sisters reported missing after the Symbiosis eclipse festival near Prineville earlier this week have been found safe.
The girls told their parents they decided to stay at the festival for one extra day and had tried to call, but never picked up a cell signal, according to Crook County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Vicky Ryan.
Thursday morning the girls went back to Prineville and were able to call their parents. And then they headed back to their home in Lake Tahoe.
The parents of 18-year-old Melissa and 7-year-old Kalila reported them missing Wednesday, after saying they had last heard from the girls in the Bend area on Sunday. The girls had planned to go to Prineville to watch the eclipse and called from Bend to say they were stopping to sleep there.
Deputies determined Lea used her debit card at Symbiosis on Tuesday. More than 30,000 people were expected to attend the festival at Big Summit Prairie, in the middle of the Ochoco National Forest.
The girls' father, Darryl, said he didn't know anything about the festival until he saw posts on Facebook Sunday saying the girls were seen doing yoga there.
Ryan said this case highlights a big problem: Several people were reported missing at the festival when they actually were there, were fine and just couldn't get cell service.