Update: Missing Calif. sisters found in Crook County

(Update: Girls found safe, had lost cell service at festival; county sheriff comments on missing person cases)

A California teen and her younger sister, reported missing from the Symbiosis music festival east of Prineville, have been found and were “never in danger,” Crook County officials said Thursday.

Melissa Lea, 18, and her 7-year-old sister were at the event “and had no cellphone coverage,” said county spokeswoman Vicky Ryan.

“They are currently on their way back home to South Lake Tahoe,” Ryan wrote, adding, “At no time were they in any danger.”

Sheriff’s deputies confirmed the sisters were at the Symbiosis event “and stayed longer than they first planned.” They checked in with their parents and the sheriff’s office once they left the event and regained cellphone service, deputies said.

Ryan told NewsChannel 21 the pair didn’t realize they wouldn’t have cellphone service at the festival site — and weren’t aware they were reported missing until someone asked them about it.

“They left the event this morning, got back into town, had cell service, reported to their parents, then the sheriff’s office got a call” from someone who saw them in town.

Ryan noted that “99 percent of the missing persons reports we got (from the festival) was due to the fact that nobody had cell service. Now, we’re seeing as they leave and get service, they are calling home and friends and checking in.”

Sheriff John Gautney confirmed that there was no cell service at the event site, resulting in many worried people unable to contact friends or loved ones. As they return to more populated areas, they are checking in with their family.

“I want to assure you that we will take all missing person cases seriously,” he wrote in a news releases, but “due to the vast number of people attending the event, … it is next to impossible to find someone in that environment.”

“We will continue to prioritize cases that appear to be of significant concern, based on the information and circumstances available at the time,” Gautney said.

Crook County authorities had asked the public Wednesday to help locate the pair, last known to be at the Symbiosis music festival that drew an estimated 60,000 people to Big Summit Prairie east of Prineville for the past week.

County 911 dispatchers received a call from the girls’ parents, Ryan said.

Sheriff’s deputies said a missing persons report was filed in Lake Tahoe, and the parents said they last heard from themr in the Bend area on Sunday.

The parents said the younger sister ws not in danger being with her sister but requested a welfare check. They were concerned, since they have not checked in since Sunday, Ryan said.

The county also determined Lea used her debit card at the music festival on Tuesday, and said she was driving a black Toyota Sequoia SUV with California license plates.