Sisters missing after Symbiosis eclipse festival

Published 9:33 am Thursday, August 24, 2017

An 18-year-old and her 7-year-old sister are reported missing after the Symbiosis Oregon Eclipse festival that ended Wednesday in Big Summit Prairie.

Melissa Lea and her younger sister, Kalila, both from Lake Tahoe, California, were on a camping trip in Central Oregon for the eclipse when they detoured to the Symbiosis Festival, said Crook County Information Officer Vicky Ryan. According to a missing person’s report filed in Lake Tahoe, the parents said the last contact they had with the girls was Sunday in the Bend area.

“Their parents weren’t aware that they went to Symbiosis,” Ryan said. “The thing about this is that there’s no cell phone reception out there so someone who normally would be checking in can’t do that.”

The parents were not concerned with the 7-year-old going camping with her sister, Ryan said, but began to worry after they hadn’t heard from the girls.

The Crook County Sheriff’s deputies confirmed that Lea’s debit card had been used at the event on Tuesday. She was driving a black Toyota Sequoia SUV.

Any information regarding the girls can be reported to the sheriff’s office non-emergency number at 541-447-6398.

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