Grim Ending Stirs Quest For Answers

Sgt. V.C. Lupis, one of the officers who investigated the case for the Jefferson County sheriff's office in West Virginia, said the search party turned up little.

Lupis said he took them to the Shannondale area to put up fliers and knock on doors but was unable to find anyone who had seen the girls or their car with the distinctive rooftop storage container.

Despite several reported sightings of the girls, he said, "I don't think that as of right now we have confirmed that they were in this area." Lupis said the sheriff's office had received a report from Montgomery police that the girls had attempted to obtain jobs at the racetrack, but police were unable to confirm that they had gone there looking for jobs.

Security officials at the racetrack refused to comment yesterday.

Another West Virginia searcher said that the girls were so elusive that he thought they had altered their car, perhaps changing license plates and getting rid of the roof rack.

He was surprised to find that the car was the same and that after all the searching they had done, they had simply not been spotted.

Similarly, in Shepherdstown, W.Va., a nearby college town, people heard they were there, but no one saw them. At the Lost Dog coffee shop downtown, employees said yesterday that they had heard that the two girls had been to the Lost Dog a couple of times, but no one remembered seeing them.

A writer who said she was Kathryn Cornelius, mother of Rachel Crites, said in a FaceBook posting Jan. 30 that the sightings reported to police "have all been tracked down, to no avail."

She wrote: "This has included viewing DC Metro video, Video surveillance in stores where they were reported, checking houses where they were reported to be staying, as well as maintaining electronic surveillance on their cell phones, credit cards, email/My Space accounts, etc, etc. (None of which have been used) So, at this point, we have no leads that tell us where the girls are."

She concluded: "We also have no information that leads us to believe they are anything but 'safe' and trying not to be found. I wish I had better information." At Wootton High School yesterday, where Rachel Smith was a student and Rachel Crites had attended, students said they were surprised and saddened by an ending they did not expect.

"Oh, my God, it's so sad," said Jackie Kaufman, 17. "One day they are standing next to you in class, and the next day they are gone."