Three teenage girls, who went missing in Ranau on May 10, have been found in Sandakan.
The girls were found in Sandakan, about 200km from the Ranau district, and were safe, Ranau OCPD Deputy Supt Simiun Lomudin confirmed on Wednesday.
They were brought back to Ranau for questioning and were then handed over to their respective families.
“Three teenagers are safe and had gone to Sandakan to search for work,” he said.
The girls, two aged 12 and one 15, had gone to Sandakan on a bus, DSP Simiun said. It was previously reported that the girls went in a car with an unknown man.
One of the girls called her mother at around 5.30pm on Tuesday and informed her that they were in Sandakan, according to the Info Sabah Facebook page.
The girl told her mother that the trio had gone to Sandakan to work, earn money and buy a smartphone.
The three girls had left their homes in Kampung Kaingaran on Friday at 7.30am to attend a silat class and were not seen since then.
A missing persons report was only lodged by the family members at 8.48pm on Monday (May 13) and police immediately issued public notices to assist in tracing the whereabouts of the girls.
Family members did not file a missing report until 8:48 pm on Monday, May 13. The police immediately issued public notices to help track the girls’ whereabouts.
In an earlier statement following the report, DSP Simiun said that initial investigation found that the three girls were last seen by the public at about 8.30am on Monday in Ranau town.
In an earlier statement after the report was filed, DSP Simiun said an initial investigation revealed that the three girls were last seen at around 8.30am on Monday in Ranau town.
It was previously claimed that the three girls were seen getting out of a minibus before being picked up by a man, who then took them into a white Perodua Viva car.
