To be alone, Sydney teenagers Sophie McGregor and Lucas Bollard switched off their phones, stripped their Facebook pages, ran away and spent two nights in freezing bushland.
The 14-year-olds camped out near Lithgow – where the temperature dropped to -3 degrees last night – and another night in a local hotel after running away on Saturday.
In the end it was the absence of technology that caught them out, when they were spotted using a public phone on Main Street, Lithgow, in the state’s central west.
“I found it quite strange … teenagers using a payphone, so that kind of struck alarms because most teenagers have phones,” Sherryl Coops, a resident who spotted the teenagers, told Fairfax Radio.
“I was just driving up the main street, and I [saw] two teenagers that looked exactly the same as the ones that were missing, so I pulled over and I called the police.
“I waited until they came and it turns out it’s the teenagers.”
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The pair, who have been a couple for three months, were reported missing on the weekend when Lucas’s parents found a note explaining they just “wanted to get away”.
Sergeant Jason Howe said they were now in the process of being interviewed.
“They’re fine. They look in good spirits and obviously well.”
They were “unaware of the trouble they had caused”, police said.
Sophie’s mother, Wendy Gray, updated her Facebook page with the good news.
“Sophie and Lucas have been found safe and well. Thanks to everyone for their messages of support, and a huge thankyou to the NSW Police who have been fantastic.”
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After police released their images yesterday, there were several reports of sightings.
Officers from Lithgow went to Zig Zag railway station earlier today after a possible sighting.
A woman who thought she saw the young couple “very much in love” on a Melbourne train also contacted smh.com.au yesterday.
Their pictures and story were also spread widely on Facebook and Twitter.
Yesterday, Botany Bay Local Area Command duty officer Inspector Mal Smith said the couple had taken enough money to “get by”, but their disappearance was concerning because of their age.
A police search of Lucas’s computer revealed the young couple had been planning their getaway two weeks ago, with internet searches of places to stay in the Blue Mountains and Lithgow.
“We believe they’re two young persons who may be in love,” Inspector Smith said.
“They only met three months ago, apparently.
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