[NYTIMES] The police were searching on Thursday for six African teenagers who were reported missing from an international robotics competition in Washington. Two of them were said to have been seen crossing into Canada, law enforcement officials said.Police officials here confirmed that two members of the robotics team from Burundi, Don Ingabire, 16, and Audrey Mwamikazi, 17, were seen entering Canada, but their destination and current location remained unknown.
It was unclear where the remaining team members were. They were identified as Aristide Irambona, 18; Nice Munezero, 17; Kevin Sabumukiza, 17; and Richard Irakoze, 18.
The six teenagers were last seen in Washington on Tuesday night near the Daughters of the American Revolution Constitution Hall, where the robotics competition took place. The team’s mentor, Canesius Bindaba, reported their disappearance after he returned to the dormitories where they were staying, assuming the teenagers had taken a different shuttle bus after the closing ceremony.
It appears the students left of their own accord, event officials said in a statement. Their dorm keys were left in their mentor’s bag and they took their clothes from their rooms. No foul play is suspected, said Aquita Brown, a spokeswoman for the Police Department.
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Joe Sestak, a former Pennsylvania congressman and retired Navy admiral who is president of First Global, the nonprofit group that organized the competition, made the initial call to the police shortly after midnight, officials said. The authorities began sharing photographs and descriptions of the teenagers on missing persons fliers on Wednesday.