MANNHEIM, Germany — More than 150 soldiers and German police continued scouring Benjamin Franklin Village and a surrounding forest Tuesday afternoon in the search for two missing teens.
Bryan Enochs and Reagan Womble, both 13, were last seen Monday afternoon. Their parents reported them missing early Tuesday.
The investigation so far indicates the two ran away, according to Volker Dressler, a spokesman for the Mannheim police.
German police called off the search outside the base Wednesday evening, based on a tip that the teens were sighted on post. But the teens had not been found as of Wednesday evening.
On post, soldiers and military police canine units looked over remote areas and abandoned buildings. Outside the fence, German police teams focused on a wildlife zoo in the Kaefertal forest known to Americans as “Buffalo Park.”
The wooded area, which is frequented by Americans and Germans, begins behind the housing area. German police said the two were often seen there, based on interviews with family and friends. Military police suspect the teens may have a hide-out there, according to a provost marshal officer.
Soldiers from the 5th Signal Command joined the search. The parents of the missing children are signal troops from the unit, said Christine Gebhard, a spokeswoman for the 293rd Base Support Battalion.
“The search is still under way,” Gebhard said, late Wednesday afternoon. “We hope to find them alive and well.”
The teens are a couple, police said, and are expected to be together. They were seen together after 3:30 p.m. Monday. Both had attended school that day.
Bryan is 5-foot-5 with brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a blue jacket, jeans and white sneakers. Reagan, also 5-foot-5, has blonde hair and blue eyes. She had on a blue turtleneck shirt with blue or khaki pants.
The base released information about the teens to U.S. and German media in hopes that the public might help locate them, Gebhard said.
Anyone with information should contact the Mannheim military police at 0621-7301580.
