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Criminal case opened over 2 first-year schoolgirls lost in Bryansk

The police distributed the identity profiles of the schoolgirls and asked local residents to help find the whereabouts of the children

BRYANSK, January 12 (Itar-Tass) —— A criminal case was opened over 2 first-year schoolgirls from the school number 63 reported missing in Bryansk. The branch of the Investigative Committee in the Bryansk Region opened a criminal case under Article 105 Part 2 of the Criminal Code for murder of two people, murder of an underage person in the helpless position for the deliberate culprit along with kidnapping.

Two first-year schoolgirls did not return home on January 11 after the school classes, which ended at 13:00 Moscow time. The parents of the schoolgirl turned to the law enforcement agencies at about 17:00 Moscow time with a statement about lost children. According to the preliminary reports, the schoolgirls were seen last time at about 18:00 Moscow time on this day.

“Necessary investigation actions and search measures are being taken, seeking to find the whereabouts of the lost schoolgirls,” a source in the Investigative Committee said.

On the orders of the leadership of the Investigative Committee experiences criminal experts and specialists from the central police staff were dispatched in Bryansk to help find the details of the case of the children reported missing and their search. The leadership of the Investigative Committee put the investigation in the criminal case under control.

The search for the children lasted all night long, chief press officer of the Bryansk regional police department Svetlana Kokotova told Itar-Tass on Thursday. Some 525 policemen from various police stations, police dog handlers with sniffer dogs are involved in the search. Officials from the authorities in the Bezhitsky district are also involved in the search.

The policemen are searching through the neighbouring forest, all houses and buildings in the immediate neighbourhood, commuter trains, buses and cars, Kokotova said. The police are investigating friendly ties of the schoolgirls at the school number 63 and even in the kindergarten, where they went. The police distributed the identity profiles of the schoolgirls and asked local residents to help find the whereabouts of the children.

The rescuers also engaged in the search, chief press officer of the regional emergency situation department Oleg Yankov told Itar-Tass. Additional police forces and machinery will be involved in the search if necessary.

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