Is sinister web craze ‘Game of 72’ behind girls’ disappearance?
Teens are dared to vanish for 3 days without trace
TWO girls who vanished for three days may have been taking part in a worrying online craze in which children decide to disappear for 72 hours, it was claimed last night.
Sammy Clarke, 14, and Siobhan Clarke, 15, set off a massive police hunt when they disappeared from Maldon, Essex, on Friday.
The pair, who are not related, were found safe and well yesterday morning about 20 miles away in Westcliff, near Southend, after two café workers recognised them from photos in a newspaper and called the police.
The girls had gone to meet their friend Kieran Hartley-Anderson, 22, who was found with them, Essex Police said last night.
A 22-year-old man was arrested in connection with their disappearance and was questioned by detectives yesterday.
Last night friends speculated the girls may have been playing the ‘Game of 72’ a dangerous i nternet craze which involves children daring each other to vanish without trace for up to three days, before reappearing.
It spread panic among parents in France after a 13-year-old girl went missing last month.
When she finally turned up safe at her family home after 72 hours, the girl, named only as Emma, refused to say where she had been, saying only that she had completed the Game of 72.
Westcliff resident Jo Gillet, 43, said: ‘We heard the girls went missing and that it might be part of this new craze in the area.
‘Apparently they’re dared then suddenly they disappear without a trace, without telling their parents or anyone else.
‘It’s a really worrying game to be playing in this day and age. The poor parents of those schoolgirls, they must have been worried sick.’
A police spokesman would not comment on claims that the girls had been playing a game.
A friend suggested on social media last night that 14-year-old Sammy was in f oster care. The girls left school early on Friday and went to meet Mr Hartley-Anderson.
Officers believe the pair travelled around 15 miles to see him at a house in Shoeburyness, near
‘It’s a really worrying game’
Southend. They were last seen leaving to go to a local park on Friday night. All three were found at a bus stop in Westcliff at 10am yesterday.
Police were tipped off about their whereabouts by passersby Joseph Teles and Vitor Sousa, who saw the girls at a bus stop with Mr Hartley-Anderson and recognised them f rom their newspaper photographs.
Mr Teles, 37, said: ‘They seemed OK. They were sat at the bus stop ... The girls were wearing all black, one had a bag. He was wearing a red jumper. They were laughing and joking.’
Mr Sousa, 30, who owns a café in Westcliff, said the trio started walking up the street when a police car arrived, but officers caught up with them.
‘They spoke to the man for a while,’ he said.
‘They put the girls in the back of a police car.’ Mr Hartley-Anderson’s mother and stepfather declined to comment yesterday. They said he had not lived at home for more than a year, and had been ‘sofa surfing’ at friends’ homes.
An Essex Police spokesman said: ‘Sammy Clarke, 14, and Siobhan Clarke, 15, were found safe and well ... They are currently being looked after by police officers. We are also no longer searching for Keiran Hartley-Anderson, 22. He was also found.
‘A 22-year- old man from the Southend area has been arrested in connection with this incident.’