I don’t think anyone thought they ran away, it was more like, maybe they had gone deeper into the woods and lost their way back... or maybe they left and went to a friends house and didn’t call or text to family members they had left and went somewhere else for the day... more along those lines is what people were thinking !
ETA from my memory, I’m not sure everyone was thinking that, but I can remember more of them getting lost and couldn’t find their way back was what they were worried about. Like the girls being cold... no one was fearing them dead at the point the search was called off, also added article from when the girls were still missing. Talks about at the end how they didn’t believe the girls were in danger
Authorities, family continue searching for missing Carroll County teens