Teens missing since San Lorenzo homecoming dance found safe, sheriff says

SAN LORENZO, Calif. - Two teenagers missing since Friday's homecoming dance in San Lorenzo were found safe Monday afternoon, the Alameda County Sheriff's Department and school district confirmed. 

"We are tremendously grateful for this outcome and happy for the families involved and for our entire school district community," said Scott Faust, spokesperson for San Lorenzo Unified School District.

The school district did not say more on how or where they were found.

But their return is a major relief to their mothers, who camped out at school over the weekend after San Lorenzo High sophomore Michelle Olivas Sanchez, and her date, Elvis Moreno, 15, who attends another school, did not meet them as planned following the dance on Friday. The two weren't there at the designated pickup time on Friday at 9 p.m. 

Before their children were found, Michelle's mother and Elvis's mother spoke to KTVU on Monday in Spanish. 

Both mothers said their children lied to them about the dance, claiming it ended at 10 p.m. instead of 9 p.m.

"When I arrived, there was no one in the parking lot," said Sheila Sanchez, Michelle's mother. "I thought, how weird, did it end early? Why didn't she tell me to pick her up?"

According to their parents, Michelle and Elvis met online via Instagram and have been talking to one another for about six months.

Both families met in San Lorenzo in August, when Michelle hosted a quinceañera birthday party.

Leonela Bautista, Elvis's mother, drove him down from Mendocino County to attend the party.

"I saw them as a peaceful family and sincere," said Sanchez.

Sanchez said she didn't know Elvis was going to the dance with her daughter, until Michelle finally admitted it right before entering the dance.

The San Lorenzo Unified School District confirmed permission slips were signed for Elvis to attend the homecoming dance.

Both mothers were anxiously awaiting their children's return before they were found on Monday. 

Bautista said she last made contact with her son minutes before the dance was set to end, telling him to expect to leave home soon; they planned to drive back home to Potter Valley, nearly three hours away.

"I called him around 8:50 p.m., he answered," said Bautista. "He was still at the party, but after that he said to wait because it would end at 10. I told him to hurry because I had work in the morning, and he said to give him more time."

School staff immediately notified their parents and the Alameda County Sheriff's officers searched around the school and at several community locations where the teens might have gone, Faust said.