Missing high school students from Eagle County found safe in Aurora

Two Edwards high school students reported missing earlier this week have been found safe in Aurora. 

Battle Mountain High School student Matthew Smith and Red Canyon High School student Ash Ponce were last seen at their schools Wednesday around 10 a.m. After leaving school that morning, the two dropped out of contact for two days.

On Thursday, Smith’s mother, Allana Smith took to Facebook, alerting the community that her son and his girlfriend were missing. In her post, Allana Smith urged anyone with knowledge of the high school students’ whereabouts to share information. 

“Matthew does not have his phone,” the post read. “She does have her phone, but it has been turned off around 3:30 p.m. yesterday.”

The Eagle County Sheriff’s Office worked with the students’ families and agencies across the state to investigate Smith and Ponce’s whereabouts. The Sheriff’s Office also alerted the National Crime Information Center. 

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On Friday afternoon, Allana Smith posted to her Facebook page that the pair had been found, writing: “Thank you everyone for all your kind sentiments and work and help and if we need anything else will let you know we believe that soon enough they will both be home I will send another post confirming when they are actually with us.”

In a phone call, Allana Smith said that Ponce’s brother lived relatively close to where the two high schoolers were found, and that brother and sister were reunited earlier Friday. Allana Smith said she and her husband were en route to Aurora for a reunion with their son. 

“This is extremely joyous,” Allana Smith said.