Girls missing in Algonquin Park found in 'great' condition
Two teenage girls from the Kitchener-Waterloo area who had been missing in Ontario's Algonquin Park since Thursday have been found safe.
Maya Mirota and Marta Malek, both 16, failed to meet up with their camping group in the sprawling provincial park's western sector on July 12.
Ontario Provincial Police said a canine team located the girls just before noon ET Monday in "great" condition.
OPP spokesperson Bill Dickson said he didn't know exactly where they were found or how far it was from the meeting point they had set with their larger group.
The girls were found with the help of an OPP search and rescue dog.
OPP canine officer Scott Gannon said his dog, Zoe, a two-year-old Labrador, picked up the girls' scent and immediately started toward the girls.
"She became excited and we watched her and then she proceeded to go down the trail," Gannon said.
He said officers could hear the girls before they actually spotted them.
"As she was going down the trail we started calling the girls' names, and at one point we could hear the girls call back," he said.
He said when they met up with the girls they were relatively unharmed.
"They were a little bit dehydrated, but they were otherwise in good shape."
They were found approximately 290 kilometres west of Ottawa.
The girls, scouts with the Polish Scouting Association in Canada, were on a six-day hike with adult leaders when they became separated.
Stan Reitmeier, the association's chair, noted the girls were well prepared.
"As noted by the OPP, they were experienced campers, and had equipment and a supply of food with them, thanks to which they were up to the challenge when they became detached from their group," he said in an emailed statement.
Reitmeier expressed his gratitude to the OPP officers and others who helped search for the girls.
