Missing exchange students could be in Toronto
Two Vietnamese exchange students who were reported missing from the Moncton area earlier this month are not missing at all — according to the head of the school responsible for bringing them here.
Dale Ritchie, president of McKenzie College, said the girls are safe with relatives in Toronto.
Ngan Ngoc Nguyen, 17, and her cousin Diu Thu Thi Nguyen, also 17, first came to New Brunswick last summer through McKenzie College's English and Adventure summer camp.
They then went on to study at Moncton High School in the fall and stay with host families.
Ritchie said he spoke Monday with an organization in Vietnam that helped the teens enrol in programs abroad.
As a result of that conversation, Ritchie said, he believes the teens may have gone to Toronto to work. He said he didn't think this should have been treated as a missing persons case and felt things had been blown out of proportion.
He confirmed the two teens were among the international students who took part in last summer's three-week, $2,850 camp hosted by the college.
But according to Sgt. Mario Fortin of the Codiac RCMP, the investigation is continuing, and the girls are still considered missing.
Fortin said the Toronto lead was one the police were exploring, but that until an officer could see the girls face to face, the investigation remained open.
The girls were last seen in Moncton the morning of Nov. 9 at the Maritime Bus depot.
Didn't share plans
Three days later, the two students were reported missing by the families they were staying with in New Brunswick, according to RCMP. According to Ritchie, they didn't tell their host families in Moncton about their plans.
Atlantic Education International, which hosts about 700 international high school students every year in New Brunswick, said it was concerned about the situation.
The organization said this was the first time an incident like this had happened with one of its students.
The cousins were two of 42 Vietnamese exchange students who came to the province this year.
Citizenship, Refugees and Immigration Canada said while this is currently a missing persons case, any violation of immigration laws would be investigated by the Canada Border Services Agency.
