Police ‘confident’ of location of Stonyhurst College absconders

A spokeswoman for Lancashire Police told the Clitheroe Advertiser today: “We are continuing to liaise with the appropriate authorities to determine the exact location of the pair and ensure they are safe and well.”

However, a report in today’s Telegraph newspaper said that local police are believed to have located the pair last night, although they hadn’t been approached, at a five-star beach resort after they landed at Puerto Plata.

But the report added the Foreign Office had said late last night that it would not be commenting on claims that they had been found.

The 16-year-old sixth-form boarders at the historic Jesuit college – named unofficially as Edward Bunyan and Indira Gainiyeva – were seen boarding a plane at Manchester Airport at about 3 am on Monday after sneaking away around midnight. The exclusive Jesuit college, where boarders’ fees are more than £29,000 a year, alerted police the same day.

The pair are said to have told friends they had booked tickets online and were going for a romantic break in the Caribbean.

Lancashire police are liaising with police in the republic bordering Haiti.

In a statement, headmaster Mr Andrew Johnson said: “Two of our sixth formers left the College during the course of Monday morning and we have been working closely with their families and with the police since then.

“We understand from the police that they may be overseas, and we are awaiting more news. Our main concern is to be sure that they are safe and sound, and to reunite them with their families as soon as possible.”