TWO 16-YEAR-OLDS VANISHED HOURS APART — THEN THEIR BODIES WERE FOUND TOGETHER IN THE WOODS

Two 16-year-old teenagers disappeared from separate homes on the same morning. Hours later, police made a heartbreaking discovery in a wooded area near Juneau, Alaska.

Leotis R. Phillips and Zoey L. Clark were reported missing just hours apart on Monday, Aug. 31.

By that afternoon, both teenagers were found dead.

Their bodies were discovered at approximately 2:25 p.m. in a wooded area above the 6800 block of Glacier Highway in Juneau, according to the Juneau Police Department.

Preliminary information indicated that both teenagers had died from gunshot wounds, and a firearm was recovered at the scene. Their bodies were transported to Anchorage for examination by the Alaska State Medical Examiner’s Office.

But the circumstances surrounding their deaths remain unclear.

THEY DISAPPEARED FROM DIFFERENT HOMES

The first report came early Monday morning.

Leotis Phillips was reported missing from his residence on Kanata Street at approximately 5:52 a.m.

Nearly three hours later, at about 8:49 a.m., Zoey Clark was reported missing from her home on Teal Street.

Police quickly determined that the two teenagers were believed to be together.

Authorities also warned the public that the pair might have access to a firearm and urged anyone who saw them not to approach or attempt to contact them, but instead to immediately call 911.

At that point, police were searching for two missing teenagers.

By the afternoon, the search had become a death investigation.

THE HEARTBREAKING DISCOVERY

Around 2:25 p.m., officers located Phillips and Clark in a wooded area above Glacier Highway.

Both were dead.

The department said preliminary information indicated that the teenagers had suffered fatal gunshot wounds. A firearm was also found at the location.

Their families were notified, and investigators began working to determine exactly what had happened between the time the teenagers left their homes and the moment they were discovered.

Police have not publicly released a detailed timeline of those final hours.

They also have not publicly explained who owned or obtained the firearm found at the scene.

WHY WERE THEY TOGETHER?

That question has become one of the central mysteries surrounding the case.

Why did two teenagers leave their homes separately that morning?

How did they meet?

Why did they travel to the wooded area near Glacier Highway?

And what happened after they arrived?

Police have said the investigation remains ongoing and have not released additional details about the circumstances of the deaths.

At a candlelight vigil held for the teenagers, more than 150 relatives, classmates, teachers and community members gathered to remember them.

Family members spoke about their grief and the difficulty of understanding what the teenagers may have been experiencing in their final hours. Some people at the vigil spoke on the belief that the two had intentionally ended their lives together, but that characterization has not been formally detailed by police in their public releases.

A COMMUNITY LEFT WITH QUESTIONS

The deaths have deeply affected Juneau’s school community.

The Juneau School District said counseling and support services would be made available to students and staff affected by the tragedy.

For the families of Leotis and Zoey, however, the biggest questions remain.

The two teenagers were reported missing from separate homes less than three hours apart.

Hours later, they were found together in the woods.

A firearm was recovered beside them.

And investigators are still working to establish the complete circumstances surrounding their deaths.

What happened during those missing hours may be the key to understanding why two teenagers who left home separately ended up together — and died in the same remote area.

For now, the investigation continues, while two families and an entire community are left mourning two 16-year-olds whose final hours remain shrouded in unanswered questions.