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'Major search' underway for teen girls missing in Algonquin Park

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Maya Mirota and Marta Malek, both 16, have been missing in the Ontario provincial park since Thursday

Ontario Provincial Police shared this missing person notice Saturday for Maya Mirota (left) and Marta Malek (right). The 16-year-olds were last seen on a walking trail in Algonquin Park on Thursday. (Ontario Provincial Police)

LATEST The girls were found safe on Monday around noon.

A "major search" is underway for a pair of teen girls last seen three days ago on a trail in Algonquin Park, Ontario Provincial Police said Sunday.

Maya Mirota and Marta Malek, both 16, have been missing since the night of July 11, when they were last spotted on Western Uplands Trail near Rainbow Lake.

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OPP, the Ontario Search and Rescue Association, and park wardens and staff are all involved in the search effort. An OPP helicopter and fixed-wing plane from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry are also assisting.

The two girls, both experienced campers from the Kitchener, Ont., area, were on a group camping trip when they disappeared, said Bill Dickson, a spokesperson for the OPP's east region.

Dickson said they were on their way to meet up with the rest of their group, but failed to arrive.

An Ontario Provincial Police helicopter and a float plane from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry are assisting in the search for 16-year-olds Maya Mirota and Marta Malek, who were last seen in Algonquin Park on July 11. (Mark Pimlott)

"They're not strangers to the woods. They do have some experience," Dickson said.

"They had a tent. They had some other equipment. And they had some supplies — enough to last them a day or two. So we're hoping that they were able to tide things over, and we are confident we are going to find these girls alive."

Neither girl had a cell phone, Dickson added.

Dense forest

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The search is currently focused on the western expanses of the sprawling provincial park.

While the trail they were last spotted on is "fairly well-worn," Dickson said a hiker who inadvertently ended up leaving the trail would quickly find themselves in dense forest.

"You would have a hard time, maybe, finding that trail again," he said.

Mirota is described as roughly five-feet tall with a thin build and long auburn hair.

Malek is approximately six-feet tall with shoulder-length dirty blonde hair and wears glasses.

Anyone with information should call OPP at 1-888-310-1122. Dickson said police have received a number of tips since the girls disappeared.

With files from Trevor Pritchard