Families of young women lost in Nepal quake: We believe our girls perished

SEATTLE -- The families of two 19-year-old women missing in Nepal appear to be giving up the idea their daughters may ever be found alive.

Bailey Meola and Sydney Schumacher, both 19 years old and graduates of Garfield High School, have been missing since a deadly 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Nepal on April 24 while the girls were traveling the country.

Sydney's mother Diane posted to her personal Facebook page Thursday, saying that the two families are largely giving up the search for their girls, and presume they perished in the tragic accident.

From Diane's Facebook:



Schumacher's family said an anthropologist reported seeing the two on April 24, just one day before a 7.8 earthquake hit Nepal and aftershocks destroyed villages nearby. One of the villages wiped out is Langtang, right near the girls’ last known campsite, according to the family.

The U.S. Embassy has not yet confirmed the deaths.

The families have raised more than $47,000 on crowdfunding site Indiegogo to help them search for the women and have used some of that money to send family members to Nepal to help in the search.

Days after the earthquake, more than 100 people gathered to hold a candlelight vigil for the two girls.

This story is breaking and will be updated as more information becomes available.