CECIL COUNTY, Md. — Skeletal remains of an unknown person were found on the banks of Conowingo Creek at a Girl Scouts camp in Cecil County.
Summer camp was winding down to the last couple of days at Girls Scouts of Central Maryland Camp Conowingo on Thursday.
For 15-year-old Sabrina Roche, something felt off when just after lunch, camp councilors gathered everyone to do a "trust hike" moving them to a new location on site.
RELATED: Skeletal remains found in creek at Girl Scout camp could belong to missing man
"What it is, is you close your eyes and grab onto people around you so you couldn't see anything," said Roche.
Something she and her friends thought was only for the little kids. "What really scared us is that they had us do it. It's just like, what are they trying to get us to not really see?” said Roche.
She's been going to camp every year since she was six, never experiencing anything this tense. Her mom, Tanya Roche, was quickly notified through email. She and other parents of campers were summoned to a Zoom call that afternoon after an article of clothing was found in the creek.
"The CEO of Girl Scouts told us that there were two staff members, without any campers with them, that had at the creek found a pair of jeans floating, and upon closer examination, they had also found remains,” said Sabrina’s mom Tanya.
Girl Scout officials assured parents this had no association with the camp and they believe the body ended up there through the creek.
All campers and staff were safe and accounted for, but parents had the option to pick up their kids early.
"When I got up to camp, right before you get to the entrance of [the] camp, there's a bridge there, and I saw police cars blocking the bridge and pulling up ropes and stuff, like possibly they had been searching the creek,” said Roche.
The Cecil County Sheriff's Office began investigating.
"Initially, we started searching our own missing person's investigations, which all of ours are closed out,” said Lt. Michael Zack with the Cecil County Sheriff's Office.
Expanding the search to other areas, Zack said they came across a case in Lancaster, Pennsylvania of a man who's been missing since April. Now, the Cecil County Sheriff's Office is working with Pennsylvania State Police to determine if it's a match.
"The evidence that we collected, which would be the skeletal remains to a laboratory that is able to extract DNA, and then we will have to compare that to familial DNA from the victim’s family,” said Zack.
A letter to parents from the Girl Scouts said no camper saw the jeans floating in the creek.
