Dawley students turn reporters for writing contest
Year 6 pupils at Captain Webb Primary School in Dawley have been showcasing their creative talents this month. The school recently reached out to share the work of their young writers following a similar project held last year.
The children were challenged to write a news report based on the atmospheric animated short film, Francis. Teacher Megan Saville explained that the project gives the pupils a real-life purpose for their writing.
According to Miss Saville, the winning entry from Ariella was a completely independent piece of work. She described the student as a talented writer and said the school is excited to see what she creates in the future.
Honourable mentions were also given to Lochlan, Lily, Shivani and Polly for their work on the project.
Ariella’s report, which investigates a fictional disappearance at a remote campsite, is published in full below.
Campsite, Deathsite?
Teenage girl goes missing on a suspicious rowboat.
This weekend, a girl called Francis Branduine, has reportedly gone missing. Francis is 17 years old, from Michigan; she went missing from a local and well-known campsite, Quetico National Park, which is on the border of Minnesota and Canada.
Quetico Park is a remote and isolated area of elegant, enamelled land holding over 100,000 acres. People often visit Quetico in the summer, which is an ideal holiday destination because of the lake. Visitors claim it is a calm, relaxing place. The case wasn’t the same for Francis.
The lake, that spans 1 mile wide and 1 and a half miles in length has been reported by people that when it is nighttime, the lake tends to change, and you can see strange things swimming in it. Francis was planning to go to Quetico to see the aurora borealis, but as we know now, it did not go as planned.
Francis and her family were trying to ‘reconnect’ after some family arguments. Although it may be relaxing (and one of the best places to see the aurora borealis – the northern lights), it is also a strange place, with many stories regarding bizarre happenings involving the area.
The last known sighting of Francis was made by her parents (when they went to sleep that evening). At this time, she was wearing grey tracksuit bottoms, a long-sleeved, black t-shirt, thick, orange-striped walking socks, with brown walking boots and a beanie.
The family stated that the weather was freezing but Francis never cared about the cold; they wrapped up warm to sleep in their individual tents. Security reported spotting something lurking around the lake at around 2:50am (an hour after Francis’ disappearance).
Another description of the girl was given: she is 17 years old, she has black, shoulder length hair, is often dressed in dark clothing, is 5 foot 7 inches in height, is very slim, has brown eyes – with a yellow speck in the left iris.
Even though it is believed that her parents were the last to see her, a fisherman, who was out on the lake trying to see the northern lights, stated that he saw a girl (maybe a child) on a boat in the middle of the lake.
“I barely even took notice of this at first, I assumed it was someone like me, looking for the northern lights. It was truly a great night for stargazing,” Garry Wonder, aged 52, explained to us.
Francis was known as an ambitious girl, who loved to go camping with everyone she loved. The police investigation so far has gathered as much evidence and clues that they could possibly get. Most notably, a diary was found with Francis Branduine’s name on it.
It was identified by police and parents that it was 100% Francis’ diary. The diary was found inside the rowboat she reportedly went missing on. The rowboat was found to have Francis’ DNA on and fingerprints. The pages were full of jottings and sketches, but not the last page. The last page (according to law enforcement) was muddy and tattered.
“The pages read, ‘I did knock first,’ seemingly a riddle, which might help us determine what happened to this poor girl,” police inspector Johnson told us.
Because of this evidence and possible sightings from Mr Wonder, the police (from the beginning of the investigation) have good reason to believe that Francis took out the rowboat and went to the middle of the lake (the deepest part) for an unknown reason. This was later confirmed by law enforcement. The police have hired professional divers to go and search the lake. They have since found 2 oars, that looked to be a part of the original rowboat.
The most crucial piece of information for this case was made only this morning, when detectives also found CCTV footage of Francis entering the boat at around 1:30am. It also shows that at 2:50am, the camera was covered up by a leaf.
We spoke to Detective North and he explained further, “Clearly, the leaf was purposeful. It was angled specifically to cover up the lake.” The information has quickly spread to the public, and now Quetico is becoming more and more abandoned. Anyone who is now going to Quetico is playing a death game.
Police are appealing for witnesses, people who know any information about what might have happened that night. If you believe you have any information at all, please contact 05286 527319 or head to your local police station. Even the smallest amount of information can have a big impact and hopefully reunite a broken family.
