Ligorio (14), Unetha's son is an average student studying in standard IX of St. Vincent school. Recently, when the unit tests were held, Ligorio did not do very well. ``He said he had passed but we discovered that he had failed,'' says his anxious elder brother Allen. Allen has been searching the surrounding areas of Pune for Ligorio, his hopes soaring every time a taxi driver in Mahabaleshwar or a sweeper in Lonavala reported seeing him.

And Ligorio is not alone as he and his friend are reported to be missing together. Fast friends, Nolan Jaysilan (15) were last seen together on the Lullanagar Road near the Chest Hospital by Nolan's mathematics tutor. Both were wearing their school uniform with Ligorio sporting Reebok shoes while Nolan was wearing his black shoes.

According to Allen, the boys are probably carrying extra clothes and were asking people around about the likeliest place to go if they ran away from home. Lonavala and Mahabaleshwar figured on that list. The family lodged a First Information Report (FIR) with the Cantonment police station on Tuesday but are yet to receive any news from the boys.

As a day turns into a week and longer the families spend sleepless nights wondering where their sons could be. Both have appealed to their children to forget about the results and come back home. In the meantime the boys remain statistics on paper, hiding the immense tension that only the families can feel.