MYSTERY SOLVED: Virginia school finds missing SAT exams

Image 1 of 3

Nearly 300 Loudoun County high school students were preparing to retake the SAT exams after their answer sheets disappeared. Now, a month later, the tests have finally turned up.

The SAT testing took place at Broad Run High School in Ashburn on May 2.

The answer sheets were supposed to be mailed off to educational testing services where they would be scored. But they went missing.

Afterwards, those students were devastated to learn they would have to retake the SAT on June 20 right after finals.

But where did their exams go?

School officials said a box that contained their SAT answer sheets was locked in the guidance office. Security cameras showed it was on a cart that was placed in the shipping area for UPS pickup. However, UPS had no record of it.

But the mystery was solved after the box was found Monday morning in the shipping area.

"Sometimes you know the most obvious thing is looking at you right in your face," said Loudoun County Public Schools spokesperson Wayde Byard. "It was under some papers on the bottom of a three-tier cart."

Broad Run High School principal Dave Spage did not give up and asked his staff to continue searching for that missing box. And it paid off.

"The SATs are very stressful as it is," said Byard. "The fact that these were missing was not helping the kids any because obviously they want to get their college entrance things filled out, so the delay was hurting us."

Now, the hurt is over. The students should get their scores in a few weeks.