Police say a mountain lion was reported hit near Carmel Valley and Black Mountain roads midday Thursday, but retrieval crews weren't able to find it when they responded. Students at Oak Valley Middle and Stone Ranch Elementary schools about two miles from that intersection had been kept indoors, though not locked down, after a mountain lion sighting was reported earlier in the day.

This was the second reported sighting in that area this week.

The San Diego County Sheriff's Department responded to a report of a sighting in the 16000 block of Winecreek Road at 9:43 a.m. Thursday, a department spokeswoman said.

This is the same area where a mountain lion was reportedly seen on Monday.

Neither Sheriff's Department nor federal Fish and Game officials found a mountain lion on Thursday, just as in Monday's search, the spokeswoman said.

But Detective Gary Hassen, of the San Diego Police Department, said a call came in at 12:30 p.m. that a mountain lion had been hit at the intersection of Carmel Valley and Black Mountain roads. But when crews responded to retrieve the body, no mountain lion was found, he said. Officials don't know if the animal got up and walked away, or if a dead body was removed by someone, he said.

No further information was immediately available.

After Monday's reported sighting, students at the two schools were locked down during the search, but they were not this time.

"We look toward the police and sheriff when these things occur," Poway Unified School District spokeswoman Sharon Raffer said. "That time that told us to lock down and this time they said they were not calling a lockdown."

Raffer said physical education classes were moved from the fields into the gymnasium, and students were kept inside classrooms except when they needed to use the restrooms.

"It's not quite a lockdown, but it's looking at trying to keep people contained within the school as much as possible," she said. "We try to be vigilant and watch very carefully and give reminders to parents about [their childrens'] safety."

The following message was emailed to parents at Oak Valley Middle School, and a similar one went to Stone Ranch families, Raffer said:

The Sheriff’s Department has received word of another possible mountain lion sighting. A deputy came by the school to talk with us. They are not calling for a lock down at this time. However, we are being very cautious. We have locked all of our gates and our PE classes are being held in the gym. The sheriff’s department is searching the area around our schools and will keep us informed of next steps. All of our students are safely in classrooms, and we will remain vigilant.

Just a reminder: our students should not use the trails surrounding our school. And at dismissal, we will be keeping the students closer to the school for pick up. We will keep you updated if we have new information.

Students first,

Sonya Wrisley
Principal