Police and neighbors called off a relatively large-scale search for two missing sisters, ages 5 and 7, Friday night nearly seven hours after the girls went missing in the 200 West 400 North area.

At about 8:30 p.m., a neighbor ended the search when she casually dropped the sisters off at home after an evening at the movies, officials said.

The girls' mother reported them missing at about 5 p.m., three hours after she had last seen them, said Lt. Scott White, Salt Lake police.

The two girls spent the afternoon playing with neighbor friends, then later joined their friends' family when they went to the movies, White said.

"We don't mind doing this (searching), but you just got to know where your kids are," White said. "Don't let them out of your sight, especially at that age. … And tell people when you're going to take their kids."

The communication gaffe between the two neighborhood mothers spurred a several-agency operation. While the girls sat safely reclined in a dark movie theater a couple of miles away, about 15 officers scoured the neighborhood for any sign of the children, by cruiser and on foot. Officers had gone door-to-door talking to neighbors two blocks in every direction from the children's home.

By the time the credits had rolled on the big screen, a K9 unit had been called out and was sniffing for tracks; concerned neighbors had rallied, organized themselves and were already passing out printed fliers with detailed descriptions of the children and their clothing; and authorities had called more than 1,000 people in the nearby area with a missing children's alert using an automated calling system, Whitesaid. "We had called in detectives who were already looking into sex offenders in the area. The whole thing's unfortunate."

e-mail: jhancock@desnews.com