SHERILLS FORD — Authorities are searching for two missing Catawba County high school students who left home for a party last weekend and haven't been heard from since.

Officials say friends of 18-year-old Jake Ziegler and 17-year-old Ray Pierce said the two were headed for Myrtle Beach, S.C., around 1:30 a.m. last Saturday. The last contact from the two seniors from Bandys High School came about 2:45 a.m. Saturday, when Ziegler sent a text message. Authorities say the message was sent from Interstate 77 in Fairfield County in South Carolina.

Neither their cell phones nor their debit cards have been used since.

Part of the search is focusing on I-77 between Rock Hill and Columbia, S.C., where it's believed the teens' car may have crashed. Another search is under way in Horry County.