If they are just NPCs, nobody will care enough. And we won't guarantee that none of them gets killed. After all, I have quite the track record at killing pups in MM.

But the main plot part would probably be the search, and the investigation. We can involve everybody's police and journalist pups, in addition to the people who care, and people who think they can see dead people. Also, with students missing in the mountains, there will be that sustained feeling of crisis that keeps people on their toes during an emergency, and that will give everybody something to talk about.