Use of snuck

In US English, "snuck" is used only with "off" and "up":

He snuck off to India without telling any of us.

He snuck up on me and scared the living daylights out of me.

I would say the common usage would be "snuck off" in this sentence, in US English. Or perhaps "snuck away".

But I don't use "snuck" and it always sounds wrong to me, despite the fact that according to the links provided above (for instance Merriam-Webster), it's become more common than "sneaked". I'm always irritated when I see professional writers such as reporters put it in their writi

The OED calls "snuck " "orig. and chiefly U.S." Their first citation is from 1867 and is obviously an attempt to render illiterate speech. The next one is from 1932. It and the later ones are from fiction. I have to say it still sounds a mite backwoodsy to me when I stop and listen.

I can hardly make my mouth form "sneaked" in "snuck up on", probably because of attraction to the "u" in "

He snuck back to India without telling any one of us. (He was from India originally.)
He snuck off to India without telling any one of us. (He escaped there, furtively.)
He snuck into India without telling any one of us. (He avoided the security checks at the border.)