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Sep 5, 2008 8:30 pm US/Eastern
Family, Friends Join Search For Missing Teacher
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Hannah Upp has been missing for one week. (File)
CBS
Mystery surrounds the disappearance of a young school teacher who has been missing for one week.
Hannah Upp's identification, credit cards and money were all left behind. Now, her family and a massive army of friends are pulling together to search in neighborhoods and on-line.
The 23-year-old teacher at Thurgood Marshall Academy was last seen at her Hamilton Terrace apartment by a friend lone week ago.
"She was well travelled and in to art and dance, and everything about her she would bring in to the classroom with such passion," Angela Hernandez said. "That is why we are baffled."
Her mother, Barbara Bellus calls her disappearance "mystifying."
She said Hannah is single, with lots of friends, lots of joy and was excited about the new school year. The desperate mom hopes her daughter somehow hears her plea:
"Hannah come home. We love you so much. You can't imagine the outpouring and love and friends and family and grace and peace. We love you so, so much. Whatever will bring you home...we are grateful for," Bellus said.
The evening of the disappearance, her roomates came home to find her purse, wallet, cell phone, ID, ATM, and subway cards, but no Upp.
Neighbors tell CBS 2 HD there are concerns about safety in Upp's building - doors are propped open, there are no security cameras in the hallway, except for a tiny one connected to intercom that doesn't record the comings and goings.
Friends are searching neighborhoods, putting up flyers and calling hospitals. A page went up on Facebook called 'We're Not Giving Upp on Hannah,' which quickly grew to have more than a thousand members.
"I hope and I believe we are going to find her," Upp's friend Hannah Wood said.
Wood feels someone must know something. Just email or call police to solve this puzzle and end the pain of not knowing.
Upp is five-feet tall, weighs 130 lb. and is described as physically and mentally healthy. If you have information about her disappearance, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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