Reward Offered for Missing Teacher

Upp's 28-year-old brother, Dan Upp, who is in the Navy and stationed in Japan, said leaving town without notifying anyone would be very out of character for his sister.

Hannah Upp, 23, was last seen a week ago.

(Courtesy NYPD)

"She isn't some naive, small-town girl off to the glorious big city thinking the world is made of cotton candy and gumdrops. She's a very smart, very sensible young woman who is always aware of where she is and what's going on around her, and who is conscious of the fact that not everyone she may meet has good intentions," he wrote in an e-mail from Japan. "We just want her to know that we love her very much, no matter what, that we're praying for her, and we just want her home safe."

When they found out she was missing, Upp's network of friends from around the city and from her alma mater, Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, sprang into action. Several flew in from out of town and plastered the city with fliers.

"It's really heartening to see this many people supporting us," Gallardo said.

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Hannah Wood, 22, who describes herself as one of Upp's closest friends in New York, started a Facebook page devoted to finding Upp. The group already has more than 1,200 members.

"We called the hospitals, and on Tuesday evening we sent out a bulletin we had been e-mailing among her most intimate friends," Wood said. "I decided I would make a Facebook group, and I took out an ad on Facebook asking if anyone had seen her. ... That has proven a phenomenal way of getting the word out."

Sarah Caldwell, a 22-year-old publicist for a book publisher, used her contacts to get additional help in the search. By Thursday night, New York magazine had posted information about the missing Upp, and the New York Daily News and New York Post have both written stories about the "Teacher Vanish Mystery."

"Her very close friend called me in a panic and let me know what was happening. We were waiting to hear that the police were officially launching an investigation, so I sent the e-mail yesterday," said Caldwell, who attended college with Upp. "She was always supersweet and superwelcoming. She was pretty much the nicest person you'd ever want to know."