Reward Offered for Missing Teacher
The 23-year-old New York teacher went missing just days before school started.
Sept. 8, 2008 — -- A teachers' union and the New York Police Department are offering a reward for help in finding a missing 23-year-old New York teacher whose sudden disappearance has left friends and family baffled.
The United Federation of Teachers announced that it is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to Hannah Upp, a second-year Spanish teacher at Thurgood Marshall Academy in Harlem. The Portland, Ore., native was last seen Friday afternoon, Aug. 29, in her apartment by a friend, according to police.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with Hannah and her family during this trying time," UFT president Randi Weingarten said in a statement. "We have reached out to her family, and the NYPD offering to help in any way we can."
The NYPD is offering its own $2,000 reward.
Upp's disappearance just days before classes began has sparked a massive search by her army of friends.
Upp's distraught mother, Barbara Bellus, is keeping a vigil in her daughter's apartment.
"She is a bright, beautiful young woman and a dedicated teacher, who has so much to offer the world and an overwhelming desire to contribute to its betterment in any possible way," Bellus said in an e-mailed statement. "We cannot imagine what has taken her away, but we want her back, whatever the circumstances."
Upp's two roommates, a man and a woman, became worried about her last Sunday night when they hadn't heard from her, roommate Samantha Gallardo, 25, told ABCNews.com.
According to Gallardo, Upp's other roommate, fellow teacher Manny Ramirez, searched her room and saw that her purse, wallet, cell phone, ATM card and subway card were all there.
"My roommate woke me up and we went down to the police station. They didn't seem too concerned about it at first, but at 4 a.m. there were already detectives in our apartment," Gallardo said. "There's been police in our apartment since."
Upp is a friendly vegetarian who constantly experimented with new dishes, Gallardo said.
"[She's] quirky in a really endearing and wonderful way, and she has so many friends. She is always going to visit friends or having friends come to visit her," she said.
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