Exclusive to TCR: Hannah Upp's Brother Dan Speaks Out

Dan "Wally" Upp, brother to missing NYC schoolteacher Hannah Upp, has been keeping track of various online discussions about his missing sister, and he got in touch with me to get some assistance in clarifying what the Upp family knows about this missing persons case.

What's become clear to me as I've communicated with Dan is how worried he is and how skewed some of the info about Hannah's disappearance really seems to be.

Referring in particular to the discussion taking place at Websleuths.com about Hannah's disappearance, Dan said he wasn't offended by anything be said there, but he did try to remind himself "that the posters do not know Hannah and some of the things they are proposing are ludicrous to those of us who do." Dan also said that he had to "do the same for just about any site that is covering Hannah's story."

Dan said he really wanted to clear up some things reported by mainstream media outlets covering Hannah's disappearance. The following is from an e-mail Dan sent earlier today:

To the best of my understanding, Hannah had no plans to specifically go to Pennsylvania to see our mother on Labor Day weekend. She had mentioned the possibility of going "somewhere" to her roommates, but my mother confirmed that they hadn't discussed specific plans for the weekend, (i.e. she was not expecting Hannah to come for a visit, and therefore didn't call her when she didn't come).

Dan also clarified Hannah's use of her debit card prior to her disappearance on August 29. According to him, Hannah withdrew money "on Thursday (Aug 28th), not Friday as some are reporting."

Addressing the issue of Hannah possibly having gone to ground, or run away, Dan Upp was clear:

The reason that I and others have stated that this is not a "runaway" case is because that implies that a person has left of their own accord and purely from a desire to get away, with no other underlying causes. Hannah is probably the most considerate and compassionate person that I have ever known, and I'm not just saying that because she's my sister. Being who she is and knowing how many people love and care about her, there is no way that she would ever just take off of her own volition if she was in her right frame of mind.

Generally, Dan told me, the possibilities as to what may have happened to Hannah are: "an abduction or crime of some sort (which hasn't been completely ruled out), or something that severely affected Hannah (mental/emotional overload, breakdown, sudden onset of mental disorder, full or partial amnesia, fugue state, or whatever else the pseudo-psychologists are discussing now) that caused her to act in a way that she would not normally act by taking off and not telling anyone."

He felt compelled to address the sighting of Hannah. She was spotted checking her e-mail in a Manhattan Apple store. To Hannah's family, "some kind of psychological breakdown" seems like the most logical explanation for the young woman's disappearance.

In his e-mail, Dan expanded on this:

The act of seeking out a computer may indicate that she was coming out of whatever condition she was temporarily in, or it may be her just trying to find out who she is. The point is that we don't know what caused her to behave this way, but that something is definitely wrong. We don't know if she has control over whether or not she comes back, but if she does, we want her to know that we are waiting to welcome her back no matter what, and she doesn't have to worry about us being angry or upset because of anything that has happened. No questions asked, we just want her to be safe, and she can tell us about whatever happened when she's ready.

I addressed the fact that Hannah Upp was a freegan in my first post about her disappearance, and I ultimately decided I wasn't sure that this had much significance. Dan Upp addressed the issue:

As far as the freegan aspect goes, I thoroughly concur with all those who have said that its role in this situation has almost certainly been drastically overplayed. We've already cleared up the fact that Hannah didn't believe in it as a hardcore lifestyle, it was just a way to get some perfectly good food for free that would have otherwise gone to waste. And people frequently get the wrong mental image from the tongue-in-cheek phrase "dumpster diving". Instead of digging through piles of broken glass and medical waste for a half-eaten chicken wing, what it really generally entails is picking up sealed plastic bags of bagels or fruit or whole sandwich trays from where they have been carefully placed next to the dumpster. This is all food that is perfectly good and was on sale for general consumption five minutes ago, but because of when it was made or put on the shelves, it's against store policy to sell it again the next day, so whenever they close they have to throw it away.

Finally, Dan wanted to clarify an allegation that Hannah Upp had occasionally slipped "under the radar" while attending Bryn Mawr. "[There] were times when things got very busy and stressful" for Hannah while she was a student, Dan told me. When this happened, he said, "Hannah didn't go to her classes for a day or two and kind of 'holed up' in her room or a friend's room." Hannah didn't just vanish, Dan said, "there were still friends that knew where she was and that she was okay." To him, that was "clearly a completely different situation than what we're looking at here."

Hannah Emily Upp is still among the missing. She is 5'5", weighs between 120 and 130, has dark hair and hazel-green eyes. If you have some information about her disappearance, call 800-577-TIPS or call the 30th precinct at (212) 690-8842 or (212) 690-8843.

[Facebook: We're Not Giving Upp (on Hannah).]