Apparently Hannah is a Portland native. I'm praying that her family and friends find her soon.

http://www.kptv.com/news/17402800/detail.html

i really wish they find her shes my fav teacher she used to teach me when i was in 8th

Hannah we love you! If you went away of your own volition, just contact someone, we are all looking for you and missing you. If you are not able to contact us, then to whoever reads this and knows anything about where Hannah is (or has seen her since last Friday, or even before then), contact one of her friends/ the NYPD. We just want to know that she is okay.

It is terrible to say it, but in almost every case where a young female disappears like this the outcome will not be good. By the time people notice she's missing she is usually dead.

That she worked in a high-crime area like Harlem is bad enough, but in truth, that may not be where her problem began. However, any inner city has plenty of dumpsters for those searching for usable items, and if one is alone say, in an area temporarily void of human traffic, it is easy to be overwhelmed by an attacker and the rest is history. Anyway, I'm sure the NYPD is looking at all angles of this, and whatever the outcome, I hope they locate her; as I believe there is nothing worse than for a family to go on, year after year, without any answers.

I do not know Hannah well, but as a Mother of a fellow Bryn Mawr graduate, I have had lunch with and spoken with her on several occasions. What I do know about Hannah is that she is a very bright, fun loving young lady who is experiencing her life fully.
Some of the post on this site and others that I have read, seem to suggest that she in some way is responsible for maybe something happening to her. Currently, none of us know the reason for Hannah's disappearance, but for anyone to blame a possible victim, especially in a blog where family and friends are viewing the contents, is ridicolous and highly insenstive.
There are certainly precautions that we can and should all do to miminize something awful happening to us and hopefully the possibilty of Hannah being taken against her will, will remind everyone to be more careful in their daily lives. However, doing so still will not guarantee your safety, sometimes bad things do happen to good people. Everyone should be careful but also, like Hannah's example,live and enjoy your life and hope to touch others as much as obviously Hannah has!

Kevin - contrary to belief all of Harlem is not a high crime, inner city environment. The area where Hannah lived and worked is mostly populated with Columbia University students and is not a high crime area. It is pretty safe.

I am sure that Hannah was smart enough and equipped with enough critical thinking skills that she did not go alone into sketchy areas to go dumpster diving. It was a social activity meaning it was something she would participate in with friends. Your comment seems to insinuate that Hannah is somewhat responsible for her disappearence and that is ridiculous and thoughtless.

I do not believe Hannah was doing anything wrong, nor do I think she was in any way at fault for whatever happened to her. She has a right to live her life as she sees fit, as we all do. It is never the fault of the person when someone attacks them, and I'm sorry if I gave anyone the wrong impression.

My only point is this: However unfair it might be, women, and sometimes women alone, can become special targets of the very bad people who populate every city and town on the planet. Wherever you have large numbers of people living in close proximity to each other, the likelihood of bad encounters increases. It's just a price we pay for living in large cities. But you're right, bad things can happen to good people and it not be their fault. The flip side, however, is this: Sometimes we can greatly reduce our chances of becoming a victim by doing certain basic things. Although I do not have the space to elaborate here, I can tell you that many people, both male and female, fall victim to murder and other terrible crimes because of the way they live; detectives call this "high risk" as opposed to "low risk" living. However, I in no way was insinuating Hannah was living a high risk life, because it doesn't look that way at all.

I wish we lived in a perfect world, but I don't see one coming any time soon.

P. S. I spent several hours in Harlem one day in the late 1970's. And yes, I could see it was indeed a mix of folks and, for the brief time I was there, not as bad as I thought it would be. But I wasn't sorry to leave either!

I do not believe Hannah was doing anything wrong, nor do I think she was in any way at fault for whatever happened to her. She has a right to live her life as she sees fit, as we all do. It is never the fault of the person when someone attacks them, and I'm sorry if I gave anyone the wrong impression.

My only point is this: However unfair it might be, women, and sometimes women alone, can become special targets of the very bad people who populate every city and town on the planet. Wherever you have large numbers of people living in close proximity to each other, the likelihood of bad encounters increases. It's just a price we pay for living in large cities. But you're right, bad things can happen to good people and it not be their fault. The flip side, however, is this: Sometimes we can greatly reduce our chances of becoming a victim by doing certain basic things. Although I do not have the space to elaborate here, I can tell you that many people, both male and female, fall victim to murder and other terrible crimes because of the way they live; detectives call this "high risk" as opposed to "low risk" living. However, I in no way was insinuating Hannah was living a high risk life, because it doesn't look that way at all.

I wish we lived in a perfect world, but I don't see one coming any time soon.

P. S. I spent several hours in Harlem one day in the late 1970's. And yes, I could see it was indeed a mix of folks and, for the brief time I was there, not as bad as I thought it would be. But I wasn't sorry to leave either!

It's strange that she left the apartment without her keys. Was she putting out the garbage and left the door open? Has her apartment building been searched? Her friends should knock on doors and get a feel for who lives in the building.

The police searched her apartment, and also checked every apartment in her building. Also the roof, basement, back yard, etc.

Harlem is now a pretty decent area. like all of nyc sometimes it gets dicey but the fact that she left everything inside leads me to believe she was lured out.

Hello everyone,
Steve interviewed me for this article, and I'd just like to thank everyone for their interest and concern. We are all worried about Hannah, and we are not even speculating as to what happened because we simply do not know. If you have any ideas based on the available information, please contact - and you may do so anonymously - the NYPD Crime Stoppers hotline at 800-577-TIPS. You may also access the Facebook group "We're Not Giving Upp (On Hannah)" for readily updated information.
Thank you,
Arielle Schecter

I am really sorry to hear about this, you guys should find out if she had any type of enemies or maybe in school she worked in wanted to harm her in anyway. This case seems to be a difficult one. I defiantly don't think she is a runaway someone must of adducte her. I hope she still alife but in these type cases who a person leaves also their belonging home they might just be dead.

=(
I hope she is is to be founded.....

I grew up with Hannah in Salem, Oregon (Not Portland) and would just like to put out there that people all over the country are praying for Hannah's safe return. Friends and family of Hannah who read the negative comments regarding Hannah's safe being- don't be discouraged. Many people have been an will continue to be praying for Hannah's safe return. Why assume the worst when you can hope for and fight for the best?

Ms. Upp was one of my good teachers and she taught me on my first year of TMA.

Honestly we hope to find her and for her to return.

and NO NOBODY WANTED TO HARM HER OKAY.

KEVIN M SULLIVAN YEAH I AGREE WITH YOU ABOUT HARLEM.

But i grew up and still live there and will get out soon but your comments are making it seem like everybody in Harlem are bad.

It's weird how familiar Hannah is - so many people know her, or know of her (I found this story on a blog of a favorite writer, and I grew up in Bryn Mawr - small world).

No one comes here to wish harm or spout negativity. Everyone is hoping that Hannah is safe and will return home soon. Please god she just got overwhelmed and went out of town for a break. I understand that's unlikely, but all any of us can do is hope and keep our eyes open.

Whatever the situation, the goal is to find Hannah. For people to come in and say that they have experience with an area because they spent a few hours there thirty some years ago is kind of absurd. Yeah, Sullivan, I'm looking at you. And yes, there are always things we can or should do to reduce our risk - but short of hiding away from the world, there isn't any way to avoid the freak occurrences that DO happen to good people sometimes.

As I said, here's hoping she was feeling spontaneous and just went out of town for a little bit, and that she is safe and well. To be proactive, help get the word out, keep your eyes open and call the NYPD tipline if you have any information.

She was pulled out of the water off the Staten Island Ferry terminal earlier today. She's alive and at the hospital in good condition.

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/16/ferry-workers-rescue-missing-teacher/?hp

I wonder why good people have such troubles in life... I'm not too religious but I believe that there's something above, and such situations come up to teach us something. But what should we learn from them???
John, school teacher
http://www.dalloway-school.com/