If Hannah reads this, I am so glad you are better. I never judged your situation, i am just happy that you are safe with your friends and family. ((hugs)) from Tennessee

Thanks for the update Steve. I'd been wondering what happened to Hannah, and I'm glad that she's ok. I hope she's able to get whatever psychiatric treatment she needs and can move on and be happy in her life. The people who commented in the online newspaper article remind me of the same sort of mindless idiots who comment on online newspapers like the Daily Mail over here in the UK. The writers of the article should be ashamed of themselves, too, for ignoring the facts in favour of stirring up cynical reactions. They and their readers wouldn't recognise compassion if it walked up to them and bit them on the backside.

My prayers are with Hannah for a successful recovery. I have but only one question. If she had an episode of dissociative fugue then how was she able to go into the Apple store and check her email? Also, I thought I read somewhere that she used her ATM...so she remembered her pin? Just curious.

Thank God for a good outcome, for a change. I hope Hannah gets all the help she needs, and can enjoy her life.

I'm overjoyed that we have a positive outcome here.

Welcome back Hannah, and best wishes to the entire Upp family!

I too am glad that this was not another tragic story. I did read somewhere yesterday, not sure what site, that a separate doctor said that her actions were NOT typical of someone with dissociative fugue. Does anyone else recall that?? I am not one to make judgements either, especially since she has met with her own doctors for the diagnosis. I just thought it was interesting.

Sorry, duh, I didn't realize that the link connected to the story had the info I was talking about. I guess it isn't typical behavior but she DID have herself checked by doctors. As long as she is being seen by professionals, she will be able to get thru this on the medical side of things. Good luck to her and I am sure her family is thrilled.

The text book, DSM, definition of Dissociative Fugue relies on finding someone who left their normal life and assumed a new identity.

There is usually not the close investigation while the disappearance is ongoing. These people are found months later. There are several cases each year that make it to media attention.

Several college students have disappeared and are still missing. Brian Scott, Maura Murray, and Michael Negrete are some of them. Matthew Wilson was found after eight months half way across the country. But there have been other cases where the person was found near the point of disappearance.

VisionAndPsychosis.Net has pages about these disappearances.

First of all, thanks very much to Steve for posting this, and for everyone on the site for being so respectful and keeping an open mind about the situation, as so many have not been able to do. I haven't been trying to respond to posts on other sites, for obvious reasons, but I do appreciate that some people here are asking very valid and reasonable questions, so I wanted to take a minute and respond to a couple of them.
The cash withdrawal was actually made before Hannah went missing, and her bank account showed no activity during the time she was gone. However, the email is a very good question, and one that puzzled everyone for a while, because it is true that checking email would not normally be characteristic of someone experiencing an episode of dissociative fugue. But it seems that although Hannah did log in to her email, it does not appear that she did anything once she was logged in. No emails opened or read, and none sent. So the assessment of the psychiatrists was that although she didn't know who she was, there was something that "carried over", if you will, whether it was muscle memory or a glimmer of recollection of "this is what I do at a computer", or a little of both. Most of us in this digital age log in to things so often that it's not hard to imagine doing it in some kind of semi-conscious or semi-aware state.
As far as I know, the reports about Hannah using a gym to shower have not been confirmed by anyone, and they seem rather unlikely. From all that we have learned, they are very strict about requiring a membership card or some form of photo ID to let anyone in, even if they are in the database. Some of the front desk people may have recognized her, but in that case they would have also known that she was missing and probably not just let her in.
And finally, no one really knows how she ended up in the waters off Staten Island. The reports that people saw her jumping off a pier are unfounded, and there is no evidence that it was a suicide attempt.
Hopefully that serves to answer a few of the questions. Thanks again to all of you and your support for Hannah. It means a lot to all of us.

Look, these people need to come clean. They made this girl's running away a national news story on sympathetic grounds, and when she was eventually recovered, they immediately cut off information and began obfuscating. I will say what any reasonable person clearly knows after surveying the situation: HANNAH UPP IS A BIG BABY WHO RAN AWAY AND WAS NOT IN A DISSOCIATIVE FUGUE. *No one* believes that she logged into her email and then stared blankly at it. C'mon, muscle memory or "carrying over effects" led her 1) to the apple store, 2) to a computer, to her email login, and her password, but then 3) caused her NOT to click on ANY email in her inbox, even randomly, even "reflexively"? No one believes that. She ran away from problems, she allowed the world to take notice and make a big deal about it, and she then tried to end it all by trying to kill herself. She owes EVERYONE who cared about her fate an apology, not this nonsensical tripe about her being in some fugue. STOP LYING. I know that honor is not what it once was in our country, but being a purely selfish, unrepentant member of society is not *yet* what people expect. Just be honest with everyone and move on. Don't salt the wound with this idiocy that no one with any rationality believes.

Hector, I'm sorry that you feel that way, and if you are really convinced that you know the real story, than nothing I can say will change your mind. Out of the great respect and gratitude that I have for this site and its readers, I will say that I understand that there are people in the world who would do the things that you describe, and all I can tell you that Hannah is not one of them, and none of us have attempted to deceive anyone about what has happened. The email piece is something that we don't fully understand, but we've shared the diagnosis and viewpoints of the psychiatrists on the matter, and that's the only answer we have.
You mention honor, which is something that still has a great deal of meaning for me, so I will tell you that on my honor, Hannah is not the person that you seem to think she is, and none of us are trying to deceive anyone. However, we are trying to move on, and we will continue to do so.

but, didn't she tell the tugboat, or whatever, captain "I'm the missing teacher"?

I happen to be a student of Ms. Hannah Upp's (Senora Arriba) before she disappeared. I attend Thurgood Marshall Academy and I am very happy to hear Ms. Upp is home safe. I was very distraught and scared for my missing teacher. Mr. Upp, I am happy that the situation turned out the way it did for you and your family, and everybody who cares about her. As for the disrespectful people who write such mean articles, just because they can, you handled it well for your sister. She is lucky to have a brother, who supports her. I miss you, Senora Arriba!

If she's like her mother she's a manipulative liar. Sick. Can make anybody believe anything.