Disappearance of Hannah Upp

Hannah Upp is the subject of an unsolved missing person case involving three separate disappearances, in 2008, 2013, and 2017. Media coverage has referred to Upp as the woman who went missing three times. Following her first two disappearances, Upp was diagnosed with dissociative fugue, a rare psychiatric condition marked by reversible amnesia about one's own identity, often accompanied by unexpected travel or wandering; in some cases, a person experiencing the condition assumes a new identity and cannot recall information from before the episode began.

The first disappearance began on August 28, 2008, when the then-23-year-old Upp was last seen leaving her New York City apartment to go for a jog. She had recently started a new job as a teacher at Thurgood Marshall Academy in Harlem, and she missed her first day of work before being reported missing. Her keys, wallet, ID, and other belongings were left behind. Over the roughly three weeks she was missing, Upp was seen in public places, including an Apple Store in Midtown Manhattan, where she logged into her email account, and at gyms, but she did not appear to recognize herself or understand why people were searching for her. On September 16, 2008, the crew of a Staten Island Ferry found Upp lying face-down in the water. She was rescued alive and hospitalized for treatment of dehydration and hypothermia, after which she was diagnosed with dissociative fugue.

In 2013, then 28-year-old Upp was working as an assistant teacher at a Montessori school in Maryland when she was reported missing from her job on September 3. Her wallet and phone were found on a footpath. Two days later, on September 5, 2013, Upp was located in the Wheaton-Glenmont area of Maryland after she borrowed a stranger's phone to call her mother. She told police that she did not remember where she had been or how she had gotten there.

Upp relocated to the U.S. Virgin Island of Saint Thomas in 2017 to take a new teaching position. That September, the island was struck by Hurricane Irma and was preparing for Hurricane Maria. On September 14, 2017, Upp was last seen leaving her home at around 8 a.m., reportedly intending to go swimming at Sapphire Beach. She missed a scheduled school meeting and was reported missing; her car was later found parked near the beach with her wallet, phone, passport, and other personal belongings untouched inside. Initial search efforts were hampered by the approaching hurricane, though extended searches by local authorities, family, and friends continued in the weeks that followed. Upp has not been found, and this third disappearance remains unresolved.