An Unlikely Connection

Barbara apologized to the woman who looked like her daughter but wasn’t her. The woman was aware of Hannah’s story and said, “I wish I was her for you.” Barbara was so touched by her words and thought if this woman’s mother was also searching for her like she is searching for Hannah. Barbara was devastated as this was not the first time that her beloved daughter went missing like this. So what exactly was Hannah’s story?

Open-Ended Questions

Barbara was still staying in St. Thomas hoping for her daughter to return. Previously when Hannah went missing the circumstances were quite similar to the ones at St. Thomas. She went missing right before the starting of the school year. And both the searches were focused near water. But why was this even happening? Hannah wasn’t depressed for sure but what was this all about then?

A Decade Earlier

Hannah was 23-years-old in August 2008,  was a Spanish teacher in the Thurgood Marshall Academy in Harlem, New York. A day before the school session was about to begin, Hannah went out of her Hamilton Heights apartment for running alongside Riverside Drive in Manhattan. For the next three weeks, she wasn’t seen by her family or her friends. She wasn’t responding to any phone calls nor she attended the school. That’s why Barbara didn’t hurry to the island immediately after knowing her daughter’s disappearance. The question what made Hannah behave that way in the past?

A Frantic Search

The first time when Hannah disappeared her friends posted numerous flyers informing people about their missing friend. Her posters were everywhere, signposts of bus stops and subway stations. Her roommate recovered her wallet, MetroCard, passport, and cell phone in her bedroom. And Hannah was nowhere until two weeks later when Barbara received a call from a detective asking her to reach at the Thirtieth Precinct in Harlem. The detective showed her a  surveillance footage of an Apple Store.

Peculiar Antics

Hannah was wearing a sports bra and her hair was tied up in a ponytail. A man even asked her if she is the missing girl but she said no. “I could see her blow off what he was saying, and I knew instantly it was her — it was all her. She has this characteristic gesture. It’s, like, ‘Oh, no, no, don’t you worry. You know me, I’m fine,’” Barbara recalled in an interview. In the footage, she went inside the store, checked her email and walked away.

Another Lead

She was again seen in a Starbucks in SoHo, Manhattan. Unfortunately by the time police reached on the spot, Hannah went away from the back door. She was seen five more times at different locations but police were never able to bring her home. “It was as if the city had simply opened wide and swallowed her whole,” said one detective. It was only after a week that things became clear behind her weird behavior.