Police Investigate Disappearance of Appalachian State University Freshman
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iStock/Thinkstock(BOONE, N.C.) — The parents of a college freshman are desperate to find their 18-year-old daughter who was last seen nearly two weeks ago.
Anna Marie Smith, a student at Appalachian State University, was last seen on campus by her roommate on September 2, according to police.
Smith’s parents said their daughter’s cell phone, laptop and money were left behind when she disappeared.
Smith last contacted her family on Labor Day, writing them a Facebook message that simply said, “I love you.”
According to Appalachian State University, police investigated reports that Smith had been sexually assaulted off campus before she disappeared. However, school officials said they had no evidence of the assault and no report was filed.
Her parents have helped organize search parties to comb through the Appalachian Mountains surrounding the school. On a Facebook page for the missing teenager, Smith’s mother, Laurie Smith, estimated her daughter could have traveled over 80 miles on foot, 200 miles by boat or be anywhere in the country if she hitched a ride in a car.
“Sometimes simple math can be scary,” Laurie Smith wrote on Facebook.
On campus, officials have organized a prayer walk and asked any students with information about Smith’s disappearance to come forward.
“We need Anna to come home,” Laurie Smith said at a news conference. “She makes our hearts whole.”
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