Hannah Upp

Status:

Open

Missing From:

Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands

Summary:

Hannah Upp is commonly referred to as 'the woman who went missing three times' by the media. She first disappeared in August 2008 in New York and was found in September 2008 in a river, again in September 2013 in Maryland, and went missing a third and final time in 2017 in Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. As of 2026, Hannah Upp is still missing.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Disappearance:

On September 14, 2017, Upp was last seen leaving her home around 8 a.m., reportedly planning to go swimming at Sapphire Beach. Upp missed a scheduled school meeting and was reported missing. Her car was found parked near the beach, with her belongings untouched, including her wallet, phone, passport and other personal items. She left her sundress, sandals, car and car keys at a small bar on Sapphire Beach, where she often snorkeled. She disappeared a week after Hurricane Irma struck the island, and a week before Hurricane Maria arrived and caused heavy rain.

Additional Details:

Upp suffered from dissociative fugue, a rare psychiatric condition characterized by reversible amnesia regarding one's identity, often accompanied by unexpected travel or wandering. The first disappearance occurred on August 28, 2008. Then 23-year-old Hannah Upp was last seen leaving her apartment to go for a jog. At about midday on September 16, 2008, Hannah Upp was floating face down in water in southern Manhattan, New York. She was barely alive, severely dehydrated, hypothermic, and with no memory of the previous three weeks. In 2013, then 28-year-old Hannah Upp was working as an assistant teacher at a Montessori school in Maryland. On September 3, 2013, Upp was reported missing from her job. Twenty-eight year old Hannah Upp contacted her family around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday night and was found in Wheaton near the intersection of Georgia Avenue and Shorefield Road. A year after that, she moved to St. Thomas and took a job at the Virgin Islands Montessori School. Initial searches were hampered by the approaching hurricane conditions. Extended search efforts by local authorities, family and friends took place in the following weeks. An adult skeleton washed ashore on an uninhabited island near St. Thomas in September 2018, according to NamUS, a resource center for missing, unidentified and unclaimed person cases across the U.S. The remains were too decomposed to identify. Hannah's mother is Rev. Barbara Bellus, a United Methodist Pastor. Her father David Upp is also a pastor.

Case Last Updated:

Nov 03, 2026