See most recent update (from the night of Monday, Sept. 8) here: https://www.hcpress.com/news/tears-prayers-and-pleas-from-family-friends-and-fellow-students-for-safe-return-of-missing-app-state-student.html
ASU Release at 8 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 8:
The Appalachian State University Police Department and the State Bureau of Investigation along with other local, State and Federal agencies are now classifying Anna Marie Smith as a missing and possibly endangered person.
Investigators are actively using all means to locate Anna. Anna, an 18-year old student at Appalachian, has been missing since Tuesday, Sept. 2. Anna is possibly carrying a bright blue LL Bean backpack that contained a blue ENO hammock. Anna was possibly last seen wearing a red or orange top and black leggings. Anna typically carries a red purse as well.
Anna has short red or blonde hair, blue eyes, and stands 5 feet 9 inches tall with a slender build. She has nose piercings, a black and white sunflower tattoo on her upper right chest near her collar bone and Latin lettering over her lower left ribs. She also has a nose piercing.
Investigators are utilizing all means including interviews, forensic examination of records, surveillance video analysis and any other available means to attempt to locate Anna.
Anna’s family and law enforcement investigators are asking for anyone who has any information pertaining to her whereabouts to contact University Police at 828-262-2150.
Search for Missing App State Student Continues, No Clues Found After Thorough Search of Wooded Areas on Campus
By Jesse Wood
Sept. 8, 2014. The search for Anna M. Smith, an 18-year-old Appalachian Student University Student who was reported missing on Sept. 3, continues.
In the latest update from officials with the university on Friday, local law enforcement officers and first responders conducted a “thorough search of several wooded areas on campus early [Friday] morning that were previously canvassed, looking for clues in the disappearance” of Smith.
With no clues found as to the whereabouts of Smith, ASU Police continue to request the public’s assistance in locating the young woman. Law enforcement officials with the university have released updated photos of Smith, and student volunteers and Smith’s friends and family have disseminated fliers throughout downtown and football tailgate sites over the weekend.
A day after Smith was reported missing, ASU announced that a preliminary investigation done by university police suggested no foul play and that Smith left on her own accord. With widespread media reports, campus-wide notification and social media shares, police tracked her whereabouts from the night of Sept. 2 to the early evening of Sept. 3.
She had previously been reported missing since noon on Sept. 2, but after her situation became announced, others said they saw her as late as Wednesday evening.
“Since that time, it was reported that Smith used Mountaineer SafeRide Tuesday, Sept. 2, around 10:26 p.m. SafeRide is a university van service that provides transportation around campus for students during the evening hours. In addition, she was seen near her residence hall on Wednesday, Sept. 3, between 6 and 6:15 p.m. She reportedly was wearing light colored clothing (shorts and a shirt),” a prior release from ASU stated.
Smith has short red hair, blue eyes, is 5-feet 9-inches tall, slender build, and has nose piercings, a black and white sunflower tattoo on her upper right chest near her collar bone and Latin lettering over her lower left ribs.
Smith’s father told Fox 8 that Smith enjoys hiking and kayaking around Boone.
She has been entered on the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database as missing.
University Police continue to urge anyone who has seen Smith to contact them at 828-262-2150. Reports can be made anonymously at http://police.appstate.edu/crime-tip-submission-form.
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