Search underway for missing teacher who vanished from New Jersey hotel

Lara Emanuele has been missing since early June though police do not believe her disapperance is suspicious at this time

Officials from New Jersey are searching for an elementary school teacher who disappeared from a hotel in early June.

Lara Emanuele, 46, is an elementary school teacher at Alexander Hamilton Elementary School in Morristown, New Jersey.

She was last seen on 7 June in Roxbury but her car was found the next morning at a Holiday Inn Express in Mount Arlington, just a few miles from her home.

Surveillance video from the hotel’s parking lot shows Ms Emanuele parking her vehicle and getting out of the car but never going inside the hotel, an employee of the Holiday Inn told CBS News.

Since then, local and state authorities have conducted coordinated search efforts for the missing teacher in the area near the hotel.

The Roxbury Police Department, Morris County Sheriff’s Office, New Jersey State Police Aviation Bureau, New Jersey Search and Rescue and the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office are all involved in the search.

The area surrounding the hotel, known as the Berkshire Valley State Wildlife Management Area, is described as “heavily wooded.”

On 12 June, Morris County Prosecutor Robert J Carroll asked the public to allow law enforcement and trained civilians to conduct the search as any interference could make it more difficult to track Ms Emanuele’s location.

“At this time we are asking that the public rely on the law enforcement agencies and trained civilians to continue handling the search,” Mr Carroll said.

“The search area is comprised of heavily wooded terrain and there are areas that may have dangerous wildlife. Trained K-9 dogs being utilized to track in the search area and having unknown individuals in that area could impact the search efforts.”

Mr Carroll assured the public that “all capabilities available to law enforcement are being utilised.”

Authorities in the Morris County Sheriff’s Office have indicated Ms Emanuele’s disappearance is not considered suspicious at this time.

On Facebook, her husband Brian Emanuele re-posted a post from the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office asking for assistance in locating her.

Anyone with information related Ms Emanuele’s location or the investigation is encouraged to make contact with the Roxbury Police Department at 973-448-2100 or the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Missing Persons Unit On-Call Detective through the Morris County Communications Center at 973-285-2900.