Maryland

Police Looking for Pregnant Maryland Teacher Who Didn't Show Up for First Day of School

Police in Maryland are looking for a pregnant teacher who didn't show up for the first day of class.

Laura Elizabeth Wallen, 31, was last seen at the Olney condo where she lives alone about 8:30 a.m. Monday. Her family said they received a "troubling" text message from her about an hour later, but attempts to reach her have failed. Police don't want to release the contents of the text message she sent.

Her father said he went to her condo but didn't find her.

She also failed to show up for the first day of classes Tuesday at Wilde Lake High School in Columbia, where she teaches history and law. Her father, Mark Wallen, said that set off alarms for him.

"You feel so helpless at that point because you don't know where your child is," he said.

He suspects someone is responsible for his daughter's disappearance.

"Well we're reaching out to, of course, family, friends, coworkers, neighbors and also other strategies I don't want to get into at this time," Montgomery County Police Capt. Paul Starks said.

"This is like an alternate universe," said Wallen's sister, Jennifer Kadi. "It just doesn't seem real."

Wallen is four months pregnant, and her family said she was excited about it and posted her sonogram on her refrigerator.

"That obviously puts an enormous amount of worry on us because she is out there somewhere and she has a baby, so that's a really scary thing," Kadi said.

"It's like a TV drama you wish you could shut off but you can't," Mark Wallen said.

Wallen is 5-foot-5-inches tall, weighs 200 pounds and has blonde hair and blue eyes.

Police are also looking for her car, a black 2011 Ford Escape with Maryland license plate M522473.

Anyone with information about Wallen's location or the location of her car should call police at 301-279-8000.

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