Search underway for missing Morristown teacher Lara Emanuele

MORRISTOWN, N.J. -- Morris County officials are searching for a New Jersey teacher who has been missing for nearly three weeks.

Forty-six-year-old Lara Emanuele, a third grade teacher at Alexander Hamilton Elementary School in Morristown, was last seen in Roxbury on Wednesday, June 7. Her car was found the next morning outside the Holiday Inn Express in Mount Arlington.

An employee at the hotel says police confirmed surveillance video shows Emanuele parking her car and getting out of the vehicle. The employee says she was never spotted inside the hotel.

County and local police with K9 units have been searching for Emanuele in the nearby Berkshire Valley State Wildlife Management Area since June 8. They describe the terrain as a heavily wooded area.

County officials tell CBS2 her disappearance isn't considered suspicious.

"That's sad," neighbor Jessica Gally said.

Neighbors CBS2 spoke with near Emanuele's home in Randolph are concerned, saying Emanuele has lived in the area for at least a decade.

"I hope they find her. That's scary. I had no idea she was missing," Gally said.

Friends on social media have been sharing pictures of her, using the hashtag #BringHerHome. They say her phone and wallet were left in her car and that this is very out of character for her.

The state's teacher's union, the New Jersey Education Association put out the following statement: "We are very concerned for Ms. Emanuele. We stand in solidarity with her colleagues and the entire Morristown community in hoping for her safe return very soon."

Anyone with information is urged to contact Roxbury police or the Morris County Prosecutor's Office Missing Persons Unit.