Missing Teacher Left Cryptic Blackboard Message
SAN RAFAEL, Calif. (AP) -- Authorities are searching for a Marin County teacher who went missing after leaving a mysterious message on her blackboard.
San Rafael police launched a nationwide search for Debra Schmitt after students at Terra Linda High School showed up for her English class on Jan. 20 and found the message "Thank you everyone."
Authorities say she was last seen a day earlier in Ross, where she lives.
There's no indication that the 53-year-old teacher had been kidnapped or attacked, and authorities found her car, identification and purse at her home.
Schmitt's cousin, Linda Czarnik, says the teacher was going through a divorce and had lost three close relatives over the past year, though it's unclear if those events were connected to her disappearance.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
