Search widens for missing Appalachian State student

BOONE, NC (AP) — Volunteers from Forsyth County are joining in the search for an Appalachian State University student who has been missing for a week.

The Charlotte Observer reports volunteers from Kernersville were preparing on Wednesday to walk along the Mountains to Sea Trail, a 900-mile route of footpaths beginning in the Blue Ridge Mountains, to look for Anna Marie Smith. The 18-year-old freshman from High Point was last seen on the campus in Boone on Sept. 3.

A sweep of wooded areas near the hilly Boone campus and elsewhere in Watauga County has failed to produce a trace of the woman.

Smith’s disappearance came as police were investigating the rape of a student several days earlier and was reported this week. Authorities say the two incidents are not related.

Information from: The Charlotte Observer, http://www.charlotteobserver.com

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Photo Courtesy: Appalachian State University