Texas-based search and recovery team Equusearch announced Wednesday that they have suspended the search for New Orleans schoolteacher Terrilynn Monette, who went missing March 2 after a night out with friends.
The New Orleans Police Department investigation into Monette's disappearance remains open.
Equusearch, a group involved in several high-profile cases, including the search for Natalee Holloway and, more recently, Caylee Anthony, had been mobilized to help the search, filling a need for items like sonar equipment. They have been foiled by one false lead after another in Monette's case, and say that they've exhausted their search.
"We know where she's not at," Tim Miller with Equusearch tells #CNN after combing the waterways around City Park where Monette was last seen
— Nick Valencia (@CNNValencia) March 20, 2013
The crew has focused on the literal underbelly of New Orleans, the murky waterways and bayous that could contain a submerged vehicle -- and there have been plenty found, but not Monette's.
“There was a second there when we thought we might have found something,” Equusearch director Tim Miller told the Times Picayune. “We found a car that looked like hers and had a sunroof like hers. We had divers go in, but then, it turned out again to be a false alarm.”
Monette and her black 2012 Honda have not been seen since March 2, the night the 26-year-old Teacher of the Year nominee went to a bar with friends.
Investigators have confirmed that surveillance video shows Monette leaving the bar and driving toward an area of the city alone, HLN has learned.
This week, Crimestoppers announced that the reward for information leading to the whereabouts of Monette had hit $3,500, after an anonymous donor added $1,000, HLN affiliate WDSU reports.
How you can help: Terrilynn Monette is described as an African-American female, approximately 5'8" tall, weighing 180 pounds and having a light complexion with long brown hair. She was last seen driving a 2012 black two-door Honda Accord with Louisiana license plate WUN494. If you have any information, please contact the New Orleans Police Department at (504) 821-2222 or Texas EquuSearch at (281) 309-9500.
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