Meghan Marohn, 42, was last seen on March 27. Her car was found at a trailhead in South Lee.
UPDATE: Human remains found in Lee; believed to be Meghan Marohn, missing NY school teacher
LEE — The brother of a New York woman who went missing last month plans to hire a private investigator, with help from a GoFundMe page that in days has drawn thousands in pledges.
Peter Naple has, as of Monday morning, raised $11,670 of a $50,000 goal to get answers about the disappearance of Meghan Marohn, 42. The money will also be used to continue the search.
Naple started the fundraiser Friday.
A monthlong police investigation has failed to yield leads into her disappearance. A $50,000 reward is posted for information leading to her safe return.
“My sister Meghan Marohn went missing in Lee, MA on March 27th while on a hike near the Longcope Property Park on Church St. in Lee,” Naple wrote on the fundraising website. “Her car was found in the parking lot of the park, but numerous search efforts by officials as well as myself and volunteers have turned up nothing. Absolutely nothing.”
Naple could not immediately be reached for comment.
Last week, State Police said they had searched the target area around the park and other “areas of interest” in Lee.
Lee Police Chief Craig Desantis said Monday the probe is still a missing person investigation, and there is no reason to believe it "will evolve into a criminal matter at this point."
"The situation is fluid because it is an open investigation," he said. "Our goal is to find Meghan."
Police said early on they do not suspect foul play.
Marohn, of Delmar, N.Y., checked into The Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge March 24, and was to stay there until March 30, Naple wrote on his website, findmeghanmarohn.com. She was last seen March 27.
Naple had told The Eagle she had checked into the hotel amid some “emotional upset.” He spoke to her the night before she went missing.
Neighbors saw her black 2017 Subaru Impreza parked at the Longcope Park trailhead in South Lee off Church Street.
Marohn’s disappearance continues to puzzle and distress friends and family.
“Meghan is a devoted and passionate high school English teacher, poet, artist, and concerned environmentalist who displays deep passion in all her endeavors,” Naple wrote on the website. “She is charismatic, witty, and a genuinely loving and beautiful person whom I miss dearly and need to know what happened to her.”