Desperate Search Begins For Staten Island Mother And Public School Teacher Reported Missing
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Police are looking for a Staten Island public school teacher and single mother who has been missing since the weekend.
Authorities say 37-year-old Jeanine Cammarata, a mother and teacher at P.S. 29 on Victory Boulevard, was last seen by her boyfriend after dropping him off at his apartment Saturday night on McVeigh Avenue in Heartland Village.
He reported her missing to police on Tuesday.
"She would always text me, let me know if she was going somewhere, that's why I couldn't believe she was actually missing," the teacher's friend Jose Perez said.
Perez is also Cammarata's landlord at her apartment on Cassidy Place. He added that he hasn't seen her white Chevy parked outside since last week.
Police say Cammarata's roommate received a text message from Cammarata Monday saying she was ok, but her roommate does not believe Cammarata wrote that text.
"She would never run away. She got her kids, she would never do that. Running away is not in her character," Perez told CBS2's Ali Bauman.
Cammarata's sister told CBS2 by phone that the mother had been in a custody battle with her ex-husband over their three children.
"She was supposed to have an appearance yesterday, on Monday, and she never showed," Christine Ross explained.
Investigators describe Cammarata is 4-foot-11, about 120 pounds, with brown eyes, and brown hair.
"I last talked to her Friday morning. We were talking about her visiting me here in Alabama so she could see me because I haven't seen her in quite some time. She was thinking of bringing her kids with her as well for the week. They have off for vacation," her sister added.
On top of working full-time at P.S. 29, Cammarata's sister says she was also working part-time at a Dollar Tree store to make ends meet. She hasn't shown up for either job since last week.
