'It's baffling': Searchers stumped in hunt for missing girl after boyfriend finds unlocked car with her purse and mobile phone inside

Reward: Sarah's parents have offered $10,000 for information leading to her safe return and said they thought nothing was wrong when she left for school on Monday

New Jersey Teenager Missing: MyFoxNY.com

This pretty teenager went missing on the way to school, before her purse and mobile phone were found by her boyfriend in an unlocked car.

But searchers have found no other signs of the girl.

Sarah Townsend, 18, left her home in Burlington County, New Jersey, on Monday morning to go to Allentown High School in Monmouth County but never arrived.

Almost 100 police officers and volunteers have been searching for the 5'4" girl and have focussed on Green Acres Park in Burlington where her vehicle was found in a car park.

What is so baffling is there was no blood in the car or drag marks outside,’ Burlington Township Police Lieutenant Bruce Painter told the Philadelphia Inquirer
It could be as simple as she walked away.

But we just don't know.’ He added: 'Everything leads us to believe she’s alive.'

The car park where her vehicle was found is next to a pond popular with runners and fishermen, and the couple had often been to the park together.

Sarah’s parents have offered $10,000 for information leading to her safe return and said they thought nothing was wrong when she left for school on Monday.

‘Everything was ordinary. It was just like any morning,’ her father, Roy, said. ‘Please tell the police how grateful we are for all they're doing. We just want Sarah home safe.

Authorities called off a search for the three square-mile wooded area around where her car was found on Tuesday afternoon after teams found no trace of her.

But her friends and family are still determined to find her and have set up a Facebook group that already has thousands of members.

'We want you to come home,' her mother, Laurie, said. 'We want you to know we love you. You're not in trouble, just please come home, Sarah.

Dive teams, K-9 teams and helicopters with infra-red sensors all joined in the search.

Mark Hopkins, Greater Philadelphia Search and Rescue operations chief, said the terrain and especially the wetlands had made the search difficult.

I'm not sure she isn't here,’ he said. ‘With something like this, there are so many opportunities for failure.’