Mont. teacher disappears while running; shoe found

January 9, 2012 at 2:15p.m.

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Search crews are expanding their hunt for a high school teacher missing from an oil boom town in northeast Montana, after recovering only a single running shoe since the 43-year-old woman failed to return from a Saturday run.

Assistant Police Chief Robert Burnison said the search for algebra teacher Sherry Arnold was focused today on areas north of town near the North Dakota border.

Sidney school superintendent Daniel Farr says more than 1,000 people joined the search over the weekend. They found no trace of Arnold except the shoe, discovered in a ditch along one of her running routes.

Mayor Bret Smelser says the outpouring of volunteers shows Sidney remains a tight-knit community despite the changes brought by a massive influx of oil field workers in recent years.