Paula Broadwell left Charlotte home to celebrate her birthday in Washington

The driveway of biographer Paula Broadwell’s upmarket North Carolina home shows power-washed writing, which reads in a flourishing font: “Dad loves Mom”.

Behind the faded message, two silver cars are parked in the brick garage. A FedEx slip remains attached to the forest-green door.

But none of the Broadwells appear to be home a day after her alleged affair with CIA Director David Petraeus was sensationally revealed, forcing the shamed government official to resign.

The scholar, biographer, and West Point graduate who allegedly brought down former CIA director did not answer the door of her Charlotte-area home. It did not appear that her husband, radiologist Dr. Scott Broadwell, was home, either.

Reporters who were outside the couple’s $800,000 two-story brick home on Saturday got no response. According to the Associated Press, Paula Broadwell was planning on celebrating her 40th birthday this weekend in Washington, D.C.

Neighbor Ed Williams told the Charlotte Observer that he emailed Paula Broadwell on Friday following the news, asking if there was anything he could do to help. He told the paper that Paula Broadwell responded, saying that her family was alright, and to look after their house.

Ed Williams told the New York Daily News that he is “proud to have her as a neighbor”, adding: “She is a very smart and accomplished woman.”

Of her alleged indiscretion, the 70-year-old Dilworth resident said: “Life will go on. Sometimes people make mistakes that pain their lives.”

Other members of the Charlotte community were hurt by the news of David Petraeus. At a Veteran’s Day parade, military service member Andy Wallace told Charlotte 14 News: “That’s a tough pill to swallow, not only for the military, but for America.”

Indiscretions aside, Paula Broadwell has a series of accomplishments under her belt. A graduate of West Point Academy, she went on to travel to Afghanistan and conduct research at Harvard.

The FBI discovered the relationship by monitoring David Petraeus’ emails, after investigators were alerted that Paula Broadwell may have had access to his personal email account, two of the officials said.

Paula Broadwell wrote in the preface to All In: The Education of General David Petraeus, published by Penguin in January, that while at Harvard, Petraeus passed along his card and offered to help her academic work on leadership.

The book’s ranking on Amazon.com jumped from 76,792 on Friday to 111 by midday Saturday.

“I later discovered that he was famous for this type of mentoring and networking, especially with aspiring soldier-scholars,” Paula Broadwell wrote.

She added: “I took full advantage of his open-door policy to seek insight and share perspectives.”

Paula Broadwell is a research associate at Harvard’s Center for Public Leadership and a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London, according to her biography on Penguin’s website.

According to The Bismarck Tribune, she grew up in North Dakota and moved to Charlotte, more than three years ago with her husband and their two young sons.