The search for 17-year-old Brissa Romero, who went missing on her way to a work holiday party in Carpentersville, Illinois, was suspended on Monday evening. However, the search is scheduled to resume in the morning after her vehicle was located in a retention pond in Vernon Hills.
The Vernon Hills Police Department posted on Facebook that new cell phone data analysis led officers to the pond located at Lakeview Parkway and Executive Way in Vernon Hills. Once there, a resident approached an officer with a backpack that belonged to Romero. This prompted an intense search of the area.
Hours later, a vehicle matching the one Romero was driving the night she went missing was pulled from the water, but police said no body was recovered. Vernon Hills Police Chief Patrick Kreis said in a press conference that they would continue to make every effort to find Romero.
According to officials, Romero’s vehicle was a gray 2008 Nissan Rogue, with a sticker of a black coyote and Illinois license plate number CZ64618. Police said they believe Romero was driving the vehicle at the time it went into the pond, citing newly discovered surveillance footage from a fast food restaurant just over a mile from the scene. The footage showed Romero parking her vehicle at the restaurant, entering the building and exiting alone before she got back into car and continued driving.
Romero was heading to a work holiday party at Bowlero in Vernon Hills when she went missing on Dec. 4. Family members had said the 17-year-old was last captured on traffic cameras in the same area where her vehicle was found – near Town Center Road and Milwaukee Avenue.
The village of Vernon Hills confirmed its police and Carpentersville police had “refined their search area for missing Brissa Romero” and were “on scene in the area of Executive Way and Lakeview Parkway in Vernon Hills, IL.” They asked the public to avoid the area as the investigation is ongoing.
Carpentersville police said officers conducted an extensive search near the venue, where her phone last pinged. Search efforts were ongoing Monday as authorities said they continued to look for additional surveillance footage or witnesses, even after the vehicle was found.
No one at the party saw Romero the night she disappeared, police said. Police also noted that Romero’s social media accounts showed no outgoing activity since last Monday. Her family said they all share their locations with their parents, and Romero had called her mother at 6:55 p.m. to say she was on the way to the party. However, her location was lost after 8 p.m.
Prior to Monday’s discovery, surveillance cameras captured one of the final images of Romero before her disappearance as she returned to work in Schaumburg to retrieve her iPad around 7 p.m. that evening.
According to authorities, Romero doesn’t have a history of mental health challenges or running away from home. As of Monday, the circumstances regarding Romero’s disappearance remained unknown.
Romero’s family said they still have hope that she will be found. Her sister, Dulce Romero, said, “In my heart I still believe that she’s out there. But for now we’ll just be with keep investigating and we will find her.”
Anyone who may have security video that could assist police in their investigation is asked to call the Carpentersville Police Department at 847-551-3481.
The search for 17-year-old Brissa Romero has been suspended for the evening, but authorities are determined to continue their efforts to find her. The family of Romero still has hope that she will be found and are asking for the public’s help in providing any information that could assist in the investigation.
