12 December 2023 , 11:53
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Police are stepping up their search for a missing teenager whose car was found abandoned in a pond - with questions remaining over her disappearance.
Brissa Romero, 17, vanished on December 4 after she was travelling to a bowling alley for a Christmas party. She was last spotted in Vemon Hills, 45 miles north of Chicago, according to police, after CCTV footage at a local restaurant showed Brissa parking her car and entering the eatery by herself.
However, on Monday, investigators revealed they had discovered her badly damaged Nissan Rogue SUV in a pond after mobile phone data and a backpack led them to the area.
Brissa's heartbroken family has offered a $14,000 (£11,000) reward for any information that leads to her return. Brissa's sister, Dulce Romero, still believe their little sister, the youngest or five siblings, will be found. "The vehicle has no body inside. They will be searching the pond and to see if Brissa's body is in there. Until now, in my heart, I still believe she's out there," Dulce said.
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The 17-year-old was due at a Xmas party (Carpentersville Police Department)Where was she going?
Brissa was on her way to a bowling alley in Vernon Hills when she disappeared. She had gone to her cousin's house in Des Plaines when she left to attend a holiday party at around 7pm. The teen never showed up.
"Nothing was going through. Nobody, none of our cousins, none of her friends, none of our family was going through her phone, nothing was ringing. And it was alarming. We were like, 'This is weird,'" her older sister Dulce said.
The car was pulled out of the pond (cbsnews)Investigators said CCTV cameras at the bowling alley did not show the teen entering the venue, which confirmed she never made it to the party.
Her family also released survelliance footage of her at work, where she is seen grabbing her iPad before heading to the bowling alley.
What was her last message to family?
Brissa was well-known to reguarly interact with her friends and family, while informing them of her whereabouts. However, her social media accounts have showed no outgoing activity since she vanished on December 4.
Brissa's family have pleaded for her return (cbsnews)“One thing about our family, we all share our locations with our parents,” Jocelyn Rubi Romero told NBC Chicago last week. “She called my mom at 6.55pm and said she was on the way over here, and my mom kept looking at her location, and she was heading over here, but around the time that she arrived, she did not call my mom.”
Why was a backpack floating on the pond?
A nearby resident spotted a backpack floating on the edge of the pond, which concerned them. They called the police who later discovered the backpack beloned to Brissa, as additional crews were brought in to search the area following anayslis of mobile phone data which led teams to a retention pond in Venron Hills.
The teenager's backpack was also foundHow was the car found?
After emergency crews were called to the pond after the discovery of the backpack and mobile phone data, Brissa's badly damaged Nissan Rogue SUV was pulled from the water just before 4pm on Monday. Cops believe the car travelled nearly 60ft into the pond, before sinking in an area that is 20 feet deep.
Information from investigators indicates that she may have been unfamiliar with the area. It is a T-shaped intersection where the driver must turn right or left to remain on the road. However, it is thought Brissa drive through the intersection, down an embankment and into the pond.
A local resident spotted her backpack which led to the car's discovery (Beto Vago/Facebook)According to authorities, based on the condition of the vehicle, it was believed she was in the car when it plummeted into the water, but her body has not been recovered.
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"Even though we have not found Brissa in this vehicle at this point, it's our belief that we need to continue to search this pond, and that is really the sole efforts of our search at this point," Vernon Hills Police Chief Patrick Kreis said.