A body has been recovered from the Illinois retention pond where investigators earlier pulled a Nissan Rogue belonging to a teen girl who vanished earlier this month on her way to a work holiday party.
Authorities pulled a vehicle belonging to 17-year-old Brissa Romana on Monday, but there was no sign of the missing girl, as CrimeOnline reported earlier. Vernon Hills Police Chief Patrick L. Kreis said that it appeared the driver “failed to navigate a turn and went through the intersection, down the embankment into the pond.”
Police said the body found in the pond matches Romero’s description, but they’re awaiting “formal identification of the remain” from the Lake County Coroner’s Office, WMAQ reported.
“Video from a nearby fast food restaurant taken shortly before the phone’s last communication with area cell towers suggests Brissa was driving at the time, and there is currently no indication of foul play,” police said in a release.
Romero was headed to the party on December 4. She stopped at a cousin’s in Des Plaines at about 5:30 p.m. and left again after about an hour, WFLD said. She was seen at the fast food restaurant about 15 minutes before her cell phone last pinged in the area of the retention pond.
Authorities began an extensive ground and air search and began looking at the pond, near the interestion of Lakeview Parkway and Executive Way, on Monday. Once on scene, a resident approached an officer and pointed out a backpack she’d seen on the shore of the pond, which turned out to belong to Romero.
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[Featured image: Brissa Romero/handout]
