Missing Woman Found

This is a sad end to a story that you hoped would be different. Courtesy of the Chicago Tribune. My prayers go out to the family who always trusted in God and never gave up hope.
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chicagotribune.com

Body identified as Nailah Franklin's

Chicago police confirm it is that of missing woman's

By Angela Rozas and Monique Garcia

Tribune staff reporters

6:50 PM CDT, September 28, 2007

Dental records today identified the badly decomposed body of a woman found early Thursday in south suburban Calumet City as that of Nailah Franklin, the 28-year-old pharmaceutical representative reported missing more than a week ago, Chicago police said.

A woman's body was discovered naked and partially buried in a densely wooded area behind a vacant store about 4:45 a.m. Thursday by two Calumet City police officers on routine patrol, said police and a law enforcement source.

An autopsy was performed today on the badly decomposed body. Police, who are now conducting a death investigation, said the cause of death is "inconclusive."

Franklin's family released a statement about 4 p.m. today read by Rev. Stacey Edwards-Dunn outside the family's Chicago home.

"This statement confirms that the body found yesterday in Calumet City is that of Nailah Franklin. It was confirmed by dental records earlier today. The family would like to express its deepest gratitude to Chicago, Calumet City and other police departments plus the FBI agents, who so diligently worked to find Nailah. We would also like to thank the news media for coverage of Nailah's search.

"And very importantly, they expressed their thanks to the community for their search efforts, prayers and heartfelt expressions," the statement said.

The body was discovered after police officers noticed something unusual in the parking lot of the building and decided to investigate, said Calumet City Police Chief Russell Larson.

Larson would not say what it was that piqued the officers' interest.

"They paid attention to a very minute detail that most people would have walked past," Larson said.

A law enforcement source said it was ear buds from a portable music device.

Police had been combing the Calumet City area where the body was found since Saturday morning, when Franklin's company vehicle, a Chevrolet Impala, was found in nearby Hammond.

"Personal items" of hers then were discovered near an abandoned building not far from where the body eventually was found. On Wednesday, police used FBI equipment to go back over the area but didn't find anything.

Franklin, who worked for Eli Lilly & Co. and lived near the University of Illinois at Chicago campus, was reported missing after she didn't show up for a work meeting Sept. 19. Text messages from her phone on Sept. 18 said she was going to dinner and would call her family and boss back, but they never heard from her.

Police said Franklin told them a week prior to being reported missing that a man she briefly dated had been threatening her life, and she filed a police report. Police have talked to the man, who a law enforcement source said came with an attorney. But they have not named him as a suspect in her disappearance.

"Please continue sending your thoughts and prayers during this sorrowful time," the family statement said. "As they move forward, the family asks that you respect this time of mourning as they plan the celebration of Nailah's life—their sister, their daughter, their aunt, and their friend. She will be greatly be missed by all."

arozas@tribune.com

mcgarcia@tribune.com

Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune