Update: A statement provided by Baker's family to NBC Chicago on Wednesday said in part "we are deeply saddened to confirm that our beloved Rena has passed away. At this time, we kindly request that our wish for privacy be respected as we navigate this tragic loss." Our original story continues below.
The family of a missing woman is pleading for answers after her vehicle was discovered by police with a body inside on Tuesday morning.
“I tried to tell everybody that something had happened, because I knew this wasn’t like her,” the woman's ex-husband Christian Bowie told NBC Chicago.
Bowie is desperate for answers as the mother of his two children, Rena Baker, has been missing for nearly a week.
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On Tuesday, police found her car abandoned near the intersection of 94th Street and LaSalle Street. The mystery surrounding her disappearance has now taken a darker turn.
“We need her. I can’t raise two kids on my own. I can’t," Bowie said. “It’s been real for me. I haven’t been able to sleep. I’ve been driving all over two states trying to find her.”
Rena comes from a close family, who all came together Monday to beg the public for help in finding her, consoling each other as they were all visibly shaken by her absence.
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Nicole Brevard, Rena’s aunt, spoke to her the day she mysteriously vanished.
“We talked for about ten minutes and she said she was heading to a friend's house," said Brevard. "That was the last time I talked to my niece.”
Rena’s brother explained she was heading to her home in Roseland at around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday night.
On Thursday afternoon, she never came to pick up her son from school.
“I actually contacted her several times, texted her, called her because she is one of the most reliable people I have ever met in my entire life," Bowie told NBC Chicago. "She doesn’t miss—She lives her entire life on a schedule. She doesn’t do anything different.”
