Authorities searching a suburban retention pond for a 17-year-old Carpentersville girl who went missing on her way to a work holiday party suspended their efforts on Monday evening, hours after the teen's vehicle was located in the body of water.
In a Facebook post, the Vernon Hills Police Department said search operations for 17-year-old Brissa Romero had been suspended and are scheduled to resume in the morning.
According to authorities, new cell phone data analysis led officers investigating the disappearance of Romero to the pond located at Lakeview Parkway and Executive Way in Vernon Hills on Monday.
Once there, an officer was approached by a resident who had discovered a backpack floating in the water. Authorities said the backpack belonged to Romero and an intense search then began.
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.
"We are going to continue every effort to do that," said Vernon Hills Police Chief Patrick Kreis in a press conference on Monday.
According to officials, Romero's vehicle was described as 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.
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According to her family, 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."
"This is an ongoing investigation, and the public is requested to avoid the area," the village said in a post on social media.
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.
"We searched for her in every way possible," said Carpentersville Police Chief Todd Shaver.
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.
“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 6:55 p.m. 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.”
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.
Rubi Romero said they lost Brissa Romero's location after 8 p.m.
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.
With no body recovered, Romero's family said they still have hope.
"In my heart I still believe that she's out there," Dulce Romero said, "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.
