It's been nearly two months since a suburban Brookfield woman disappeared, and now her family is hoping digital billboards will help locate the 53-year-old.
Erica Thompson was reported missing on Oct. 1 but police say she was last seen on Sept. 25, and listed as “endangered” in a news release issued on Oct. 5 by the Brookfield Police Department.
A local businessman recently contacted Brookfield police offering to put out a missing person’s message about Thompson on billboards throughout the Chicago area for free.
The plan is to have the digital billboard with her photo, rotated on 60 digital billboards in the Chicago area until the end of the year.
"It is unimaginable having your sister on a billboard but anything we can do to help find her," the victim's stister Dana Kujawski said.
Thompson’s son, Michael Russo, said that when he went to check on his mother, he found the back door of her home open with the air conditioning “running at full blast.” He said there were moldy dishes in the sink, and cat vomit was everywhere.
Russo said it was unlike his mother, a comptroller for a local company, to not show up at work, or check in with her family.
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“Just a lot of things that don’t add up and don’t make sense,” he said. “Not in her character.”
The Brookfield woman’s family told NBC 5 she lived alone after breaking up with her boyfriend. In the news release, police said they knocked on every door in the surrounding area, checked video footage and utilized several police K-9s.
Investigators added that Thompson’s phone traveled through several communities early Sept. 26.
Thompson’s vehicle is a dark purple 2014 Nissan Juke with Illinois license plate #E273380. Her son added that while it appears purple in the sun, the SUV normally looks faded black or brown on the road.
Anyone with information about her whereabouts is encouraged to contact Brookfield Police at 708-244-4862.
