Editor's Note: Police have pulled a body from a retention pond in Vernon Hills. The latest update can be found here. Our original story continues below.
The search for Brissa Romero, a 17-year-old Carpentersville girl who went missing last week on her way to a holiday party, is expected to resume Tuesday morning after authorities on Monday discovered Romero's car in a retention pond in Vernon Hills, police said.
Authorities announced the discovery of Romero's car in the retention pond near Lakeview Parkway and Executive Way Monday afternoon during a press conference, saying officers investigating the disappearance of Romero discovered evidence that led them to the pond.
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 said during the press conference. Authorities halted search efforts early Monday evening, citing difficult weather conditions. Those efforts were set to resume around 8 a.m. Tuesday.
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Police said evidence showed Brissa was inside of the car when it went into the water, adding that they believe she may have been unfamiliar with the area and drove her car off the road and into the water.
"From the preliminary review of what happened, it really appears like this is a case where a driver unfamiliar with the area failed to navigate a turn and went through the intersection down an embankment in into the pond," Kreis said.
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Police also said they discovered surveillance footage from a fast food restaurant just over a mile from the scene, showing Romero parking her vehicle at the restaurant, entering the building and exiting alone before she got back into car and continued driving.
According to officials, Brissa was at the fast food restaurant approximately 15 minutes before her last phone ping.
Romero's vehicle was described as a gray 2008 Nissan Rogue, with a sticker of a black coyote and Illinois license plate number CZ64618.
When did Brissa Romero go missing?
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.
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 said during Monday's press conference.
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.
