According to officials, Brissa Romero, 17, of Carpentersville, was last seen Dec. 4 before heading to a holiday work party at Bowelro in Vernon Hills. Sandra Torres has more.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Vernon Hills and Carpentersville police Monday afternoon were seen searching a pond in the area where Romero's vehicle was last captured on traffic cameras. Latest updates here.
The family of Brissa Romero, a Carpentersville, Illinois teen who disappeared one week ago while on her way to a holiday party at a bowling alley in Vernon Hills, are asking those who live near the intersection where Romero was last seen to share security footage as their search for the 17-year-old continues.
"From what we know that she was driving alone up here, north, but we're trying to figure out if, by any chance, something happened where somebody was able to contact her during the drive," Dulce Romero, Brissa's sister said.
According to officials, Brissa was last seen by family members Dec. 4 before heading to a holiday work party at Bowlero in Vernon Hills. The last time Brissa was seen on surveillance video was also on Monday, in Schaumburg.
Police said officers conducted an extensive search Friday near the venue, where her phone last pinged.
No one at the party saw her, police said.
Relatives are asking anyone who lives, works or owns a business in the northwest suburbs to check their security video between 7 and 9 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 4.
When Brissa Romero went missing
"The Carpentersville Police Department continues actively searching for Brissa Romero, a 17-year-old female who has been missing for five days with no sightings or communication," a press release from the Carpentersville Police Department said Saturday.
The update added that Brissa's social media accounts showed no outgoing activity since Monday.
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According to officials, an "extensive search" for Romero's vehicle, which includes the use of drones and surveying local ponds, remains ongoing. Brissa's vehicle is described as a gray 2008 Nissan Rogue, with a sticker of a black coyote and Illinois license plate number CZ64618.
At a vigil Sunday night, relatives said Brissa's license plate was captured on a traffic camera near the area of Town Center Road and Milwaukee Avenue in Lincolnshire on the evening of Dec. 4
"That night, maybe there's something they can actually find that in the within their private cameras that the police don't have access to," Dulce said at the vigil "And please come forward. If there's any sort of information of Brissa's missing vehicle, or of herself."
As of Sunday night, the circumstances regarding Brissa's disappearance remained unknown.
When Brissa was last seen
Police said Romero was last seen on surveillance video Monday while visiting a family member in Des Plaines. According to authorities, said she doesn’t have a history of mental health challenges or running away from home.
“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.”
Rubi Romero said they lost her Brissa's location after 8 p.m.
“She’s currently in Harper College, she’s studying to be an ultrasound technician and all she does is literally just work. She has two jobs,” Rubi Romero said. “She goes to school, she’s a very hard-working and loving girl.”
At the vigil Sunday, Brissa's mother fought back tears as she pleaded for the community's help to find her daughter.
"I just want my daughter back," said Aguilera.
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.
