Authorities believe they have recovered the body of an Illinois teenager who went missing last week and whose SUV was found Monday submerged in a pond.
Brissa Romero, 17, has been missing since Dec. 4, when she failed to show up to a holiday party in Vernon Hills, a community north of Chicago and about 17 miles east of the teen’s home in Carpentersville, Vernon Hills police said in a statement.
A body was found Tuesday in the same retention pond where authorities found Romero’s Nissan Rogue a day earlier, police said.
“While formal identification of the remains is pending confirmation by the Lake County Coroner’s Office, the deceased female recovered from the pond matches Brissa’s description,” police said. “No further leads relating to Brissa’s whereabouts are being pursued at this time.”
There is no indication of foul play, police said, adding that the investigation into what caused the crash will continue.
Investigators searched the pond after cellphone data placed the phone near the body of water. A backpack with Romero’s identifying information were found along the shore, police said.
A preliminary probe determined the Rogue was accidentally driven into the pond after the driver failed to safely maneuver a T-intersection, police said. Video from a nearby fast-food restaurant, police said, indicates the teen was driving shortly before her cellphone lost contact with nearby cellphone towers.
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