Nailah Franklin: Family Fears Foul Play In Woman's Disappearance

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Family Fears Foul Play In Woman's Disappearance

-- Woman Feared Sleeping In Her Home --

NBC5 - POSTED: 10:42 pm CDT September 20, 2007 - UPDATED: 7:19 am CDT September 21, 2007

CHICAGO -- The family of a missing 28-year-old woman said Thursday they feared for her safety.

Police said Thursday they were looking for Nailah Franklin, who worked for the Eli Lilly drug company. Family and friends said they became concerned when Franklin failed to show up for an important business meeting. They told NBC5's Rob Elgas that they feared foul play.

Franklin's friends and family also said she almost always used her cell phone, but that suddenly stopped.

Police said they were interested in a man Franklin told friends was threatening her last week, Elgas reported. Franklin was so scared, her friends added, that she did not want to sleep in her home, and she also filed a police report. Police did not comment much on that man, but said they were interested in talking to him.

"I do believe that she is alive and we just have to find her," said Lehia Franklin Cox, Nailah's sister. "I do think she is in distress."

Franklin Cox added that, "I don't allow myself to think too much about what could be." .....

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http://www.nbc5.com/news/14169416/detail.html

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Businesswoman missing since Tuesday evening

CHICAGO TRIBUNE - Tribune staff report - September 21, 2007

CHICAGO - Police have launched a missing persons investigation for a 28-year-old Chicago woman last heard from earlier this week.

Nailah Franklin, a pharmaceutical representative for Eli Lilly & Co., was last seen Sunday evening, Sgt. Virginia Zic said.

Franklin, who lives in the 1500 block of South Sangamon Street, was last heard from about 8:15 p.m. Tuesday when she sent a text message to her boyfriend, who lives in Milwaukee, Zic said.

Franklin is African-American and described as about 5 feet 2 inches tall, weighing 110 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes, according to a police alert. She drives a company-owned gray 2005 Chevrolet sedan with Illinois license plate 1957855, police said.

Businesswoman missing since Tuesday evening

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Police Find Missing Chicago Woman's Car Near Abandoned Building

FOX NEWS - Saturday, September 22, 2007

CHICAGO — Police have stepped up their search for a missing pharmaceutical company sales representative after finding the 28-year-old woman's car near an abandoned building.

Nailah Franklin was last heard from Tuesday, when she sent an uncharacteristically vague text message to friends and family saying that she was having dinner and that she'd call later. She never did.

Franklin's sister, Lehia Franklin Acox, said the family is trying to stay positive as police search the 2005 Chevrolet Impala for clues that could shed light on her disappearance.

Being positive "is our only option," Acox said Saturday afternoon ahead of a prayer vigil that evening.

"We're all just trying to keep our spirits up, but it's a challenge," she said.

"This is really taking a toll on us, with every day that passes. We're not sleeping well, we're not eating well," she said.

When Franklin didn't turn up for an important meeting Wednesday morning with her boss at Eli Lilly and Co., where she's a pharmaceutical sales representative, co-workers called family, and family called police. Eli Lilly is based in Indianapolis. Franklin's sales territory covered Chicago's suburbs, her sister said.

Acox said it's unusual for Franklin not to contact her friends or family, leading them all to fear that she didn't leave willingly. Last week, Franklin filed a police report about threatening phone calls she'd received, but she declined to file an order of protection against the alleged offender, a man she'd once dated.

Franklin's car, along with some personal items, was found Friday night near an abandoned building in Hammond, Ind., said Chicago Police spokeswoman Monique Bond. She said the car is being transported to Chicago for forensic and evidence processing.

Several jurisdictions, including Chicago, Hammond, Ind., and the Cook County Sheriff's department are searching for Franklin, Bond said. Divers have also been involved in the search.

Acox said the discovery of the car was heartening because it could yield some clue to Franklin's whereabouts, but "on the other hand, it's still maddening because we do not have (her) back with us."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,297720,00.html

Nailah Franklin -- handout photo

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Cops: Missing woman had complained of calls

CHICAGO TRIBUNE - By Mary Owen and Angela Rozas - Tribune staff reporters - September 22, 2007

Nailah Franklin spent last weekend visiting her boyfriend in Milwaukee and attending a wedding in Lake Geneva before returning to Chicago Sunday night.

Her boyfriend, Andre Wright, said she arrived back home at 8 p.m. and they spoke twice that night. On Monday evening, Wright said, Franklin, 28, was relaxing at home as they chatted on the telephone about their day.

"She was fine," Wright said. "She was her normal, cheerful self."

Franklin's boyfriend was the last of her family and friends to have seen the Eli Lilly and Co. pharmaceutical representative, who has been missing since Tuesday.

Chicago police are trying to speak with many people, including a man they believe made threatening calls to Franklin within the last two weeks. A different woman filed two orders of protection against the man Sept. 12 and 18, according to a source and court records.

Franklin filed a police report last week regarding the calls. Detectives encouraged her to also file an order of protection against the man, but she didn't, said Sgt. Virginia Zic-Schlomas, head of the Special Victims Unit at the Harrison District police station.

Franklin casually dated the man before she met her current boyfriend in June, family members said. "We don't know if the [threatening calls have] anything to do with this," her sister Lehia Franklin A. Cox said.

Wright, who first met Franklin this summer at an art gallery event in Chicago, said Franklin never mentioned the man until the phone calls started. He said the man called multiple times and she did not call him back.

Two friends last spoke to her Tuesday, and three people -- her boss, boyfriend and youngest sister -- received a vague text message that night stating she was at dinner and would call them later, her family said.

She never called. .....

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Cops: Missing woman had complained of calls

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Police Find Missing Chicago Woman's Car Near Abandoned Building

FOX NEWS - Saturday, September 22, 2007

CHICAGO — Police have stepped up their search for a missing pharmaceutical company sales representative after finding the 28-year-old woman's car near an abandoned building.

Nailah Franklin was last heard from Tuesday, when she sent an uncharacteristically vague text message to friends and family saying that she was having dinner and that she'd call later. She never did.

Franklin's sister, Lehia Franklin Acox, said the family is trying to stay positive as police search the 2005 Chevrolet Impala for clues that could shed light on her disappearance.

Being positive "is our only option," Acox said Saturday afternoon ahead of a prayer vigil that evening.

"We're all just trying to keep our spirits up, but it's a challenge," she said.

"This is really taking a toll on us, with every day that passes. We're not sleeping well, we're not eating well," she said. .....

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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,297720,00.html

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Missing Chicago woman’s family says staying positive is their ’only option’

NORTHWEST HERALD - Saturday, September 22, 2007

CHICAGO (AP) — Nailah Franklin’s sister says their family is just trying to stay positive.

Even as the days pass with no word from the 28-year-old pharmaceutical sales representative. Even as Chicago police retrieve her car from Hammond, Ind. — a place to which her sister has no known ties.

Lehia Franklin Acox, Franklin’s sister, says being positive “is our only option.”

“We’re all just trying to keep our spirits up, but it’s a challenge,” Acox said Saturday afternoon ahead of a prayer vigil that evening.

“This is really taking a toll on us, with every day that passes. We’re not sleeping well, we’re not eating well.”

Franklin was last heard from Tuesday, when she sent an uncharacteristically vague text message to friends and family saying that she was having dinner and that she’d call later. She never did.

When she didn’t turn up for an important meeting Wednesday morning with her boss at Eli Lilly and Co., where she’s a pharmaceutical sales representative, co-workers called family, and family called police. Eli Lilly is based in Indianapolis. Franklin’s sales territory covered Chicago’s suburbs, her sister said. .....

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Missing Chicago woman’s family says staying positive is their ’only option’

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Chicago area police step up search for woman

-- Drug company sales representative last seen Tuesday; car found in Indiana --

MSNBC - AP - Updated: 8:49 p.m. ET Sept. 22, 2007 -

MSNBC - VIDEO - Foul play suspected in disappearance
Sept. 22: The family of a missing Chicago woman suspects foul play has led to her disappearance. MSNBC's Alex Witt reports.

CHICAGO - Chicago area police have stepped up their search for a missing Eli Lilly & Co. sales representative after finding her car near an abandoned building in Hammond, Ind.

Nailah Franklin was last heard from Tuesday, when she sent an uncharacteristically vague text message to friends and family saying that she was having dinner and that she'd call later. She never called.

When Franklin didn't turn up for an important meeting Wednesday morning with her boss at Lilly, co-workers at the Indianapolis-based drug company called her family, and the family called police. .....

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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20925082/

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Authorities continue investigation in case of missing woman

ABC7 CHICAGO - By Evelyn Holmes - VIDEO -

September 23, 2007 - The search has intensified for a missing Chicago woman. The 28-year-old's car was found on a street in Hammond, Indiana, but there was no sign of her.

Trinity United Church of Christ, on the city's South Side, dedicated its Sunday evening service to Nailah Franklin, who was last seen Tuesday.

"Nailah, she's coming home that I do know. When? That's not my call. That's God's call. He's in control of this," said Dwayne Johnson, the missing woman's uncle.

Chicago police have a team of forensic investigators searching Nailah Franklin's car for clues on her whereabouts.

ABC7 Chicago spoke with the man who found Franklin's Chevrolet Impala. At first, Hammond Indiana resident Jim Neveau didn't know what he had found when he saw the car. The disabled truck driver says he noticed the car Tuesday as he took his usual walk to a nearby gas station.

"All four windows were down and it was dusty, and there was stuff in the car," he said.

It wasn't until Friday while watching the evening news that Neveau realized that the vehicle could belong to missing Chicago woman Nailah Franklin.

"I said, 'Let me go down and check the plate number, and it was the car. It was the first time I'd heard the plate number, and I found it," Neveau said.

Chicago police investigators towed the car into the city Saturday to process it for evidence, just hours before police divers spent a portion of Saturday morning searching a Cook County forest preserve pond in south suburban Calumet City.

Authorities will not say if they found anything in the car, but relatives say detectives did locate some of Franklin's jewelry, and possibly, one of her missing laptop computers. .....

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http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?sec...cal&id=5671516

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Hunt goes on for missing woman

-- MISSING WOMAN | Car, personal effects found in Hammond; divers search pond --

CHICAGO SUN TIMES - BY DAVE NEWBART, MITCH DUDEK, AND MONIFA THOMAS Staff Reporters - September 23, 2007

There was still no sign of a 28-year-old University Village woman, missing since Tuesday, after police found her abandoned car in Indiana, police said Saturday.

The woman's car -- a 2005 Chevy Impala -- was found Friday night, outside an abandoned building in Hammond, Chicago Police said. Inside the company car assigned to Nailah Franklin, police found some of her "personal effects,'' spokeswoman Monique Bond said.

Franklin's last contact with friends and family was through text messages allegedly sent Tuesday.

A Hammond man who regularly walks past the place where the car was found said he first noticed the car Tuesday night. But it wasn't until Friday, while watching an evening newscast, that Jim Neveau began to suspect the vehicle was Franklin's.

"I memorized the plate numbers and walked back to the car to check it out, and they were the same," Neveau said Saturday. He said he had a friend call the news station, which then contacted police.

Police towed the car to Chicago to process it for "forensics and evidence processing," Bond said .....

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Hunt goes on for missing woman

John-Ashton Allen, brother of Nailah Franklin, stands
with other relatives and friends during a memorial and
march on Saturday night. (Chris Sweda/Sun-Times)

Nailah Franklin, 28, was last heard from Tuesday. (AP)

Sisters of Nailah Franklin: Ashlee Allen, Ashley Chapelle
and Marina Franklin reflect during a candlelight vigil in
front of Nailah's home off of Halsted Street.
(Chris Sweda/Sun-Times)

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Missing woman's car found in Hammond

BY KIRSTEN SRINIVASAN - kirsten.srinivasan@nwitimes.com - Sunday, September 23, 2007 12:01 AM CDT

A missing Chicago woman's car was found Friday night in Hammond, and divers searched a Calumet City pond looking for the woman on Saturday morning.

Jim Neveau, 47, of Hammond, said he spotted Nailah Franklin's car parked near Blaine Avenue and Kenwood Street in Hammond.

When the 28-year-old pharmaceutical sales representative didn't turn up for an important meeting Wednesday morning with her boss at Eli Lilly and Co., co-workers called family, and family called police. Eli Lilly is based in Indianapolis. Franklin's sales territory covered Chicago's suburbs, her sister said.

Neveau first noticed the black Chevy Impala with all four windows rolled down on Tuesday evening, he said, and after hearing about Franklin's disappearance on the news on Friday night, he checked the license plate and called police.

"I just hope they find her alive," he said. "I was so glad when they opened the trunk ... that she wasn't in there."

The car was dusty, but other than a few white paint scrapes, the car didn't show any obvious signs of trouble, Neveau said.

The car was parked in front of a house at 6311 Blaine Ave., which neighbors said had been vacant for a few months.

Several jurisdictions including Chicago and Hammond police and Cook County sheriff's and forest preserve officers are searching for Franklin, Chicago police spokeswoman Monique Bond said. The FBI also has been involved.

As part of the investigation, authorities searched a small lagoon about 10 a.m. Saturday at the River Oaks Golf Course property at 1 Park Ave. in Calumet City, Calumet City police Investigator Marco Glumac said. .....

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Missing woman's car found in Hammond

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MISSING WOMAN

BET.COM - By Ed Wiley III, BET.com Staff Writer

UPDATED Sept. 24, 2007 - Family and friends of a Nailah Franklin held a prayer vigil in Chicago this weekend as police continue combing through clues for what happened to the 28-year-old pharmaceutical sales rep.

Meanwhile, police found the woman’s car near an abandoned building on Saturday.

Franklin, who has been missing since last Tuesday, is about 5 feet 2 inches tall, weighs 110 pounds, and has brown hair and brown eyes and works for Eli Lilly & Co. Police say she left text messages for friends and family, which were both vague and uncharacteristic, saying she was having dinner and that she’d call later.

Earlier, TV station CBS2 in Chicago told police that Franklin's friend, Dana McClellan, told police that Franklin had been receiving phone messages from a man she once dated. "I heard it, I heard the message," said McClellan. She said the message contained the following: "Basically 'I could do harm to you. You haven't seen that side, of me but I do have a bad side, and I could do harm to you.'"

Franklin's sister, Lehia Franklin Acox, said the family is trying to stay positive as police search Franklin’s 2005 Chevrolet Impala for fingerprints and other clues. “Our only option” is to remain positive, Acox told The Associated Press shortly before the vigil. "We're all just trying to keep our spirits up, but it's a challenge," she said. "This is really taking a toll on us, with every day that passes. We're not sleeping well, we're not eating well.”

Franklin lives in the 1500 block of South Sangamon Street. According to CBS2 in Chicago, “she is bright, beautiful and successful, living in a nice building in the trendy new neighborhood near the University of Illinois at Chicago. The last thing her family and friends expected was for her to just disappear.” .....

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MISSING WOMAN

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Prayer is part of effort to find Chicago woman

CHICAGO TRIBUNE - By Jeff Long Tribune staff reporter - September 24, 2007 - VIDEO -

With no new developments in the case of a Chicago woman who has been missing since Tuesday, the family of Nailah Franklin turned for spiritual help from their South Side church Sunday as they held out hope that she would be found alive.

"We need to keep this front and center," said Franklin's sister, Lehia Franklin Acox, as the family prepared Sunday for a 6 p.m. service at Trinity United Church of Christ on West 95th Street, where Franklin is part of the 8,000-member congregation.

Police continued to investigate the case, but said they had no new information to release Sunday. Among the leads are threatening calls Franklin received in the last two weeks. The man who allegedly made those calls, whom police have not publicly identified, had orders of protection filed against him by another woman on Sept. 12 and 18, according to court records and a source.

Pastor Otis Moss was expected to deliver a special prayer for Franklin and her family during the evening service Sunday at Trinity United.

Franklin's sister said that friends and relatives have been asking churches across the area to spread the word about the ongoing search for clues, and to offer prayers.

"It really did my heart good that Nailah's name was being offered up for prayers," Acox said.

Franklin, 28, an Eli Lilly and Co. pharmaceutical representative, has been missing since Tuesday, after spending the weekend with her boyfriend in Milwaukee and attending a wedding in Lake Geneva. Police have said the boyfriend, Andre Wright of Milwaukee, is not a suspect in the case.

"He seems to care for my sister a lot," Acox said. "He has been handing out fliers, and he's calling hospitals. .....

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Prayer is part of effort to find Chicago woman

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Family embraced in prayer

-- Church asks for help in finding woman --

CHICAGO TRIBUNE - By Kristen Kridel and Jeff Long Tribune staff reporters - September 24, 2007

Hundreds of people stretched their arms out Sunday evening over the family of Nailah Franklin. Palms flat, they closed their eyes and prayed with the pastor of her South Side church.

"You have better than 20/20 vision," Rev. Otis Moss III, pastor at Trinity United Church of Christ, said in prayer. "We come now asking you to dispatch your angels. Send them to bring our sister Nailah back home."

With no new developments in the case of the 28-year-old Chicago woman, who has been missing since Tuesday, Franklin's family turned for spiritual help from fellow worshipers as they held out hope that she would be found alive.

"It really did my heart good that Nailah's name was being offered up for prayers," said Franklin's sister, Lehia Franklin Acox.

Police, who continue to investigate, said they had no new information to release Sunday.

Among the leads are threatening calls Franklin received in the last two weeks. The caller, whom police have not identified publicly, had orders of protection filed against him by another woman on Sept. 12 and 18, according to court records and a source.

Moss challenged those listening to the church service, which was attended by at least 800 and broadcast on the Internet and radio, not to go a single day without praying for Franklin and her family.

"We want to pray to the one whose eyes see from everlasting to everlasting," the pastor said. "Something happens when we pray together." .....

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Family embraced in prayer

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Family keeps hopes up

-- S. SIDE | Search pressed for missing woman --

BY ART GOLAB Staff Reporter agolab@suntimes.com - September 24, 2007

On Sunday -- the fifth day since 28-year-old Nailah Franklin's disappearance -- her friends and family gathered at her South Side church to pray, pass out yellow ribbons and express hope she is still alive.

Though there was no further news about Franklin since her abandoned car was found Friday in Hammond, Ind., family members said they see the car being found as a good sign.

"The car gives us more hope. That's just one step we don't have to go back over," Franklin's uncle Dwayne Johnson said just before the evening prayer service at Trinity United Church of Christ.

The family had spent the day with more than 100 volunteers passing out fliers at other churches and at major South Side intersections.

"This is our time to show solidarity with each other and to pray for Nailah's safe return," said Franklin's sister Lehia Franklin Acox.

As members entered the church, Franklin's family and friends passed out yellow ribbons. .....

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Family keeps hopes up

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Church holds prayer vigil for missing woman - 28-year-old's car found in Indiana

ABC7 CHICAGO - By Evelyn Holmes - VIDEO -

September 24, 2007 - A South Side congregation held a prayer vigil for a 28-year-old woman who last seen on Tuesday.

Trinity United Church of Christ, which is located at 400 W. 95th Street, prayed for Nailah Franklin to return safely.

"Nailah, she's coming home that I do know. When? That's not my call. That's God's call. He's in control of this," said Dwayne Johnson, the missing woman's uncle.

Franklin's car was found in Hammond, Indiana, this weekend. But there was no sign of her.

Police also searched a pond in Calumet City after some of her personal belongings were found nearby. .....

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http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?sec...cal&id=5672006

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NBC5 - VIDEO - Missing Woman's Family Prays - September - 24 - 2007

As newfound evidence is reviewed by police, Nailah Franklin's family prays for her safe return.

http://video.nbc5.com/player/?id=159686

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Police Search Lakeshore For Missing Woman

CBS2 CHICAGO - Joanie Lum - Sep 24, 2007 9:16 am US/Central

(CBS) CHICAGO - Chicago police are scouring the Lake Michigan shoreline Monday morning in the search for a Chicago woman who has been missing for nearly a week.

It was a very difficult weekend for the family of a missing Chicago woman.

CBS 2's Joanie Lum that hundreds of people close to Nailah Franklin spent the weekend handing out flyers and praying for her safe return. On Monday, Chicago police began performing "surface searches" on all 27 miles of local shoreline.

The police Marine Unit has been using boats to perform "surface searches" from Evanston to Calumet Harbor, Ind. on and near the Lake Michigan shoreline, according to Marine Unit Sgt. Robert Fitzsimmons on Monday morning.

"With the boat we run a couple hundred yards off shore, by the bricks and boulders, where you can’t see," according to the sergeant. "We haven’t done actual dives."

The process has been made "a little harder" because searchers don’t have an exact address of where the woman was last seen. Fitzsimmons could not confirm a report the woman’s purse was found in Chicago.

Meanwhile, in the University Village neighborhood where Nailah Franklin has a condo, there are signs, pictures and yellow ribbons posted everywhere for the missing woman. .....

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http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/lo...267080755.html

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Marine Unit searches shoreline for missing woman

S. SIDE | Search pressed for missing woman

CHICAGO SUN TIMES - FROM STNG WIRE REPORTS - September 24, 2007

The Chicago Police Marine Unit has been performing "surface searches" on all 27 miles of local shoreline for a missing Chicago woman whose car was found in Hammond, Ind. over the weekend.

The police Marine Unit has been using boats to perform "surface searches" from Evanston to Calumet Harbor, Ind. on and near the Lake Michigan shoreline, about 27 miles, according to Marine Unit Sgt. Robert Fitzsimmons on Monday morning.

"With the boat we run a couple hundred yards off shore, by the bricks and boulders, where you can’t see," according to the sergeant. "We haven’t done actual dives." .....

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Marine Unit searches shoreline for missing woman

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Hunt intensifies for missing woman

SOUTH SIDE | Cops tap FBI resources, seek info on date who made threatening calls

BY ANNIE SWEENEY Crime Reporter asweeney@suntimes.com - September 25, 2007

High-tech equipment from federal authorities will be brought in to assist police in the investigation into a missing Chicago businesswoman, officials said Monday.

Nailah Franklin, 28, was reported missing Sept. 19. Since then a pond in Calumet City has been searched and her car was recovered in Hammond.

Now Chicago Police are using FBI resources and equipment to further the search.

Awaiting tests from car
Finding out what happened to Franklin will depend largely on physical evidence, sources said. Detectives were still waiting for forensic tests to be finished on Franklin's car. They also were tracing Franklin's last steps and checking security tapes from her condominium building in the 1500 block of South Sangamon.

Two laptops were missing from the condo: her work and her personal computer, her family said. .....

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Hunt intensifies for missing woman

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Family steps up its search for missing star

Police follow leads in hunt for woman who is 'larger than life'

CHICAGO TRIBUNE - By Angela Rozas | Tribune staff reporter - September 25, 2007 - VIDEO

She is her family's "it girl." The life of the party, the first to push her sisters to go to a spa, to take a trip, to do something fun.

Five days after reporting Nailah Franklin missing, her family members say their sister's energy and fighting spirit are helping them have faith she could still be alive.

"We all believe our girl, Nailah, is such a strong fighter. She's somewhere hurt and is alive and kicking and waiting for us to get to her," her sister Lehia Franklin Acox said Monday as she and other family members passed out fliers in downtown Chicago. .....

EXCERPT: A graduate of Homewood-Flossmoor High School who earned a bachelor's degree in advertising at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Nailah's name literally means "one who succeeds," said her sister, Marina Franklin.

Franklin, who has four siblings, took her first job after college in 2001 as an assistant advertising executive at Leo Burnett. She worked for five years at the company."She was an incredibly sharp, smart, dynamic person, a successful businesswoman," said her boss, account director Cindy Blikre. "She had really so much to offer ... has so much to offer the world."

After Leo Burnett, Franklin went to work for Eli Lilly as a pharmaceutical saleswoman, a job she loved, her sisters said. She is a conscientious worker, who kept on top of details and never would have missed a company meeting, her family said.

She was last seen Sept. 16 after she spent the weekend with her boyfriend of three months and attended a friend's wedding. Police have said her boyfriend is not believed to be involved in her disappearance.

Text messages from her phone sent to family said she was having dinner Tuesday and would call them back. Nobody heard from her again. Her personal and work laptops were missing from her West Loop condominium, but a security key she needed for her work computer had been left. There was no sign of a struggle, her family said.

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Family steps up its search for missing star

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Search continues for missing woman

-- Police question woman's ex-boyfriend --

ABC7 CHICAGO - VIDEO

September 25, 2007 - As the search continues for a Chicago woman who disappeared one week ago today, police question a man in connection to her disappearance.

Nailah Franklin -- 28-year-old pharmaceuticals sales rep -- disappeared last Tuesday.

Chicago police say they brought Franklin's ex-boyfriend in for questioning Monday night and sent him home following that interview. Police are not calling him a suspect.

A few days before she disappeared, Franklin filed a police report saying she had been receiving threatening phone calls from a man she used to date. .....

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Search continues for missing woman

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Nailah Franklin's brother, "she is always happy."

WQAD - Posted 9/24/2007 5:50p - by Kristy Mergenthal

MOLINE, Illinois -- Friends and family last saw Nailah six days ago and her brother living in Moline hopes the Quad Cities can help find his sister.

Nailah's only brother John Ashton Allen smoothing out the tape on her missing posters, one of thousands hanging in Illinois.

"I know Nailah is still alive and wherever she is or whoever has her we just want her home."

Described as a fun loving big sister John says Nailah is always happy making sure he never felt left out being the only brother.

"She just kind of always makes you feel better whenever she's around" said John. .....

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Nailah Franklin's brother, "she is always happy."

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Family embraced in prayer

-- Church asks for help in finding woman --

CHICAGO TRIBUNE - By Kristen Kridel and Jeff Long | Tribune staff reporters - September 24, 2007

Hundreds of people stretched their arms out Sunday evening over the family of Nailah Franklin. Palms flat, they closed their eyes and prayed with the pastor of her South Side church.

"You have better than 20/20 vision," Rev. Otis Moss III, pastor at Trinity United Church of Christ, said in prayer. "We come now asking you to dispatch your angels. Send them to bring our sister Nailah back home."

With no new developments in the case of the 28-year-old Chicago woman, who has been missing since Tuesday, Franklin's family turned for spiritual help from fellow worshipers as they held out hope that she would be found alive. .....

EXCERPT: Parishioners of the 8,000-member congregation who do not know Franklin said they came to the service to pray for her and her family.

"I can't imagine what they're going through," said Paula Dixon.

Dixon, who attended a Saturday evening vigil held in Franklin's honor, called the woman's family members "the picture of grace."

Members of the church, 400 W. 95th St., handed out yellow ribbons and fliers with Franklin's smiling face and a description of the woman and her car.

Franklin's sister said friends and relatives have been asking churches across the area to spread the word about the search for clues and to offer prayers. "We need to keep this front and center," Acox said.

Standing in front of the church, Acox described the roller coaster of feelings she has been experiencing. "It's terrifying," she said. Sometimes, "I know for certain she's going to walk through the door. Other times the dark thoughts take over."

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Family embraced in prayer

Rhonda Finklea (center), a friend of Nailah Franklin, holds a box of
yellow ribbons to be handed out at Trinity United Church of Christ in
Chicago on Sunday.
(Tribune photo by Stacey Wescott / September 23, 2007)

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Search Continues for Missing Chicago Woman

WHPTV - Last Update: 11:12 am - United Press International

28-year-old Nailah Franklin's family and friends continue to search for the Chicago pharmaceutical rep. who has been missing since last Tuesday.

Over 10,000 flyers have been passed out in her University Village neighborhood and hundreds of people gathered for a special prayer service Sunday at her South Side church. .....

Search Continues for Missing Chicago Woman

Nailah Franklin

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Man Questioned In Franklin Case Says He's Innocent

-- Suspect Has A Record; Franklin Filed A Police Report Against Him 2 Weeks Ago --

CBS2 CHICAGO - Dorothy Tucker - Sep 25, 2007 4:43 pm US/Central

(CBS) CHICAGO -- The exhaustive search for a missing Chicago women now enters its second week. Tuesday evening, CBS 2’s Dorothy Tucker is learning more about a former friend of Nailah Franklin, who says he is cooperating with police and has nothing to hide.

Since Nailah Franklin disappeared last Tuesday investigators have reviewed the surveillance tape taken from the lobby of her apartment complex; they've examined articles removed from her apartment; and they've questioned many of her acquaintances, including a man Franklin filed a police report against two weeks ago. She accused the man of threatening her. .....

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http://cbs2chicago.com/local/local_story_268174841.html

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Missing woman's family offers reward, creating Web site

ABC7 - WLS - By Leah Hope

September 25, 2007 - As the search continues for a Chicago woman who disappeared one week ago Tuesday, her family is offering a reward and building a Web site to help bring her home. .....

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Missing woman's family offers reward, creating Web site

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Reward Offered In Search For Nailah Franklin

WMAQ-TV—Chicago, IL - Updated: 10:52 p.m. ET Sept. 25, 2007

Images: Woman Disappears
Video: Evidence Found
Video: Family Asks For Help

CHICAGO - The family of a missing Chicago woman announced a reward Tuesday for information leading to her return.

Nailah Franklin disappeared a week ago. A pharmaceutical representative for Eli Lilly & Co., Franklin was last heard from the night of Sept. 18, when she text-messaged her boyfriend at about 8:15 p.m. to say she was at dinner and would call when she was done, Chicago police said. The family is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to Franklin. .....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20980717

http://bringnailahfranklinhome.com/

[odette]

Milwaukee Link To Missing Chicago Woman

MSNBC - WTMJ-TV and JSOnline.com

CHICAGO – A Milwaukee man joins the search for his girlfriend, missing in the Chicago area. Twenty-eight-year-old Nailah Franklin works in the Chicago area, but her boyfriend is from Milwaukee.

That Milwaukee man is Andre Wright. Police believe he was the last person to hear from Franklin Tuesday night through a text message. Now, he and others hope to hear from her again. A desperate search in Chicago.

Family and friends spent Friday handing out fliers with Nailah Franklin’s picture on it. “This is real. It’s real. My reaction is of shock,” Franklin's uncle Duane Johnson said. While Franklin’s boyfriend Andre Wright did not want to go on camera, her uncle Duane Johnson did. He says they’re praying for good news, and soon. “I think the sooner, the better. .....

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http://0-www.msnbc.msn.com.millenniu...it/id/20905539

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Family of Missing Chicago Woman Offers $10,000 Reward

FOX NEWS - Wednesday, September 26, 2007 - Watch the report on MyFOXChicago.com.

CHICAGO — The family of a missing Chicago woman was offering a $10,000 reward seeking information about her disappearance.

Nailah Franklin, 28, a pharmaceutical sales representative for Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly, was last heard from a week ago. Police found her car in Hammond, Ind., Friday night near an abandoned building.

Chicago police interviewed a man last week but have not named him a suspect. Franklin filed a police report about threatening phone calls she said she received from the man. The man told FOX Chicago that he was not involved in her disappearance and offered to take a polygraph test.

continued:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,298101,00.html

http://www.bringnailahfranklinhome.com/

[odette]

Still missing

chicagodefender - by Kathy Chaney - September 25, 2007

Although the disappearance of 28-year-old Nailah Franklin has yet to be classified as a kidnapping, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is lending its resources to the Chicago Police Department as it continues the search for the West Side woman.

The Eli Lily & Co. pharmaceutical sales rep has not been seen or heard from in more than a week. Family and friends have saturated Chicago and surrounding suburban communities with more than 10,000 fliers. Some have been distributed in nearby Hammond, Ind. As that is where Chicago Police recovered her vehicle.

Her family is building a website to help broaden the appeal and generate more interest. At least two nationally televised shows and a crime prevention organization also volunteered their expertise.

The FBI's involvement does not lessen the CPD's role in the search.

"We will help the police in any way possible regarding Nailah Franklin. All questions about the investigation still need to be referred to Chicago police; they are the lead agency on the case," Cynthia Yates, spokeswoman for the FBI, told the Defender. ....

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http://www.chicagodefender.com/page/...ArticleID=9855

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Q-C relatives of missing woman aiding in search

Q-C Online - Sept. 25, 2007; 10:35 p.m. -- Updated 1:35 p.m.

Quad-Cities relatives of a missing Chicago woman are assisting in the week-long search, which includes a Web site, an appeal for the public's help, and a $10,000 reward for information leading to her whereabouts.

They held a prayer vigil Wednesday at Moline High School. .....

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http://qconline.com/archives/qco/display.php?id=355802

[odette]

'They know in their hearts Nailah is alive'

-- MISSING WOMAN | Close-knit family continues search --

BY MAUDLYNE IHEJIRIKA Staff Reporter mihejirika@suntimes.com - September 26, 2007

One of four sisters who are more like friends, Nailah Franklin would gather with the girls around the piano at "Grandma Moot's" house during holidays, and sing.

A couple would be off key, but it didn't matter. The family's happiest times were at the home of Franklin's hero -- as she describes her late grandmother on MySpace.

Just last year, Franklin and her family encircled each other when their matriarch died -- scant weeks behind their grandfather. .....

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http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/5...sing26.article

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Searchers Comb Golf Course In Search Of Missing Woman

-- Family Offers Reward Of $10,000 --

nbc5.com - UPDATED: 8:46 pm CDT September 26, 2007 - Slideshow

CALUMET CITY, Ill. -- More than 100 searchers convened on River Oaks Golf Course to look for Nailah Franklin, 28, a Chicago woman who has been missing for one week.

Franklin was last heard from a week ago. Her car was found in Hammond with her possessions inside.

Investigators and searchers in camouflage on searched the golf course Wednesday in what police called a "revisited" search of "common sense areas." .....

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http://www.nbc5.com/news/14214111/detail.html

[odette]

bringnailahfranklinhome

http://bringnailahfranklinhome.com/content/

[Moms4Justice]

A body has been found in a forest preserve near where her car was found. They have not confirmed it is in fact Nailah yet.
So sad, she is so Beautiful.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,298249,00.html

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Body found in Calumet City

By Jeremy Gorner | Tribune staff reporter
9:34 AM CDT, September 27, 2007 - Video

A body was found this morning in an area of Calumet City where police have been searching for Nailah Franklin, a Chicago woman missing for about a week.

Calumet City police could not specify the gender of the body found in the area of the Wentworth Woods Forest Preserve. Chicago police also were on the scene.

Authorities have been searching the Calumet City area over the last several days for Franklin, 28, who was reported missing Sept. 19 after failing to show up for a business meeting. Her car was found abandoned in Hammond on Saturday. .....

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Body found in Calumet City

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Body found in Calumet City

abclocal.go.com

September 27, 2007 - Authorities have found a body in Calumet City not far from an area they were searching in connection to a missing persons case.

The body was discovered behind an abandoned restaurant on River Oaks Drive in Calumet City Thursday morning. It has yet to be identified, but is a female, according to officials. .....

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http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?sec...cal&id=5677944

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Police Confirm Found Body That Of 'Unclothed Female'

Crime Scene Location Not Far From Nailah Franklin Search Site

NBC5 - UPDATED: 9:38 am CDT September 27, 2007

CHICAGO -- The Calumet City police chief confirmed Thursday morning that officers discovered an unclothed female body behind a vacant business in that southwest suburb.

He refrained from sharing further specifics regarding the body.

Police continue investigating a crime scene at 260 River Oaks Drive, according to Calumet City Police officer Adam Ziminski. Police said the body was found at about 5 a.m.

A Calumet City police dispatcher said police had been searching the area throughout the night.

The body was found at the River Oaks Drive address, about half way between where police found possessions belonging to Nailah Franklin, a missing Chicago woman, and the woman's car, according to NBC5's Kim Vatis. .....

continued
http://www.nbc5.com/news/14216247/detail.html

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Body Confirmed as Missing Chicago Woman

Police Find Body Near Site Where Missing Saleswoman's Car Was Found

CALUMET CITY, Ill. Sep 27, 2007 (AP)

Family members say the body found in suburban Chicago early today is that of a missing Chicago woman.

Dwayne Johnson tells WFLD-TV today that authorities have confirmed that his niece, 28-year-old Nailah Franklin, is dead. .....

continued
http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=3659475