The cause of death for Brissa Romero, a missing Carpentersville adolescent whose corpse was discovered in a Vernon Hills pond earlier this week, has been revealed by authorities.
According to the Lake County Coroner’s Office, the body was definitively identified as Brissa Romero, who went missing last week on her way to a work holiday party.
Romero had no severe injuries, according to authorities, and her death was consistent with drowning.
The information comes two days after authorities retrieved a vehicle linked to Romero from the same retention pond in Vernon Hills, near Lakeview Parkway and Executive Way.
According to preliminary findings, the automobile was “accidentally driven into the pond after the driver failed to navigate the T-intersection.“
“Video from a nearby fast food restaurant taken shortly before the phone’s last communication with area cell towers suggests Brissa was driving at the time, and there is currently no indication of foul play,” police said in a news statement.
Authorities claimed the video showed Romero parking her car at the restaurant, entering and departing alone before getting back into her car and driving away.
Authorities announced on Tuesday that “no further leads relating to Brissa’s whereabouts are being pursued at this time.”
“The men and women of both the Carpentersville and Vernon Hills Police Departments worked diligently and with sincere hope for Brissa’s safe return since she was reported missing,” according to an announcement issued by the departments on Tuesday. “The Departments thank Brissa’s family, friends, and members of the community who worked to bring awareness to Brissa’s case and offer their deepest condolences to the Romero family.”
According to authorities, no one at the party saw Romero the night she vanished. Romero’s social media accounts also revealed no incoming activity since last Monday, according to police.
According to officials, on Monday, officers investigating Romero’s disappearance were led to the pond located at Lakeview Parkway and Executive Way in Vernon Hills by new cell phone data analysis.
When an officer arrived, a neighbor approached him after discovering a backpack floating in the sea. Authorities determined that the backpack belonged to Romero, and an extensive search ensued.
A vehicle resembling the one Romero was driving the night she went missing was recovered from the sea hours later. A female body was recovered from the water one day later.
According to family members, the 17-year-old was last seen on traffic cameras around Town Center Road and Milwaukee Avenue, near where her vehicle was discovered.
“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.“