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Dec 27, 2007 5:17 pm US/Central
Family Holds Out Hope For Missing Woman
Anu Solanki Has Not Been Seen Since Christmas Eve
WHEELING, Ill. (CBS) ―
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Anu Solanki was last seen leaving her job at the Wheeling Westin hotel gift shop the afternoon of Monday Dec. 24.
Searchers have been on the Des Plaines River Thursday from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. looking for a missing woman who disappeared on Christmas Eve.
It's the second day of searching for Anu Solanki, 24, who was last seen Monday leaving the hotel gift shop where she worked. Her car was later found about 2 miles from the hotel, near the Des Plaines River.
Family members spent most of the morning posting flyers in businesses around Wheeling.
Several relatives like Alkesh Patel, Anu Solanki's cousin, flew in from New Jersey and Virginia to help in the search and comfort the family.
"My main job is to make sure that the fliers get out and talk to people and see if anybody knows something, you know?" Patel said. "And support my aunt and my cousin."
Family members found her car with the engine still running. Her purse, laptop and cell phone were missing, but a second purse with money in it, was left behind.
"She's a loving person," Patel said. "She's my little cousin, you know? I remember back in India. She was really young. She's innocent, she's happy-go-lucky, and she's bright."
Family members, including her husband, Dignesh Solanki, say she might have gone to the river to dispose of a statue of an idol. At a Hindu temple in Wheeling, devotees say the deity called Ganesh has to be taken to a body of water if it's broken.
One theory is that she lost her footing and fell in, but it is just a possibility. Thus, Solanki's case is a missing persons investigation.
"Everybody's sad right now. We're praying for her return," said Patel. "I hope that if anybody knows anything out there, they can call the police, if they've seen anything."
Fourteen officers with the Cook County Forest Preserve Police continued the search Thursday in the Des Plaines River going as far as six miles south from where the missing woman's car was found -- looking near Dam Number 1 and Dam Number 2.
"There is some concern at this point that this is a rapid current of the Des Plaines River, that it may be wise to check even further," said Cook County Forest Preserve District spokesman Steve Mayberry. "Miss Solanki is a petite woman, and in fact, the current may have carried her further than initially believed."
The officers used three cadaver dogs in the search that was conducted mostly by foot. Weather permitting, crews will likely return to the area on Friday to resume searching for the missing woman. If conducted, Friday's search will extend further south of where the car was found.
Police also said that members of Solanki's family met with Cook County Sheriff's police investigators on Thursday to discuss the case at the Skokie courthouse. The conversations were conducted to gather information and no one has been identified as a suspect or person of interest and no one is in custody in connection with the disappearance, according to a forest district police release late Thursday afternoon.
Anu Solanki moved to the area in May from Virginia, after the couple held their second wedding ceremony. They were first married in 2006.
Dignesh Solanki says his wife spoke with a friend by cell phone that afternoon, telling her she was being followed by four men, then called back to say the men had disappeared.
Anyone with information should contact the Cook County Sheriff's Department at (847) 294-4733.
CBS 2's Kristyn Hartman and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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