Sep 26, 2007 11:24 pm US/Central
FBI Joins Search For Missing Woman, Scours Woods
Nailah Franklin's Family Renews Hope, Prays For Her Safe Return
by Derrick Blakley
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Nailah Franklin was reported missing September 19.
Friends and family of Nailah Franklin have renewed optimism Wednesday night. They gathered to pray for her after search teams scoured a park in the southern suburbs.
As CBS 2's Derrick Blakley reports, it's the latest mass search conducted by authorities in their quest to find Franklin, who has been missing since last Tuesday.
Scores of Chicago police officers and FBI agents searched the forest preserves in Calumet City, near 159th Street and Torrence Avenue.
"I'm grateful that there are that many resources being brought to bear to find anything that can lead us to Nailah," said Franklin's sister, Lehia Franklin Acox.
The woods searched Wednesday aren't far from the Calumet City golf course where police discovered personal items belonging to Franklin. Divers searched a golf course pond Saturday after police recovered her abandoned car in Calumet City Friday night.
The 28-year-old pharmaceutical sales representative was reported missing September 19 after failing to show up for an important business meeting.
Since then, her family and friends have plastered the South Side with posters, offered a $10,000 reward and created a Web site,
BringNailahFranklinHome.comAnd Wednesday night, at Trinity United Church of Christ, they once again turned to prayer, attending a regular Wednesday service to bolster their faith and resolve.
"It's important for us to pray together and be together because as things wear on it gets more difficult because we still don't have our Nailah back," Acox said.
And they're grateful for all the support they have received, like a card from students at Neal Math and Science Academy.
"It's just comforting to hear the comments and the blessings and the prayers from people I don't know," said Marina Franklin, one of Franklin's sisters. "And they see the pictures of Nailah and it touches them deeply. It touches them in their hearts."
Those cards and prayers are providing a lifeline of hope the family to which the family is now clinging.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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