Top News

CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker and Joanie Lum, WBBM 780's Steve Miller and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.
CHICAGO (CBS) ― The family of a missing Chicago woman now has a downtown office from which they will base their search.

Nailah Franklin, 28, disappeared nearly a week ago. Her car was found over the weekend.

Still, as CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker reports, her family is not giving up hope.

Lehia Franklin Acox chased down taxis downtown Monday, desperate to spread the word about her missing sister..

Acox was joined by an army of volunteers. and they're operating out of one of the biggest corporations in Chicago – Leo Burnett – because Franklin once worked there as an account executive.

"She just means a lot to so many of us at the agency," said Cindy Blikre of Leo Burnett. "You feel like anything you can do could make a difference, handing out one flyer, telling one person about it who didn't know could make a difference."

They plan to hand out boxes of flyers across the city and suburbs. And they're spreading the word around the country through emails and Web sites.

"It's all about putting a face on a person's who's missing," said Marina Franklin, one of Nailah Franklin's sisters.

Franklin has been missing nearly a week. Her abandoned car was found in Hammond, Ind., last Friday. Police are following up on scores of leads.

As CBS 2's Joanie Lum reports, family and friends of Franklin know that as more time passes, the less chance of good news in the search, but they're not giving up hope.

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

"The investigators took lots of things from her condo," Acox said. "They took sheets, they took blankets. They spent several hours kinda combing through her personal items."

Everyone is waiting on the one lead that will lead to Franklin. Until they get it they'll keep spreading the word about her disappearance.

"She's a presence that's very much missed and not knowing what's going on with her is killing us," Acox said.

Among the many leads police are pursuing are the threatening phone calls that Franklin received in the last two weeks.

Chicago police have confirmed that Franklin had contacted them before she disappeared about a man she once dated who she said had threatened her over the phone. Police won't say if they've had contact with that man since Franklin vanished.

CBS 2 talked to the man who allegedly made those calls. He would only say he has spoken to authorities but has not been charged with any crime.

Police will not confirm that conversation.

Franklin's current boyfriend lives in Milwaukee and tells CBS 2 he has been out looking for Franklin and has been fully cooperative with police.

There were major developments over the weekend, raising hopes, but also bringing deep disappointment.

Family and friends joined in private prayer Sunday at Trinity United Church of Christ on the South Side. They say Franklin was very connected to family and friends and would not voluntarily disappear.

She hasn't been heard from since Tuesday. Her car and other personal items were found on Saturday in Hammond, Ind. Police also searched a pond at a golf course a few miles away at a Cook County Forest Preserve in Calumet City, but found nothing.

Still, her family says they believe she will be found alive.

"We're going to keep our hearts open and our minds towards God and thank him for everything, because she's coming home," said Dwayne Johnson, Franklin's uncle.

"Hopefully she's still in this area. I don't know that, but it just gives me hope … it's kind of like, there's one piece and the next piece is to find her," Acox said.

Glen Walker, a friend of Franklin's, said "It's real shocking and she's definitely in my prayers. Everyone in my family and all the Trinity Church is definitely praying for her."

Police marine units are also keeping an eye out for signs of Franklin while performing routine patrols of the lakefront.

Chicago police spokesman Pat Camden tells Newsradio 780 that although they have conducted searches of Lake Michigan and a retention pond in Calumet City for clues in the Nailah Franklin disappearance that does not mean they are focusing on waterways.

Camden says it is merely process of elimination and at this point nothing has been ruled out. Camden would not discuss what, if anything, was recovered in those searches.

Police are still asking for help in the investigation. Call the Area 4 police at (312) 746-9259.

(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)