Family Wants Answers After Missing Daughter Is Found Dead, Tied Up In Shopping Cart

The body of a Chicago woman who was reported missing in January was discovered in the 2300 block of W. 24th Place last Wednesday.

Using her tattoos, family members identified the victim as 21-year-old Rosa Chacon, according to reporting by NBC5 Chicago.

According to security footage, Chacon was last seen entering an Uber outside of her home near the 2800 block of S. St. Louis Ave. on Jan. 18. Before getting into the vehicle, Chacon promised her family that she would soon return home.

“She said, ‘I’ll be back, mom. I got the Uber ride there and the Uber ride back.’ That’s what she told me,” Chacon’s mother recalled, according to reporting by People.com.

Chacon did not return, leaving behind important belongings, including her jacket and identification. Her family did not know where Chacon was going or who ordered her Uber, noting that this behavior was out of character.

When they requested this information from Uber, the rideshare company stated that they do not release private information in accordance with their privacy policy, ABC7 Chicago reported.

“Normally, when our daughter leaves, we hear from her,” explained Chacon’s father Jose Lucio. “She calls the next day, she calls an hour after she leaves, she’s in a house, she’s secure, she’s nice and warm. But we didn’t hear anything.”

Nearly two months later, Chacon’s body was found tied up, wrapped in sheets, and stuffed in a shopping cart in a Little Village alleyway. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office noted that her cause of death is pending an autopsy, according to NBC5.

Chacon’s family and friends said that authorities did not provide sufficient help in searching for the teen, with the family alleging that authorities said a crime needed to have been committed to require action. The family handed out flyers and conducted searches of their own before turning to a private investigator, ABC7 reports.

“We’ve been looking and searching for months and months,” shared family friend Vanessa Delossantos. “Uber hasn’t helped us, the police has not helped us, we had to have a private investigator to come out and look and they got a lead.”

On Saturday, Chacon’s loved ones gathered for a balloon release vigil, celebrating what would have been her 22ndbirthday, CBS News reported.

The community is also searching for details regarding the death of 20-year-old Reina Cristina Ical Seb, a Guatemalan woman who was shot in the head in February and found in an alleyway a mile and a half from Chacon. Her death was ruled a homicide.

Chicago Police have stated that the two cases are not connected, though family members suggested that their similarities indicate otherwise.

The investigation into Chacon’s death is still ongoing and a $15,000 reward is being offered in exchange for any information contributing to the arrest and conviction of her assailant.