Little Village woman's body found weeks after she went missing
CHICAGO (CBS) – A family in Little Village is planning a funeral instead of a birthday for a 21-year-old woman who was found dead inside of a shopping cart several weeks after she went missing.
CBS 2's Sabrina Franza spoke with that family and had new details on the investigation.
The woman's family claims they hired a private investigator to look for her, after they said police called that 21-year-old a likely runaway. That was before her body was found tied up in a shopping cart in an alley.
"She's not a runaway," her mother said. "Only a mother would know her kid."
Video shows the last moments Rosa Chacon was caught on camera on Jan. 18. She was getting into an Uber, the car scene pulling up in the video.
"I wish I would've gotten the address for her, who she was with," said Jose Lucio, Rosa's father, "and asked more questions because ... we never expected this."
She never returned home after that night. Chacon was 21. Her birthday is Saturday.
"It's not gonna be the same because we're not gonna see her smile or nothing or laugh or stuff like that or having fun with her friends and everything," said Gregory Chacon, Rosa's brother.
The week before her 22nd birthday, police sources told CBS 2 someone found her body, covered in a sheet in an alley at West 24th Place and Western Avenue.
They do not know how she ended up there, only that it was totally unlike Chacon not to call and check in. She missed her father's birthday celebration, which was also unlike her, her family said.
Her mother said she heard from Rosa the day after via a phone call, but then the line when dead.
Rosa's mother told CBS 2 that she and Rosa were inseparable.
"I was her partner in crime," said Rosa's mother. "I was always with her, except that night. She said she had an Uber. I didn't think she was going anywhere. I laid down. She said 'I'm leaving in the Uber and I'll be back.' That's the last I heard of my daughter."
Police have not ruled the case a homicide. At the moment, it's an open death investigation. The official cause of death is still pending.
Community leaders are offering a $15,000 reward for anyone offering information that could close this case.
"We don't know who's out there, but I would want, the community would want quick justice," said Patrick Gibbons, a community activist.
No arrests have been made.