Family members of a missing Illinois special education teacher say surveillance video may show her leaving her vehicle in the early hours of Saturday morning — but not returning.
Linda Brown, 53, was last seen on Saturday, Jan. 3, near the 4500 block of South Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Chicago, police previously said.
On Wednesday, Jan. 7, Linda’s husband, Antwon Brown, said her car — described by police as a blue Honda Civic — was found undamaged, according to Fox affiliate WFLD and CBS affiliate WBBM.
Relatives said the vehicle was located near South Lake Park Avenue and East 35th Street, WFLD, WBBM and ABC affiliate WLS reported.
The family also said footage from about 3 a.m. Saturday appears to show Brown walking across a pedestrian bridge that leads toward the lakefront — but the video does not show her coming back, they told WFLD.
“Detectives have been working hard looking for her along the lakefront,” the family said, according to WFLD.
Brown’s family planned to organize their own search party on Friday, Jan. 9, and has continued urging the public to help, WLS reported. Her brother-in-law suggested she may still be on foot.
Family members also said they are trying to locate additional surveillance video that could provide more answers about where she went and what happened, WFLD reported.
Antwon Brown previously said he last saw Linda — his wife of 11 years — around midnight late Friday, Jan. 2, going into Saturday, according to WBBM. He said she left home with her purse and credit cards, but never arrived at an acupuncture appointment scheduled for Saturday, WFLD reported.
Antwon Brown told WBBM that Linda teaches at Robert Healy Elementary School in Bridgeport and had been on a leave of absence for several months, with plans to return to work on Monday, Jan. 5.
“She has a little mental issues going on, and she took a leave of absence from her job to get help for that,” her husband said. “As school was getting closer, it was kind of getting worse, like the anxiety, the panic attacks.”
Chicago Police described Brown as 5 feet tall, weighing 130 lbs., with brown hair and brown eyes.
