A 14-year-old Carol Stream girl missing since late last week was found partially buried in a shallow Lake County grave early Wednesday, and police were questioning two suspects about her death.
Nassim Davoodi’s family and friends had been posting fliers and desperately searching for the Bartlett High School freshman since she failed to return home from class Friday evening to baby-sit her sister’s child. School friends told police they had seen Nassim getting into a light-colored Buick sedan with a young man instead of getting on her bus.
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Authorities said that one of the suspects arrested Tuesday night led investigators to the burial site in a secluded area 300 yards away from Illinois Highway 53 in Long Grove.
“I can’t believe my house would be like this,” said her father, Jamal, surrounded by Nassim’s friends Wednesday morning. “My house, a funeral for my daughter. I can’t believe it.”
Authorities said the two suspects–a man from the Elgin area and a friend from California he had met on the Internet–were being questioned by prosecutors from DuPage and Cook counties late Wednesday. Investigators were working to determine where and how Nassim was killed, and charges in the case were expected as soon as Thursday.
Sources close to the case said an autopsy performed Wednesday showed no obvious injuries that point to a cause of death and investigators were trying to determine whether she may have been drugged.
Nassim was introduced to the Elgin man last week by a female classmate who is a cousin of the suspect, investigators said. Friends saw Nassim talking with him again about 12:30 p.m. Friday, when she got into his car.
Her family said investigators are trying to determine whether she had communicated on the Internet with either of the suspects.
Nassim was seen at a gathering at the Elgin man’s home that evening, the sources said, and the California suspect was there too. Her family said they had been told that investigators think she was killed and driven to Long Grove Friday night.
Carol Stream police made the case public as a missing-person matter Sunday, circulating a photograph and saying it was possible the girl was with friends. Her family life was relatively strict, they said, and it was possible she was trying to assert a measure of independence.
That idea was cast aside Wednesday, with authorities saying they believe Nassim’s only lapse in judgment was getting into the suspect’s car. Investigators said they think she was sexually assaulted.
Nassim’s parents said their initial hope had been that their daughter was simply being a teenager–spending a couple of unauthorized nights with friends as the school year came to a close.
They grew more concerned as the days wore on and they heard nothing from her, they said. They feared the girl they described as calm and trusting was out of her element, her father said, and possibly in danger.
“She was innocent,” Davoodi said. “Never in trouble.”
Her mother, Juanita, said her daughter wanted a singing career.
“She was always singing; it was her dream,” her mother said.
Her older sister, Aileen, agreed.
“She could hit the Mariah Carey notes,” she said, noting that Nassim loved the boy band ‘N Sync. “It was all she cared about.”
Nassim’s family said she was an honor roll student who pursued her goals by participating in choir, chorus and drill team. School leaders were dealing with the news Wednesday as well.
“She was a good student, lovely and charming and quiet,” said Diane Longfield, Bartlett principal. “We’re shocked and saddened by this.”
The school planned to have its crisis team available into next week.
Nassim’s father is a construction engineer of Iranian descent. Her mother is from Puerto Rico and works at a Glen Ellyn Wal-Mart.
The couple moved to their Carol Stream home from Hanover Park about eight years ago and said they had enjoyed a happy life with their children in the suburbs. Nassim also had two older brothers.
“She was my baby,” Juanita Davoodi said.
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Nassim’s mother recalled one of their sons’ prom two weeks ago, when many of the same teens who gathered to grieve Wednesday were in the home under much different circumstances.
“I said to Nassim, `When you have your prom, I’m going to buy you the most beautiful dress,'” Davoodi said. “She said, `I know Mom, I can’t wait.'”