Her family had hoped and prayed for a week that their “it girl” would be found alive. They believed Nailah Franklin’s feisty, fighting spirit would give her the strength to make it through whatever circumstances were keeping her from them.
In the meantime, they kept busy, posting thousands of fliers around Chicago and making television appearances nightly until her smiling face was known nationwide.
But those hopes were dashed Friday when authorities identified a body found in Calumet City as that of Franklin, 28, a pharmaceutical representative reported missing Sept. 19.
Her naked body was found before dawn Thursday in a densely wooded area partially buried behind a vacant building, within miles of where police found her car Saturday in nearby Hammond. A pair of earphones dangling in a tree led two police officers to her body.
The discovery brought to an end what had become a massive community search for the woman, but marked the start of another sad quest — figuring out what happened to a woman her family called their “it girl,” their “star.”
An autopsy performed Friday by the Cook County medical examiner’s office did not reveal a cause of death. Chicago police, who have not ruled the case a homicide, remain the lead investigators because authorities don’t know where she died.
Her body, badly decomposed after being exposed to rain and heat, had to be identified through dental records Friday morning. But a law enforcement source said she was not shot or stabbed.
Police said they are pursuing leads in Franklin’s death. They are testing forensic evidence from her body and vehicle and reviewing surveillance video taken from across the street where Franklin’s body was found.
Police last week interviewed several of Franklin’s acquaintances and friends, including a man she briefly dated this year who allegedly threatened her. She reported those threats to police a week before she disappeared. The man brought an attorney to the interview, a law enforcement source said.
Police have not named him a suspect in the death or disappearance. The man has two orders of protection against him filed by two other women, one granted the same day Franklin disappeared, court records show.
At a sister’s home in Chicago on Friday afternoon, family members gathered with friends, supporters and clergymen after learning the body in the woods was Franklin’s. Throughout the day, friends and family solemnly walked in and out of the home, some carrying bags of food.
‘This sorrowful time’
Late in the afternoon, Rev. Stacey Edwards-Dunn of Trinity United Church of Christ read a statement from the family outside the home, thanking the work of police, the FBI, the media and volunteers in the search for Franklin. They also asked for privacy as they grieved, calling it a “tragic loss.”
“Please continue sending your thoughts and prayers during this sorrowful time,” the family said in the statement. “As they move forward, the family asks that you respect this time of mourning as they plan the celebration of Nailah’s life — their sister, their daughter, their aunt and their friend. She will be greatly missed by all.”
As the family grieves, police continue working to piece together the last days of Franklin’s life.
She was born in Highland Park, one of five daughters and a son in an extended family, and was close to her siblings. A graduate of Homewood-Flossmoor High School and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, she had worked in sales for Eli Lilly for about a year, and five years before at advertising company Leo Burnett.
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Text messages then nothing
The last time friends and family saw Franklin was the night of Sunday, Sept. 16, when she left Milwaukee after spending the weekend with her boyfriend and attending a wedding of a friend in Lake Geneva.
Friends spoke with Franklin Tuesday, but that night, a family member, her boyfriend and Franklin’s boss, who had been trying to reach her to talk about a planned meeting, received a vague text message saying she was going to dinner and would call them later. They didn’t hear from her again.
Family members became more worried the following day, when Franklin didn’t show up for a “ride-along” meeting with one of her sales managers, and the company contacted family members. It was uncharacteristic of Franklin, who her family said always kept in touch. Aware of the earlier threats against her life, her family reported her missing to Chicago police Sept. 19.
Two days later, after word of Franklin’s disappearance spread, a man found Franklin’s car parked near an abandoned building in Hammond, and reported it to police.
A source said police found some of her jewelry near a golf course 3 miles away.
On Tuesday, family gathered to announce they had started a Web site for Franklin, and had pooled $10,000 for a reward leading to finding Franklin or catching whoever was responsible for her disappearance.
At the time, her sisters expressed hope she would still be found alive, saying her spirited and strong personality would help her endure.
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