She Disappeared In 2019 After Making A Deposit At The Bank: Later, It Was Found That The Back Door To Her House Was Left Open, And Her Recent Home Security Camera Footage Had Been Deleted
In 2019, Erica L. Thompson was 53-years-old and living with just her two cats at her home in Brookfield, Illinois – located in the 9200 block of Monroe Avenue. She had also reportedly just gotten out of a two-year relationship.
At the same time, Erica worked as a comptroller for Empire Hard Chrome Inc., a Chicago-based manufacturing company.
Outside of work, her loved ones regarded her as a homebody. Erica enjoyed filling her free time with hobbies at home, such as gardening, crocheting, and research.
But, after Erica didn’t show up for work one week in September 2019, her family knew something was wrong. She has been missing ever since.
It all began on September 25, 2019, when Erica was last captured on surveillance footage at 4:30 p.m. She could be seen at Eight Corners Veterans Memorial Circle in Brookfield, where she was making a bank deposit.
Then, the following day, Erica never showed up for work and was never seen or heard from again.
According to her only son, Michael Russo, it was unlike Erica to miss work or fall out of contact with her family.
“Just a lot of things that don’t add up and don’t make sense. Not in her character,” he said.
So, on October 1, 2019, Michael visited his mom’s home to check on her and found a strange scene. First, he realized that the back door of Erica’s home had been left open; meanwhile, the air conditioning was still “running at full blast.”
Facebook – pictured above is Erica
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Additionally, he found moldy dishes in his mother’s sink, and there was reportedly cat vomit all over the place. As for Erica, she was nowhere to be found.
“It was cause for concern because my sister would have never left a mess. She would have washed her dishes and taken care of her cats,” explained Erica’s sister, Dana Kujawski.
This pushed Michael to contact the Brookfield Police Department and report his mother missing the same day.
Upon launching an investigation, authorities realized that Erica had security cameras installed in her home. Yet, all of the recent footage had been deleted.
Her phone records revealed that her cell phone last pinged to multiple nearby communities during the early morning hours of September 26, 2019. These included Hodgkins, Countryside, McCook, Summit, Forest View, and Ridgeview.
Investigators also uncovered evidence that someone else had been driving Erica’s car – a Dark purple 2014 Nissan Juke with the Illinois license plate number #E273380 – on September 26. The car was reportedly driven in Decatur, Brookfield, and Mount Vernon.
The day after Erica was reported missing, October 2, her phone was then discovered abandoned in a ditch located in Springfield, Missouri.
Erica’s sister, Dana, believes that she never would have left on her own.
“There’s so much that doesn’t add up. She wouldn’t have just left. Right now, all signs point to foul play. But we’re trying to hold onto the hope we have left,” Dana said in late 2019.
In the wake of Erica’s disappearance, investigators went door to door in the area where she was last seen, trying to gather more information. At the same time, her family and friends handed out missing person fliers at Veterans Memorial Circle.
Still, as time passed, Dana began to increasingly feel as though something terrible happened to her sister.
“Something happened to her. And someone knows something. We’re still hoping that she just left to find herself… but that window of hope is getting smaller.”
Today, the exact circumstances surrounding Erica’s disappearance remain unknown, and her case is still unsolved. Foul play is also suspected, and a $1,000 reward is being offered by Cook County Crime Stoppers for information that leads to her discovery.
Erica is five foot six, weighs 130 pounds, and has blue eyes and auburn hair that is sometimes dyed blonde. She also has fairy tattoos on her hip and a small blue heart tattoo on her foot.
If you have any information regarding Erica’s disappearance, you are urged to contact the Brookfield Police Department at (708) 485-8131.
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