Girl found dead in Prospect Hts. sought ride after car was towed

"Jessie, guess what!" 20-year-old Gina Dominick of Mount Prospect said to her best friend Jessica Schatz by cell phone at 12:30 Sunday morning.

"What?" Schatz replied.

"My car got towed and all my money is in it. Can you come get me?"

But Schatz was without her car. Still, she tried to find a ride for Dominick, who was stuck at a Schaumburg bar, but Schatz was unsuccessful.

When she called back, Dominick said she'd gotten a ride already and was with one of her girlfriends, Schatz said. They were both waiting for a guy she knew, who was coming from Chicago to pick them up and drive to the car impound.

"'Don't worry, I've got a ride. I'll talk to you later. Love you,'" Schatz said of Dominick's last words to her.

About 10 a.m., Dominick's body was found in a car in the parking lot of the Prospect Heights Library parking lot.

"I feel like I should've asked more questions like, 'Where are you and who are you with.'" Schatz said. "Now I feel horrible."

Prospect Heights police released no new information Tuesday regarding Dominick. On Monday, police said they were conducting a "death investigation" but didn't know if a crime was committed.

Prospect Heights resident Caroline Dillon, who lives near the library, was approached by a detective late Sunday, she said.

"We have a security camera system set up on the outside of our house and the detective was just checking to see if we caught anything on our cameras," Dillon said.

The detectives made the rounds of houses surrounding the library, checking for any new evidence that may be helpful, she said.

"The only thing the detective really told us was that the suspect was caught on tape from the library cameras and they have taken someone into custody," said Dillon.

Police failed to return several phone calls Tuesday. Mayor Patrick Ludvigsen said he had no information and referred all inquiries to police.

Dominick's obituary said she was the daughter of Michael and Marianne Dominick and sister of Lisa Marie Dominick. Representatives of her family have declined to comment.

Brian McGarvin, who graduated from high school with Dominick at the Forest View Education Center in Arlington Heights in 2006, described Dominick as a fun-loving, outgoing person.

"She was the life of the party," he said. "That's Gina - in a nutshell."

Dominick worked at various pizza places as a manager and waitress since graduating, he said. She also volunteered at an animal shelter on the weekends, McGarvin said.

She had completed a year at Harper Junior College in Palatine and intended to go back this fall, Schatz said.

She had aspirations of becoming a medical or pharmaceutical technician. But she also thought about working with animals, she said.

"She loved animals," Schatz said. "She had like five dogs and nine cats. If she saw an animal that needed a home, she'd take it herself."

Visitation will be from 3 to 9 p.m. today at Lauterburg & Oehler Funeral Home, 2000 E. Northwest Hwy. in Arlington Heights.

Dominick's funeral will begin with prayers at 9:15 a.m. Thursday at the funeral home. At 10 a.m., a Mass will be held at St. Raymond de Penafort Church, 301 S. I-Oka in Mount Prospect.

Interment will be in All Saints Cemetery in Des Plaines.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Gina Marie Dominick Memorial Fund, c/o Lauterburg & Oehler Funeral Home.

• Daily Herald staff writer Allison Hoesli contributed to this report.