Palatine police have new leads on missing 24-year-old woman

Palatine police released new information Friday about the search for 24-year-old Alyssa M. Smith, who was reported missing by a family member on Sept. 30.

Meanwhile, her mother, Fox River Grove resident Rebecca Smith, fears her daughter could be trafficked.

On Friday, Rebecca Smith had a message for her daughter.

“Sweetheart, I love you. The past is going to be the past. When you are ready, we want you home and safe, where you can be with your family,” she said.

“Please call home,” said Smith, adding that Alyssa had been living with her boyfriend and had recently gone to rehab. “And if you don’t want to come home, call people that you know.”

Police were contacted by Alyssa Smith’s aunt, a Palatine resident. Detectives are working with the Chicago Police Department and the Cook County Sheriff’s Department on leads. Palatine police have also searched areas where there were reported sightings.

Police have received information regarding possible sightings of Smith on Chicago’s West Side. A community outreach worker reported seeing Smith on Monday near Lake Street and Central Park Avenue, police said.

Police have not confirmed this was Alyssa Smith.

Detectives learned Chicago police officers had contact with Smith and her boyfriend on Sept. 28 shortly before 3 p.m. in the 4000 block of West Monroe Street in Chicago.

Palatine police said Smith declined to provide her name to responding officers and did not accept police services, leaving the area on foot.

Police released an image of Smith captured by a Chicago police officer’s body-worn camera on Sept. 28.

Smith’s boyfriend reported he last saw her during the early morning hours of Sept. 30 in the 400 block of South Kostner Avenue in Chicago, police said.

According to his account, Smith entered a dark-colored Honda occupied by two unidentified people, police said.

Smith was also positively identified in a video recorded about 11 p.m. near Garfield Park on Chicago’s West Side on Sept. 29. Palatine police also released two still images from that video.

According to her mother, Smith is about 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 120 to 135 pounds. Police said she has brown hair and eyes, multiple piercings and numerous tattoos, including a “Pennywise” clown tattoo on her left shoulder.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Palatine police at (847) 359-9000. Anyone who sees Smith or knows her current location should call 911.

szalusky@dailyherald.com