Police may pursue charges in Oak Brook student's disappearance

An Oak Brook student was reunited with her family three days after she disappeared outside a Chicago nightclub, but the police probe into what happened continues.

Criminal and civil charges are being considered against anyone involved in the disappearance of 20-year-old Katherine "Katie" O'Connell, Oak Brook Chief Tom Sheahan said in a brief statement Wednesday. He did not elaborate.

The College of DuPage student contacted a relative around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday - some 64 hours after she was last seen - to report she was safe.

Police have not released further details, including whether foul play was involved.

O'Connell hadn't been seen since about 3 a.m. Sunday when she left a group of about 10 friends, mostly from high school, at a River North bar near Illinois and Dearborn in Chicago. O'Connell was celebrating a friend's birthday and traveled into the city with the rest of her group in a limousine, which was supposed to bring them all back together.

Before his daughter made contact, a worried Bernie O'Connell told the Daily Herald he believed she voluntarily left the nightclub with "a friend or two." He said earlier reports that she was seen getting into a cab were false.

Bernie O'Connell did not return a phone message Wednesday.

Police said Katie O'Connell was carrying a fraudulent ID, which is likely how she gained entry to the nightclub. Her father reported her missing Sunday evening after he reached out to her friends.

Both Chicago and Oak Brook police investigated the disappearance.