Schaumburg woman's disappearance shatters close-knit family
The distraught family of Schaumburg nursing student Sheila Khalili is fearing the worst since she disappeared without a trace late last week while on her way to celebrate with friends after completing her senior-year final exams.
"The family is completely and utterly broken down over the whole thing," family friend and attorney Thomas Glasgow said Wednesday. "This has been extremely hard for them because they don't know why anyone would want to cause her harm, because they do suspect foul play."
Khalili, 27, is the middle of three U.S.-born children of a couple who emigrated from Iran after Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi was deposed in 1979. They lived the American dream, becoming citizens, working hard, and raising their children to contribute positively to society, Glasgow said.
Khalili's completion of her finals at Olivet Nazarene University's nursing school in Bourbonnais demonstrates that, as does her younger brother Bobby attending medical school, he said.
"She wanted to help people," Glasgow said.
The family has offered $20,000 for information leading to her safe return.
Khalili's disappeared after she completed the last of her final exams. She left her family's Schaumburg house at 11:30 a.m. May 4 to visit friends in Bloomingdale, Glasgow said.
After hanging out with them for the day, she got a call from friends in Bradley, near Bourbonnais, asking her to come and stay with them.
The last recorded site of her I-PASS transponder was exiting the I-294 tollway onto Route 57 toward Bourbonnais. She also sent a text about 1:50 a.m. Friday, May 5, to tell friends she had made it that far.
Then, after a day of frequent texting, communication stopped. The last cellphone signal was detected near Bourbonnais, Glasgow said.
Her friends in Bradley waited for her until 5 a.m. while growing increasingly worried, he said.
Khalili has no history of depression or running away, and such sudden, total silence is completely out of character, Glasgow said.
"She's lived here 27 years and been in touch with her family every single day," he said.
The lack of a cellphone signal can mean it was destroyed or ran out of power, Glasgow said. But even more unusual for such a disappearance is there has been no sign of her 2016 white Toyota Corolla. It has Illinois plates Z750932.
Schaumburg police Sgt. Christy Lindhurst said fixed-wing and helicopter flyovers of the area have found no sign of the car or evidence of an accident.
Glasgow praised the help Schaumburg police have contributed to the investigation in the Bourbonnais area.
"Law enforcement is to be commended," he said. "Schaumburg has devoted a great deal of resources to this."
Khalili is 5 feet, 2 inches tall and weighs 165 pounds. When last seen she was wearing all black clothing.
Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or the Schaumburg Police Department's investigations division at (847) 882-3534.