Missing Palatine woman's body identified at Cook County medical examiner's office

The body of a 21-year-old Palatine woman reported missing by her family in late May lay unidentified in a Cook County medical examiner's facility for more than a month, authorities said Monday.

Emily Truong was found dead May 23 on the far South Side of Chicago, according to the medical examiner's office. An autopsy on Truong - then identified as a Jane Doe - revealed she died from an accidental overdose of a mix of drugs, including fentanyl, according to medical examiner's spokeswoman Natalia Derevyanny.

Truong remained unidentified on June 29, when a medical examiner's office staff member submitted her information to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System database, Derevyanny said. It is standard practice for medical examiner's office staff also to post information about unidentified bodies on the office's website, she added.

Palatine police Deputy Chief William Nord said a detective checked database July 7 and found the Jane Doe matching Truong's description. The detective met soon after with Truong's family and brought them to the medical examiner's office, where they identified the body, Nord said.

"The detective did a fantastic job on the case following up on her whereabouts with her friends in the days leading up to her disappearance," Nord said. "Unfortunately, it ended up this way."

Nord said Truong's family first reported her missing on May 26. Officials initially reported she left her family's home on May 21 and was going to take public transportation to the city. She was last seen May 23 on Chicago's West Side.

According to an online obituary, sympathy cards can be sent to the Truong Family at the Morizzo Funeral Home, 2550 Hassell Road, Hoffman Estates, IL 60169.