Carpentersville family seeks answers in teen's disappearance

A Carpentersville family scoured a wooded area behind a Vernon Hills bowling alley Thursday evening hoping to find some clues about what happened to their missing relative.

The missing girl, 17-year-old Brissa Romero, is believed to have last been near the Bowlero on Monday. Family members reported her missing Tuesday when she did not return from a work party held at the bowling alley Monday evening.

Carpentersville police said an electronic device last pinged near Bowlero Monday night.

Brissa Romero's phone, iPad and social media accounts have been silent since that last ping, older sister Dulce Romero said Thursday.

Her gray 2008 Nissan Rogue also is missing.

"We're going to find her," said Dulce Romero while she searched the wooded area with a group of 11 family members, including her parents.

Brissa Romero, who works at Raising Cane's in Crystal Lake, planned to attend the work holiday party at Bowlero. The 17-year-old asked if friends wanted to join her, but no one could, so she went by herself, Dulce Romero said.

Police reviewed video footage from Bowlero, but could not determine if Brissa Romero made it to the party, Carpentersville Deputy Chief Kevin Stankowitz said.

Before heading to the party, Romero hung out with a cousin in Des Plaines. She also called her mother to ask about going to the party, her sister said.

That was the last time anyone in the family talked to her, Dulce Romero said, adding friends also have not heard from her since Monday.

She said her sister is the youngest of five children. She graduated from Barrington High School in 2023, a year early, and is studying at Harper College in Palatine to be an ultrasound technician.

Dulce Romero and Brissa Romero last talked about the coming holiday.

"She was excited and was bragging about what I was going to get for Christmas," she said.

She described her sister as smart and a "social butterfly," but said she worried she may have been too trusting of people.

"She's too nice to people sometimes," Dulce Romero said. "I'm worried that someone just took advantage of that."

Carpentersville police are working with Vernon Hills police and Homeland Security. Anyone with information is asked to contact Sgt. Alan Webb at (847) 551-3481 or contact QuadCom Dispatch at (847) 428-8784. Tips can also be submitted on the village's website, cville.org.

Brissa Romero is 5 feet tall and 115 lbs., with brown hair and brown eyes, police said.