Missing 21-Year-Old Rosa Chacon Found Dead in Shopping Cart in Chicago

Police are investigating the death of a 21-year-old woman after her body was found bound and wrapped in sheets in a shopping cart.

Rosa Chacon vanished almost two months ago on January 18 in Chicago, Illinois, after getting into an Uber car.

By early March, a Chicago-based private detective agency revealed it had also been brought in to work on finding Chacon because "the family has reached out to us for assistance." The Richart Detective Agency shared the missing person flyer online last week on March 7 and appealed for information—but on Thursday the agency posted a tragic update to its initial post.

"Working closely with the family, we located Rosa Chacon," the agency wrote on its Facebook page. "Unfortunately Rosa was found deceased. With the information we had the medical examiner was able to make a positive identification on Ms. Chacon. Keep her family in your prayers as it is a very difficult time for them. Thank you all for sharing [our posts about her]."

Her heartbroken family told ABC7 that she had been found wrapped in sheets inside a shopping cart, while the private detective working on the case described it to Newsweek as a laundry cart. The victim's mother, also named Rosa Chacon, told the news channel: "I don't know how they have a heart to do somebody like that." Her grieving father, Jose Lucio, said simply: "I miss my baby."

Jose L. Richart, of the Richart Detective Agency, told Newsweek how the investigation unfolded after initially beginning as a search for a missing woman. "The family contacted our office for assistance because they recognize that the city of Chicago has many cases like this," he said. "We began our investigation and obtained Rosa Chacon's phone records... We spoke to many individuals and followed numerous leads.

"On Wednesday, March 15, a body was discovered in the area of 24th Place and Western Ave in Chicago. It is believed that the body was in some sort of laundry cart wrapped in sheets. The body was taken to the Cook County Morgue where it could not be identified for reasons I can not share at this time... At that time Rosa Chacon was identified as Jane Doe."

The agency heard about the discovery of the body and feared the worst, Richart said. "Our detective visited the Cook County Morgue on Thursday, March 16, and submitted identifiers like tattoos Rosa Chacon had... After Identifying Ms. Chacon's body, we visited the family and gave them the awful news. We believe the case is now a homicide and Chicago Police are working diligently on obtaining results."

Anyone with information about Chacon's disappearance or murder should contact the police, while the local community is offering a $15,000 reward for information that leads to a conviction.

The Richart Detective Agency said that Chacon had been heading to the 2400 Block of Western Ave in Chicago at approximately 10:40 pm before she vanished on January 18. She was wearing black crocs and blue pants. She was last seen in the 2800 block of S. St Louis, according to the Chicago Police Department's missing person flyer, which described Chacon as Hispanic with blonde hair and green eyes and 5ft 3in tall.

Chacon's family told CBS News that they feel the police had dismissed their fears for Chacon and done little to help them, which is why they turned to a private detective.

Police said they are waiting for tests to show how the victim died.

Newsweek has reached out to the Chicago Police Department for further information and comment.

The news of Chacon's death comes just weeks after another missing person case ended in tragedy when 14-year-old Samantha Humphrey was found dead in upstate New York after a 3-month search. Authorities later confirmed that they were treating her death as a homicide, and there were reports that the teenager had been found tied up in a submerged shopping cart by fishermen on the Mohawk River.