The body recovered from Lake Michigan on Monday has been identified as that of a missing Chicago special education teacher, officials confirmed.
Linda Brown, 53, was found dead near Chicago’s South Side shortly before noon, according to the Chicago Police Department.
The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office later confirmed the victim was Brown, a local educator who had been missing for more than a week after last being seen following a movie night at home with her husband, Antwon.
Linda Brown, 53, was found dead in Lake Michigan on Monday, authorities said.
Brown’s family also positively identified her body and told ABC 7 in a text message that they are “absolutely heartbroken.”
Police said Brown was last seen on Jan. 3 in the 4500 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in the Bronzeville neighborhood, roughly two miles southwest of the White Sox’s Rate Field. At the time, she was driving a blue 2021 Honda Civic and was believed to be heading to her weekly acupuncture appointment.
Brown was reported missing on Jan. 3.
Investigators later found her abandoned vehicle near East 35th Street and South Lake Park Avenue on Jan. 7, approximately two miles from where she was last seen.
On Friday afternoon, police said they recovered surveillance footage showing Brown in the same area where her car was discovered. According to her family, the video shows Brown walking alone across a pedestrian bridge toward the lakefront around 3 a.m. Saturday.
Brown’s husband, Antwon, made heartfelt pleas for her safe return.
He said he “broke down” early Saturday when he realized Brown was missing.
“I don’t know what to do. I’ve done everything. I’m talking to people, we’ve got people searching for her. I’m out of options,” Antwon said.
Police are continuing to investigate Brown’s death and are awaiting autopsy results. It remains unclear how she ended up in the water, and her official cause of death has not yet been released.
