Found Deceased IL - Daniel Sotelo, 26, & Natally Brookson, both found deceased, Chicago, 30 April 2022

[Poppyflower]

Suicide by drowning is so very rare. Unless she was on drugs or ingested drugs to OD and fall in or accidentally fell in?

moo

 

[MissMalowe]

Her quitting work THAT day is certainly noteworthy. 2 week notice with that day being her last planned in advance? Or did she announce that day/last minute that she would no longer be working there?

Doesn't seem like many family or friends of either have said much. Am I mistaken about this? Has anyone found any interesting comments on police or news Channel FB posts or Twitter?

 

[Poppyflower]

This NBC Chicago article states she was found near Bryn Mawr and Lake Michigan: Natally Brookson, 22, was found dead Tuesday near Bryn Mawr and Lake Michigan, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.

So which report is correct? Was she found in Lake Michigan or near Lake Michigan? It seems like the facts are getting muddled in the media.

"A body recovered from Lake Michigan has been identified as a missing University of Illinois at Chicago student who went missing a day after her boyfriend disappeared."

Missing UIC student Natally Brookson found dead, boyfriend Daniel Sotelo still missing

UIC psychology major Natally Brookson went missing a day after her boyfriend disappeared.

abc7chicago.com

I think they know more and aren't releasing information due to the case being ongoing and while looking for DS.

 

[Poppyflower]

Chicago Grad Student Missing, Girlfriend Found Dead: Cops

Daniel Sotelo and Natally Brookson both disappeared on April 30, authorities said.

www.insideedition.com

Sotelo, 26, was last seen by his roommate, who dropped him at a Chicago Transit Authority L train station, his family said. When he didn't return home after a few days, a friend notified his sister, Jennifer.

"It’s very tough. I can only imagine as a parent how that would feel to have one of your kids go missing," Jennifer Sotelo told WFLD-TV. "I would just tell him, please come home, you’ve got a lot of family members, friends, cousins who are worried about you and we just want to hear from you."

I get a feeling that his family isn't surprised, shocked or speaking out more. He missed graduation! Aren't they ridiculously concerned, don't they want to find him? I understand many people are private and maybe that is the case for them. I just get a nervous feeling about that. I could be wrong.

moo

 

[jellybean96]

"A body recovered from Lake Michigan has been identified as a missing University of Illinois at Chicago student who went missing a day after her boyfriend disappeared."

Missing UIC student Natally Brookson found dead, boyfriend Daniel Sotelo still missing

UIC psychology major Natally Brookson went missing a day after her boyfriend disappeared.

abc7chicago.com

I think they know more and aren't releasing information due to the case being ongoing and while looking for DS.

I agree. I think they are playing their cards close until they know exactly what role - if any - DS had in this. If he is involved or suspected involved, they dont want to have him go further in hiding if he is alive.

 

[jellybean96]

Chicago Grad Student Missing, Girlfriend Found Dead: Cops

Daniel Sotelo and Natally Brookson both disappeared on April 30, authorities said.

www.insideedition.com

Sotelo, 26, was last seen by his roommate, who dropped him at a Chicago Transit Authority L train station, his family said. When he didn't return home after a few days, a friend notified his sister, Jennifer.

"It’s very tough. I can only imagine as a parent how that would feel to have one of your kids go missing," Jennifer Sotelo told WFLD-TV. "I would just tell him, please come home, you’ve got a lot of family members, friends, cousins who are worried about you and we just want to hear from you."

I get a feeling that his family isn't surprised, shocked or speaking out more. He missed graduation! Aren't they ridiculously concerned, don't they want to find him? I understand many people are private and maybe that is the case for them. I just get a nervous feeling about that. I could be wrong.

moo

I saw his sisters quote last night and it seemed weird to me. I got the feeling that perhaps they are laying low as they are unsure his involvement. Maybe I am wrong though.

 

[steff13]

Wasn't there a woman who down herself in Chicago a couple in months back? She was an activist, and she sent an email to her boss quitting her job, and left her apartment unlocked, and they found her in lake Michigan a few days later. Weird.

 

[Poppyflower]

Why are so many bodies appearing in Chicago's river and lake? A 29-year-old Tribune story has the answer

Why are so many bodies suddenly appearing in the Chicago River and Lake Michigan? A 29-year-old Chicago Tribune story explains.

cwbchicago.com

 

[citizen_sleuth]

This article says her body was found in Lake Michigan near the 5500 block of North Sheridan Road, slightly further south than the previous reports.

Her case is assigned to a detective with the special victims unit.

 

[evilwise]

If her remains really were recovered from the lake, I change my bet to them having jumped off a bridge or whatever together.

 

[azure]

Wasn't there a woman who down herself in Chicago a couple in months back? She was an activist, and she sent an email to her boss quitting her job, and left her apartment unlocked, and they found her in lake Michigan a few days later. Weird.

Chicago Trans Activist Elise Malary Found Dead on Lakeshore

Malary, who had been missing for several days, is being remembered as a tireless activist.

www.advocate.com

Having been on WS for 16 years (about half my life somehow!!), I will say that drowning is a more common form of suicide than one would think. Suicides often aren't publicized as such though, to discourage copycat deaths, so you have to read between the lines of "not suspicious" and "no foul play".

 

[Poppyflower]

Chicago Trans Activist Elise Malary Found Dead on Lakeshore

Malary, who had been missing for several days, is being remembered as a tireless activist.

www.advocate.com

Having been on WS for 16 years (about half my life somehow!!), I will say that drowning is a more common form of suicide than one would think. Suicides often aren't publicized as such though, to discourage copycat deaths, so you have to read between the lines of "not suspicious" and "no foul play".

I have been around not quite as long and don't remember any suicide by drowning cases.

I remember Taleka Patrick, she drowned but I think she was delusional and suffering and fell into the water.

Genuinely curious about other cases you can remember. Thanks!

I thought of one- Timothy Cunningham. Such a sad case. Hmmm...after reading more about him, I'm not sure they really know what happened.

When I think drowning, I'm not thinking take many drugs, then jump in or jumping from far up. Maybe that is considered suicide by drowning?

 

[GMS]

Her case is assigned to a detective with the special victims unit.

Interesting that the case is assigned to special victims...in most cases / investigations this involves some form of sexual assault. Wondering if there was a sexual assault that led to her death.

 

[evilwise]

I have been around not quite as long and don't remember any suicide by drowning cases.

I remember Taleka Patrick, she drowned but I think she was delusional and suffering and fell into the water.

Genuinely curious about other cases you can remember. Thanks!

I thought of one- Timothy Cunningham. Such a sad case. Hmmm...after reading more about him, I'm not sure they really know what happened.

When I think drowning, I'm not thinking take many drugs, then jump in or jumping from far up. Maybe that is considered suicide by drowning?

Golden Gate Bridge Suicides

I have noticed several threads about either unidentified persons being found under the bridge, or missing persons cars being found nearby. I am making a thread so these cases can be talked about in one place. It might even link a unidentified person to a missing person if we are lucky. Dark...

www.websleuths.com

 

[Poppyflower]

Golden Gate Bridge Suicides

I have noticed several threads about either unidentified persons being found under the bridge, or missing persons cars being found nearby. I am making a thread so these cases can be talked about in one place. It might even link a unidentified person to a missing person if we are lucky. Dark...

www.websleuths.com

Ah, ok. I had no idea that would be considered drowning especially from so high up. I thought you hit the water so hard that it kills you. Maybe I'm thinking about it too technically. lol

 

[ChatteringBirds]

If her remains really were recovered from the lake, I change my bet to them having jumped off a bridge or whatever together.

That doesn't jive with him being last seen when dropped off at a train station though.

 

[scriabina]

Chicago Grad Student Missing, Girlfriend Found Dead: Cops

Daniel Sotelo and Natally Brookson both disappeared on April 30, authorities said.

www.insideedition.com

"It’s very tough. I can only imagine as a parent how that would feel to have one of your kids go missing," [his sister] Jennifer Sotelo told WFLD-TV. "I would just tell him, please come home, you’ve got a lot of family members, friends, cousins who are worried about you and we just want to hear from you."

I get a feeling that his family isn't surprised, shocked or speaking out more. He missed graduation! Aren't they ridiculously concerned, don't they want to find him? I understand many people are private and maybe that is the case for them. I just get a nervous feeling about that. I could be wrong.

RSBBM
I also find that quote to be odd. This is his sister but what she says sounds very detached, like she didn't even know her own brother. Why would she imagine as a parent how it feels to lose a child when she is already experiencing as a sister how it feels to lose a brother?

They must know more. Perhaps he left a suicide note but the family doesn't want to reveal this info because then fewer would look for him? The sort of robotic response of the sister reminds me of other cases where family members speak out similarly and then a couple weeks later we find out the missing person was found deceased with "no foul play suspected," the family asks for privacy and the case is never mentioned again.

 

[scriabina]

From his lab at UIC where it appears he was an active graduate student:

"Daniel joined the Aldrich lab in the Spring of 2017 as an undergraduate student. After being born here, he was raised in a ranch in the mountains of Guerrero, Mexico for the first five years of his life. Being exposed to the beauty of nature at such a youthful age, he has developed a strong respect and admiration for nature. Currently, he is pursuing a graduate degree in organic chemistry. In the lab, his work focuses on synthesizing complex derivatives of natural product-like molecules to test them for beneficial biological activity and optimization of high-throughput screening hits for cell and animal studies. When not being a mad scientist, he enjoys spending time in nature, cooking, working out, and reading about spirituality."

My gut says they committed suicide together and they just haven't found his body yet. I don't feel like this is a homicide case.

 

[SpringDonut77]

I'm from Chicago and had a couple thoughts. At first I thought maybe something happened to both of them. Not gang related but there have been murders where angry/violent people have just killed people that crossed their path or maybe a robbery gone wrong type thing. But then knowing she ended up quitting her job that day, that does kind of raise a red flag that she was going through something, unless it was a coincidence and maybe she already had another job lined up?
I also remember April 30 had crazy weather in Chicago--because i was out in it. Mild day but then around 5pm total downpour, hail, thunder, lightening, it was crazy, some areas outside of the city even had spotted tornadoes. I'm thinking, were they at the beach and got swept out into the water during this crazy storm? It would not really have been warm enough to swim in Lake Michigan right now though. There is no bridge up in that area to jump off of (if they were committing suicide by jumping into the lake together.) It's really just parks and beaches, maybe some piers that are not very high up.

 

[abams]

RSBBM
I also find that quote to be odd. This is his sister but what she says sounds very detached, like she didn't even know her own brother. Why would she imagine as a parent how it feels to lose a child when she is already experiencing as a sister how it feels to lose a brother?

They must know more. Perhaps he left a suicide note but the family doesn't want to reveal this info because then fewer would look for him? The sort of robotic response of the sister reminds me of other cases where family members speak out similarly and then a couple weeks later we find out the missing person was found deceased with "no foul play suspected," the family asks for privacy and the case is never mentioned again.

I can't find the particular link now but somewhere in this thread there's an article with one of his family members talking about how his disappearance doesn't make sense to them, and how he was looking forward to summer plans of continuing his internship. So I'm leaning towards his family (at least by that time) truly not knowing what's going on, either.