IL IL - Erica Thompson, 53, Brookfield, 25 Sep 2019 *endangered*

[otto]

That’s what I don’t understand. The delay is concerning. Has she went away before so he didn’t report right away( just in case it was another voluntary leave) then got concerned with how things were left behind at her home and contacted LE a week later? MOO

I doubt it. She missed work. Normal protocol when someone missed work is to call the missing person, and to eventually call the next of kin. How long did that take? Was the son listed as next of kin? When he received the call, did he immediately contact his mother, when did he go to her house, how far is it from where he lives, how long was it between arriving at the scene and contacting police? How long was it between police learning of her disappearance and determining that a crime occurred?

 

[otto]

Why the air on full blast?

It might have been programmed to turn on when the interior temperature gets to 88F. Someone mentioned that it was 88F that day. With the door open, I'm guessing that the A/C would not have turned off.

 

[otto]

What is the relationship like between the mother & son? I can only imagine LE is looking at all possible angles. Someone else in the neighborhood must’ve seen something. MOO

Until we know who was notified when she missed work, we can only assume that it was next of kin. The only relative who is currently in the picture is the son, so that seems like the next of kin.

The question is why it took a week for her disappearance to be reported?

 

[Tripod]

More often than not, folks who have house cats ( and dogs, etc.) love them dearly and would never willingly leave them without food and water. That would be the biggest red flag to me, and then the moldy dishes.
I hope and pray Erica is ok, but this is very concerning.

 

[otto]

Let's assume that the dishes in the kitchen and bedroom were for one person. She slovenly ate and left a mess, ran out her back door, erased evidence, jumped in her car with her phone and took off.

Let's assume that the dishes in the kitchen and badroom are for one person over two days, or two people over one day. Why would anyone crank the A/C and leave the back door open? No one wants to pay that bill.

That suggests that she left the door open unintentionally, the A/C was programmed to turn on, and her son was a week late? What, didn't someone from work check on her, did they just assume she stopped working and notified no one?

How long was it between the time of the dishes and the discovery of her body? A week? Why? If it is the son who was notified and he took a week to disclose, then I have a hard time thinking he is not guilty of something. Maybe someone was looking for the Will and needed a week?

 

[otto]

More often than not, folks who have house cats ( and dogs, etc.) love them dearly and would never willingly leave them without food and water. That would be the biggest red flag to me, and then the moldy dishes.
I hope and pray Erica is ok, but this is very concerning.

Of course, unattended pets would be the first clue before walking into the house with the wide open back door, blasting A/C, missing owner, and dishevelled home, that something was amiss.

The son is discussing the situation, so presumably he discovered the unattended cats, back door, missing car/phone, and missing mother.

When was the scene discovered, and when was it reported? There's a mismatch here. Home body doesn't really change anything except there are no obvious suspects that spent time at her home.

Still, she was close to someone in the past? Who is that? Was that a former boyfriend? Has that person been cleared?

 

[MissMalowe]

Just for reference: The distance between her home (Brookfield, IL) to location her phone last pinged (Springfield, Missouri) is appx 500 miles (7.5 hours driving time)

 

[GraceG]

Let's assume that the dishes in the kitchen and bedroom were for one person. She slovenly ate and left a mess, ran out her back door, erased evidence, jumped in her car with her phone and took off.

Let's assume that the dishes in the kitchen and badroom are for one person over two days, or two people over one day. Why would anyone crank the A/C and leave the back door open? No one wants to pay that bill.

That suggests that she left the door open unintentionally, the A/C was programmed to turn on, and her son was a week late? What, didn't someone from work check on her, did they just assume she stopped working and notified no one?

How long was it between the time of the dishes and the discovery of her body? A week? Why? If it is the son who was notified and he took a week to disclose, then I have a hard time thinking he is not guilty of something. Maybe someone was looking for the Will and needed a week?

There was no discovery of a body. She is still missing. I don't think the AC was purposely cranked. We had unusually warm weather that week in Brookfield -in the upper 80's. My AC was running a LOT and on the day her son went to her home, it was 88. If her back door was open that would explain the AC running on high. As to the timeline - she may not have worked full time. There are a number of gift shops near her home that hire part-timers to help with busier retail work in the summer. Right now we don't know where she worked or whether she was full time. She could have had days off scheduled. If so, her employer wouldn't have contacted her family. I know my daughter would be concerned if I went over a week without calling but she wouldn't come check on me if I just went quiet for a few days, especially if I had days off.

Her son has stated that she was an animal lover. I don't see her leaving the cats home alone with no food. I think the "cat vomit everywhere" that was reported was because the cats, having no food, licked the food on the plates that was starting to go bad, and got sick. I don't see an animal lover doing that to her pets.

The erased security video is most concerning to me.

 

[MissMalowe]

Do most security systems require a password or something in order to erase content or make any changes?

I wonder what kind of security system she had. One that is controlled via an app on a phone? Was her phone password/fingerprint protected?

 

[TatianaBarbie]

Another photo, and a similar model vehicle from Missing People in America on FB:

Missing People In America




[Not actual vehicle, but same model and color]

"Thompson’s vehicle is a 2014 dark purple Nissan Juke with Illinois plate #E273380.

Below is a picture of a similar vehicle to Thompson’s. Her son indicated that while purple in the sun, the SUV normally looks faded black or brown on the road." BBM

 

[bears10]

There was no discovery of a body. She is still missing. I don't think the AC was purposely cranked. We had unusually warm weather that week in Brookfield -in the upper 80's. My AC was running a LOT and on the day her son went to her home, it was 88. If her back door was open that would explain the AC running on high. As to the timeline - she may not have worked full time. There are a number of gift shops near her home that hire part-timers to help with busier retail work in the summer. Right now we don't know where she worked or whether she was full time. She could have had days off scheduled. If so, her employer wouldn't have contacted her family. I know my daughter would be concerned if I went over a week without calling but she wouldn't come check on me if I just went quiet for a few days, especially if I had days off.

Her son has stated that she was an animal lover. I don't see her leaving the cats home alone with no food. I think the "cat vomit everywhere" that was reported was because the cats, having no food, licked the food on the plates that was starting to go bad, and got sick. I don't see an animal lover doing that to her pets.

The erased security video is most concerning to me.

also in regards to work. She may work for a small business that doesn’t have her next of kins info. I don’t remember filling out that info when I was hired at my job, so it’s possible she never gave her employer emergency contact info.

 

[Dre]

also in regards to work. She may work for a small business that doesn’t have her next of kins info. I don’t remember filling out that info when I was hired at my job, so it’s possible she never gave her employer emergency contact info.

I agree with this, my last job (for 5 years) I never did give them any contacts which now I realize is very strange. As well as this, my shifts were constantly changing and my days off were inconsistently spaced. Since she lived alone I can see why it could have taken so long, it’s not a red flag for me personally.

 

[Tripod]

Checking in for Erica.
Wouldn't a boss or co-worker possibly go check on her home, if they hadn't heard from her after a certain time frame and/or might not have next of kin contact info? I suppose that could depend on how far her home is from her work, as well as her being part-time or full-time, as was mentioned above.
Employers could also request a welfare check, if no one could reach her son. These things might help much in finding her, but hopefully LE has those answers to narrow down when she went missing.

 

[Steelslady]

Let's assume that the dishes in the kitchen and bedroom were for one person. She slovenly ate and left a mess, ran out her back door, erased evidence, jumped in her car with her phone and took off.

Let's assume that the dishes in the kitchen and badroom are for one person over two days, or two people over one day. Why would anyone crank the A/C and leave the back door open? No one wants to pay that bill.

That suggests that she left the door open unintentionally, the A/C was programmed to turn on, and her son was a week late? What, didn't someone from work check on her, did they just assume she stopped working and notified no one?

How long was it between the time of the dishes and the discovery of her body? A week? Why? If it is the son who was notified and he took a week to disclose, then I have a hard time thinking he is not guilty of something. Maybe someone was looking for the Will and needed a week?

But why would she take the time to bother erasing the video of her place if she was just going to take off?

Most people wouldn't even think of doing that, if they wanted to leave on their own or self-harm.

The moldy dishes were probably from the heat- it was 88 degrees for at least one day anyway. If they're left out like that for a couple of days, flies start buzzing around and mold will begin.

The cat(s) vomiting has me a little alarmed. Something didn't agree with their tummies that caused them to be sick like that. I don't want to suggest poisoning because so far there's no evidence of that.

 

[Steelslady]

Let's assume that the dishes in the kitchen and bedroom were for one person. She slovenly ate and left a mess, ran out her back door, erased evidence, jumped in her car with her phone and took off.

Let's assume that the dishes in the kitchen and badroom are for one person over two days, or two people over one day. Why would anyone crank the A/C and leave the back door open? No one wants to pay that bill.

That suggests that she left the door open unintentionally, the A/C was programmed to turn on, and her son was a week late? What, didn't someone from work check on her, did they just assume she stopped working and notified no one?

How long was it between the time of the dishes and the discovery of her body? A week? Why? If it is the son who was notified and he took a week to disclose, then I have a hard time thinking he is not guilty of something. Maybe someone was looking for the Will and needed a week?

Believe it or not, not all work places call your home or next of kin to find out where you are.

If you have a close co-worker, they might try to drop by to see if you are ok. Seeing that her back door was open and not the front, if anyone did drop by, they might assume she went out for a bit, especially if they heard the AC running.

 

[Steelslady]

Just for reference: The distance between her home (Brookfield, IL) to location her phone last pinged (Springfield, Missouri) is appx 500 miles (7.5 hours driving time)

Wow that is quite a haul! Does she know anyone from that area, I wonder?

 

[Steelslady]

Checking in for Erica.
Wouldn't a boss or co-worker possibly go check on her home, if they hadn't heard from her after a certain time frame and/or might not have next of kin contact info? I suppose that could depend on how far her home is from her work, as well as her being part-time or full-time, as was mentioned above.
Employers could also request a welfare check, if no one could reach her son. These things might help much in finding her, but hopefully LE has those answers to narrow down when she went missing.

Several of us have said not all employers ask for a next of kin or emergency contact. My last job didn't. Sometimes the attitude of someone not showing up at work is "oh well there goes another one, time to place another ad". They just assume that the person quit on their own or possibly found another job and didn't bother to give a notice.

 

[Dre]

I hope (I’m sure) they saved the utensils for possible DNA... she also could have been depressed or fallen into some bad habits having lived alone. I wonder who the person mentioned was who had lived with her previously..
Between her beloved cats being unattended, her not communicating with work, her phones last ping 7.5 hours away and last and most important (to me) is the surveillance being tampered with.. I’m sorry to say I believe it’s foul play involving someone she knows.
It says in posts above that she “left work on sept 25” and then “on oct 1st Thompson failed to show up for work or call in sick..”
So this might mean she only works Tuesdays and Wednesdays?

 

[Steelslady]

I hope (I’m sure) they saved the utensils for possible DNA... she also could have been depressed or fallen into some bad habits having lived alone. I wonder who the person mentioned was who had lived with her previously..
Between her beloved cats being unattended, her not communicating with work, her phones last ping 7.5 hours away and last and most important (to me) is the surveillance being tampered with.. I’m sorry to say I believe it’s foul play involving someone she knows.
It says in posts above that she “left work on sept 25” and then “on oct 1st Thompson failed to show up for work or call in sick..”
So this might mean she only works Tuesdays and Wednesdays?

Yeah, I'm not getting the vibe that she took off on her own. I also don't get the vibe that she drove 7.5 hours to do self harm- to me, someone's got her phone and obviously drove it there. Too many hinky things going on here that just don't jive with me.

The erasing of video- a person who is going to do self harm wouldn't think of doing such a thing, especially if they weren't going to do it in the house.

Her vehicle is still missing, correct? Makes me nervous.

She has a sister who has been active on FB as well. I think it's ok to post that she took two of the kitties home with her to take care of, the third one is in the house, but hiding and is eating and drinking. They thought that the third kitty might have been outside- sounds like the door was completely open- storm or screen door included, as that's why they thought the kitty might have gone outside. If this is considered inappropriate, Mods/Admins, I apologize and feel free to delete it. I know lots of animal lovers are on here and thought maybe they'd like to know that the kitties are being well taken care of and her family is just devastated.

 

[Tripod]

Checking in for Erica. Prayers continue, for her, her family and LE investigators.