WHEELING: Authorities said they believe an Indian-born woman who was thought to have drowned while placing a Hindu statue in an Illinois river is instead alive and with a male friend.
Anu Solanki, 24, seems to have left the Chicago area voluntarily with the 23-year-old male friend from California, the Cook County sheriff's office said. They have not been located.
Solanki's husband was not aware of that friendship, Sheriff Tom Dart said.
Solanki disappeared Christmas Eve, and her car was found in a forest preserve parking lot.
Her husband had said she may have been placing a broken Hindu statue in a river after a religious leader told them doing so would help prevent bad luck. Authorities had said they feared Solanki may have slipped into the river.
