CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) —The reward is now $8,000 for information that will solve the murder of a 22-year-old teacher’s aide whose body was found in a south suburban forest preserve last week.
On Monday Nov. 2, Vanessa Ceja-Ramirez went for a walk with her mother in a Midlothian forest preserve. The family says Vanessa decided to go a different route.
She disappeared, and her body was found two days later in the forest preserve. She’d been strangled; some reports say, she’d been tortured.
Her cousin Carolina Abrams read a statement on behalf of the family Thursday:
“For the person that did this heinous crime, if you’re listening to this, you are a coward, lowlife and truly are the scum of the earth for what you have done. You have no place in society.
“We will find you. Then and only then will true justice be served.”
Forest Preserve Police have said Vanessa Ceja-Ramirez’s cell phone pinged at an apartment building in Oak Forest.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Cook County Sheriff’s Police at 708-865-4896, or email detective.division@cookcountyil.gov.