Body Found In Calumet City Near Where Police Had Searched For Nailah Franklin

(CBS) CHICAGO The family of Nailah Franklin may find out on Friday whether a body found in the woods in Calumet City is hers.

The severely decomposed body was found in the woods behind a vacant business at 260 River Oaks Dr. in Calumet City early Thursday morning. The body was found in the same area where police and FBI agents a day earlier had been looking for Franklin, an Eli Lilly pharmaceutical representative who disappeared last week.

As CBS 2's Rafael Romo reports, the Cook County Medical Examiner's office has scheduled an autopsy for later Friday, and the task of positively identifying the woman has proven to be a greater challenge than expected.

The woman's body had been lying in the woods for several days, and officials said dental records will be needed to make a final identification. Meanwhile, Franklin's family is anxiously awaiting an announcement.

"We all love her and we're just praying for her safe return," said Franklin's cousin, Lela Toney. "We are, as everyone else is, waiting for news."

In the nine days since Franklin vanished, the wait has been agonizingly long for her family. They are still holding out hope for her safe return.

"It's been a sad, stressful week for all of us, and we don't want the worst case scenario to become a reality," said Franklin's uncle, Jon Merrill.

Since Franklin vanished, her sisters have orchestrated an extraordinary media blitz. A full-page Chicago Tribune ad appeared Thursday, paid for by her employer, Eli Lilly, and earlier, a blizzard of posters, media interviews, a Web site and a cash rewards.

"We have to believe," said Franklin's sister Marina Franklin. "You can't sit and wait for things to come to you. You can't sit at home and wait for people to give you information. You have to do something about it."

Meanwhile, police say the investigation is ongoing. They said when the partially buried body was found, there was no way to determine who it was, or even the race of the victim.

"What we have found is a female, unclothed, in a condition of being decomposed," Calumet City police Chief Russ Larson said.

The body might have been in that location for a week.

Franklin's car was found just across the Indiana state line in Hammond, Ind., last Friday. Police found personal items belonging to her in a golf course last weekend, and the unidentified body was located only two miles away, in the Wentworth Woods forest preserve in Calumet City.

A headset on the ground near the woods led police officers to the body.

"The officers observed an item that drew attention that took their attention they got out they parked their cars and... walked around the area, without being too graphic they made the discovery," Larson said.

The discovery was made across the street from the River Oaks car dealership. Chicago police are looking at surveillance video taken from the car dealer's camera.

An employee there says he saw a black car that looked like Franklin's Impala parked in that area last Friday before 9 p.m.

He said it was parked by the tree-line and sped away but he thought nothing of it until police showed up at that location Thursday. That's when he told police about his observation.

"We all desperately want to find the identity of the person," Larson said.

CBS 2's Rafael Romo contributed to this report.

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