Revealed: College student, 22, whose body was found in Illinois forest two days after she went missing during a walk was strangled
A college student from suburban Chicago who was found dead at a forest preserve, two days after she went missing there during a nature walk was strangled.
Autopsy results released on Thursday by the Cook County medical examiner’s office revealed Vanessa Ceja-Ramirez died of asphyxiation due to a ligature strangulation. Her death has been ruled a homicide.
The 22-year-old woman's body was discovered at 1.30pm on Wednesday at the Midlothian Meadows Forest Preserve in the 15300 block of South Crawford Avenue.
The Cook County sheriff’s office is conducting a death investigation.
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Police in Illinois on Wednesday discovered the body of Vanessa Ceja-Ramirez, 22. The college student went missing two days prior during a walk at a suburban Chicago forest preserve with her mother and a friend
Ceja-Ramirez's body was located at the Midlothian Meadows Forest Preserve in the 15300 block of South Crawford Avenue
Ceja-Ramirez vanished on Monday after she decided to return to the car midway through the walk in the nature preserve with her mother and friend.
When her mom and friend returned to the vehicle, Ceja-Ramirez was nowhere to be found and could not be contacted, police said.
Police scouted a two-square-mile area in the forest in search of the missing woman with helicopters and K-9 dogs. The animals picked up Ceja-Ramirez's scent at 151st and Pulaski Avenue, near the location of her cellphone's last ping.
Based on that information, police searched an apartment building located two miles away in Oak Forest, but failed to find any clues there.
Her body was later discovered at the Midlothian Meadows Forest Preserve.
A missing poster for Cera-Ramirez indicates that she was 5-foot-5 and weighed just 115lbs
Ceja-Ramirez’s loved ones gathered Wednesday night for a vigil in Harvey, where they remembered her as a college student and teacher's aide who was the light of her family and community.
Relatives said they fear she may have been the victim of foul play, WLS-TV reported.
'She’s just somebody that we believed in, that had her future in her hands, just like most of our kids here,' said Alejandro Villegas, her uncle. 'She was a sweet child that was humble, smiled, shy. She was a good person. And she just didn’t deserve anything of this.'
Harvey Mayor Christopher Clark urged the public to come forward with any information they might have on what happened to Ceja-Ramirez.
'Whatever information you may have, if you just saw Vanessa at a split second, say something to someone about it,' Clark said.