Grace & the Windy City (Chicago P.D)

Chapter 14- Officially Missing

"That was Racine County PD up in Wisconsin. They reported the only car at the property was a Honda Civic belonging to Grace. Her phone and wallet were left on the kitchen counter," Jay spoke up after hanging up the phone. "There wasn't any sign of her up there."

The unit tried to hide their disconcerting expressions from Adam, as he scrambled to find the Keller's phone number in the computer system. It went straight to their answering machine each time.

"Another thing...they said there were two sets of footprints in the snow. One smaller like a woman's and a larger one, like men's size 11." Jay continued.

Adam felt his blood turn cold.

"Ok," Voight began, "We're officially working this as a missing persons case. Erin, set up the board."

Erin started to brief the rest of the unit on the situation. She had the whiteboard set up and pinned a photo of Grace up, along with a map of the Ruzek property from satellite images.

"Here's what we know so far. Grace Ruzek, 17, missing since yesterday around 11 am. Last known location is 2723 Lakeside Road, near Burlington, Wisconsin. She called a firefighter from 51, Matt Casey about a problem with the heating and water tank. After he helped her out over the phone, he said there was a loud noise and that the roof caved in. The line cut out but she called back to say she was fine. That was the last time she made contact. Racine County P.D found her car and belongings at the scene along with two pairs of prints in the snow."

"We've been granted jurisdiction in Wisconsin for this." Voight told them. "Ruzek, Dawson, Halstead, Lindsay and I will drive up to Wisconsin now. Olinsky you'll stay behind with Mouse and work the case from here. If there's another angle to this in Chicago, we'll need boots on the ground. We roll out in 5."

"We'll find her." Olinsky reassured Adam.

Voight turned left onto the WI-142 towards Burlington, with Antonio in the passenger seat and Adam in the back. Erin and Jay were riding in their car directly behind them.

"Is there anyone else Grace may have come into contact with? Neighbors?" Voight asked.

Adam shook his head. "I don't know. Besides the Keller's next door, it's pretty isolated up here in the winter. People keep to themselves, man. I have no idea why she'd wander off alone or why someone would take her. It doesn't add up."

Mouse was able to access Grace's phone records and relayed the info to Antonio and Erin. Her last outgoing call was after 11 am to Matt the day before. Since then, her phone hadn't moved an inch and the only incoming calls were from Adam, Becca and her father. Voight and the unit were briefed by the Racine County P.D officers at the cabin, and the only notable evidence they had were the boot prints in the snow. They led down from the back porch, around the cabin and up the side along the pine trees towards the road. At one point there looked to be a struggle, like someone had been dragged. That was the one good thing about Grace's mysterious disappearance in the backcountry: any trace of her would be left in the snow.

"I keep telling myself to be thankful there's no blood." a stressed out Adam said, with his head in his hands.

Voight signaled for the team to gather around. "Alright, we need to knock on some doors out here. Jay and Erin, go canvas the neighbors. Area police will assist. Call on the radios if you find anything."

Jay and Erin went door by door up the road and spoke to whoever was home, if anyone. At the 6th house, a rough-around-the-edges looking man smoking a cigarette opened the door.

"Yeah...yeah, I heard something yesterday. A loud muffled noise," he replied when asked if he heard anything out of the ordinary the last day or so.