Missing woman Anu Solanki is alive, authorities say

Put this in the "What happened here?" column. This has been in the news this week that a woman left work and hasn't been heard from since. Now police believe that this married woman is with a man, who's not her husband, out there somewhere. It has gotten weird. From the Chicago Tribune...

Police said today that they believe Anu Solanki, 24, missing since Monday, is alive and is with a 23-year-old man from California.

Using cell phone records, detectives learned that Solanki was in contact with Karan C. Jani many times on the day she disappeared. Police believe Solanki may have met Jani at the Dam 1 Woods after she left work that day to properly discard a broken religious statue. Authorities said they have not found the idol and believe she went to the woods to meet Jani.

On the day she disappeared, Solanki placed a call to a female friend around 1:40 p.m. In that conversation, she told her friend she was at the Des Plaines River by the dam, but phone records showed she was actually near DeKalb, detectives said.

Cook County authorities released a photo of Jani today and asked if anyone sees the couple to contact police. Authorities said they do not know where they have gone.

Authorities said they don't know how Solanki and Jani met, but phone records showed they had been in contact for about a year. Jani is a recent graduate of the University of Southern California and could still live in that region, authorities said.

On Friday, Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart asked the couple or anyone who might see them to reach out to authorities. Though Solanki may have left williingly, her family is still concerned. Dart said. Solanki was married in May in New Jersey and Dart said her husband, Dignesh Solanki, did not know Jani or that she had a relationship with him.

Authorities believe the two fled in a rental car, but they did not know what make or model. Since she's disappeared, Solanki's cell phone has not been working, Dart said.

He added that authorities have spent $250,000 in the search for Solanki. He also said at this time they do not anticipate any criminal charges being filed against anyone.

The search for Solanki started Monday after family members reported Solanki missing and said she might have gone to the Des Plaines river to dispose of a broken Hindu idol. A car belonging to Solanki, of unincorporated Des Plaines, was found Monday in a forest preserve parking lot at Hintz Road and Milwaukee Avenue, near Wheeling. She told her husband she wanted to discard of a statue of Ganesh that had been mailed to them recenlty and arrived broken.

Unless there is no foul play involved here I do wonder if she willing left with this man and is choosing to run around the country with him.