Alyssa Smith’s mother has issued a public plea for social media users to stop debating her daughter’s disappearance online as the search for the missing Illinois woman enters its second week.
Rebecca Smith warned on Wednesday that her daughter, 24, “is still missing” despite unverified reports circulating that the Palatine resident had been found. The younger Smith, a Chipotle Mexican Grill worker, was last heard from on Sept. 27 and was formally reported missing to Palatine police on Sept. 30.
“Until Alyssa is physically located and can speak for herself and tell authorities and her family that she is safe and does not wish to return home or have contact, we will continue to consider her missing and continue looking for her,” Rebecca Smith wrote in an online post. She urged users to stop “debating the circumstances [of her disappearance] in the comments.”
“Until Alyssa herself is found and her safety is confirmed, we will keep looking.”
The circumstances surrounding Smith’s disappearance remain unclear. She had been traveling in Chicago with her boyfriend, Jacob Ray Caso, a Crystal Lake tattoo artist, approximately 30 miles from her hometown. Caso returned home alone on Oct. 1, according to Rebecca Smith, and subsequently searched the area where his girlfriend was last seen.
Palatine police said Monday that Smith was last spotted in Chicago’s 11th district “somewhere between Cicero, Pulaski and Madison.” She was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, light khaki-colored pants, and white Adidas shoes at the time. Authorities noted she has a “Pennywise clown tattoo on her shoulder.”
Caso has posted desperate appeals on Facebook amid the search effort. “Time to come home b,” he wrote Friday. “No one is mad at you.”
He has also shared posters claiming Smith was identified from a TikTok video, though no additional context was provided. On Wednesday, a post claimed an anonymous tip had been submitted indicating Smith was found alive, but Palatine Police have not issued any further update confirming this.
Police have received reports of possible sightings in Grant Park in Downtown Chicago and on Chicago’s West Side. Smith’s family members distributed missing person posters that noted she may have had a “possible black eye,” though authorities did not confirm any such markings.
The couple had marked one year of dating less than nine months ago, having been together since Jan. 21. Smith celebrated the milestone in a Feb. 2 Instagram post. “I can’t believe I’ve been with this old guy for a year now,” she wrote.
“I love you so much and I can’t wait to see what the future brings us.”
