Missing Des Plaines woman found alive

[Eclipse]

This has been very frustrating for us because the search was going on across the street from one of the state's most active ES units.

We checked with the lead agency and they did not need help, especially because the initial search was in the river.

Her car was found with the engine running and her passport and laptop missing. Now it turns out that she was high-tailing it out of the state, likely to California. I'm surprised they didn't dig up those tower records earlier - DeKalb is about an hour West of the search location.

If its not illegal to disappear yourself, especially when the search becomes big and public, it shoudl be, and I hope they can go after her for search costs in civil court.

By Sue Ter Maat | Daily Herald Staff  Published: 12/28/2007 12:07 AM | Updated: 12/28/2007 4:07 PM

Anu Solanki, the Des Plaines woman who has been the subject of an intense search since she disappeared Dec. 24, is alive and has left the Chicago area with a friend, police said this afternoon.

Authorities from the Cook County Sheriff's Department announced they believe Solanki has left the Chicago area with a friend of hers, and that she has gone willingly.

"We have come to the conclusion that they left voluntarily and the two of them are together," said Sheriff Thomas Dart.

Solanki, 24, is believed to be in the company of a recent graduate of the University of Southern California, Dart said.

Dart said they believe the two have had a relationship for a year but didn't characterize what kind of relationship it is.

He added that Anu's husband, Dignesh, was not aware of her friendship with the man, nor was anyone else in her family.

For two days, divers and police searched the Des Plaines River and riverbanks near the Dam No. 1 Woods in Wheeling, where her car was found abandoned in the parking lot Monday afternoon.

Police and Solanki's family were additionally puzzled by cell phone calls Solanki made Monday afternoon to a female friend, saying she was driving to the river to dispose of a broken statue of a Hindu deity -- and that she thought she was being followed by a car with four men in it.

Dart said investigators have determined the call was routed through a cell tower near DeKalb -- indicating she was probably westbound on I-88, not in Wheeling, at the time.

Dart said Jani placed several calls to Solanki's cell phone Monday while she was working at the Westin North Shore Hotel gift shop. Those calls originated from the Wheeling area.

Dart said Solanki left work around noon Monday, and called her female friend at about 1:40 p.m. Her car was discovered at Dam 1 Woods around 4 p.m., missing a laptop computer and Solanki's passport.

Anu Solanki's brother, Dharen Patel, told reporters this afternoon he's sad it happened, and that he wasn't aware of any problems in Anu's marriage that would have prompted her flight.

"I don't care why she did this, I'm just glad she's alive," he said. "We want her to know that we love her."

Dignesh and Anu Patel dated for about two years before they married in May 2007 in New Jersey. The statue of Ganesh that she was going to put in the river was at their wedding ceremony, but had broken in transit to Des Plaines and a Hindu priest advised them to dispose of it in moving water.

Authorities now say they believe Solanki went to the river to meet Jani. The statue was not found.

Police said they are continuing to look for Jani and Solanki, and say it's possible they have gone to California. Dart said even if she went willingly, her family is still concerned.

In response to questions, Dart said the investigation into Solanki's disappearance has cost authorities about $250,000. He said he didn't know if the county would try to recover the costs.

[SJFedor]

Wow, a quarter mil on that search.

I think that ranks up there as a similar offense to turning your ELT on to watch the pretty planes fly by.

Some people are just silly.

[RiverAux]

I'd have to question that cost figure.  For a search of such short duration I just don't buy it. 

[IceNine]

You have to figure the area (Very close to chicago), cost of aircraft, SP boats, and publicity and all the nightmares that that brings.

This search was broadcast on several national news stations right along with the Stacey Petersen search and the tiger attack...  so I'm sure they had to man up and handle the "I'm here now how can I help fiasco.

Plus, normal cost of food, etc.. and you're looking at Lots of money Very fast

[SJFedor]

Eh, between manpower, equipment, and any cool toys (helicopters, sonar, etc), I might believe it.

Even so, the fine should match about that much for being a total durh-da-durh.

[Eclipse]

For one thing they had a chopper in the air for most of at least one day, and we've heard operational costs for these things in search mode of about $15k an hour.

At least five different agencies were doing dive work for several days, not to mention all the patrol and foot searching, etc., this happened over Christmas, so my guess is the OT was astronomical as well.

Just like military operations, a lot of the cost is salary and expenses that would have been incurred regardless, but happened to be focused on this area.

[RiverAux]

Perhaps flying pig could better speak to typical LE helicopter search costs, but it ain't no $15,000 per hour.  Less than $1000/hour is more like it.

Think about the Fossett search where it took the National Guard 2-3 weeks to spend 400-500K.

Boats don't cost that much to operate. 

I can easily imagine costs of 25,000-50,000, but beyond that I would want to start seeing some receipts. 

[Eclipse]

^ You're right, I was echoing a number bandied about when CAP sells its services.  A quick google shows its actually about $1000-4000 an hour, with most under $2k, though I don't know if that includes the gold-plated crew. 

[NIN]

^ You're right, I was echoing a number bandied about when CAP sells its services.  A quick google shows its actually about $1000-4000 an hour, with most under $2k, though I don't know if that includes the gold-plated crew. 

The crew can be as gold plated as it wants, but your average helo, even an LE helo with expensive toys on board, only costs jet fuel + maintenance / hr, essentially.

Its like the Airvan: Even with Archer on board, that airplane still only costs $75-85 an hour to run. Its not like "Whoops, we turned on the FLIR... look at the taxi-cab meter double in speed!"

A 206B has about 76 gallons of fuel capacity, and its got an endurance of about 3 1/2 hrs.  So figure, roughly, 25 gal/hr.  Jet A is about $4.75 a gallon, so that's about, what, $120/hr in gas alone?  Add in a per hr maintenance cost of twice that ($240/hr) just to be generous (I was a helicopter mechanic, but I have no clue what a per hour maintenance cost is on civilian aircraft...) and you're still only looking at less than $400/hr.  Factor in crew salaries at, say, $20/hr per crew member.  That's another $60.  So, what, $120 + $240 + $60... that's still only just a shade over $400 / hr.

I think the $1000/hr number is usually an AWFULLY round number.  As in nearly double the round number it should be.

I'm curious what they spent $250,000 on in such a short period of time.  Maybe Cosmo kept bringing them those chocolate donuts.. the ones with the little sprinkles on 'em...

[Eclipse]

There >is< a brand new Dunkin Donuts >AND< a Jimmy John's right there, not to mention McD's and the 94th Aero Squadron restaurant.

[sardak]

For those interested in budgeting air ops for their next search or invasion, attached are:
FY08 Reimbursement rates for military helos, from the DoD comptroller - split into the O&M, Crew, and Asset Utilization $/hr
Low Army TH-67 (Bell 206-III) $660/hr
High Navy CH-53E $13,264/hr
The USAF special ops 53s aren't on the list.

2007 National Interagency Fire Center rates for civilian contract helos. Crew is included in the hourly rate, but the chart also shows gal/hr consumption for estimating fuel costs.
Low Bell 47 $558/hr + 23gph
Bell 206-III $690/hr + 27 gph (comparable to the TH-67)
High S-64/CH-54 Skycrane $6370/hr + 525 gph

For S&G, I've also included the DoD fixed wing reimbursement rates.  These make CAP look like a better bargain than we advertise.

Mike

[PHall]

The USAF special ops 53s aren't on the list.

They're all retired to the boneyard and thus are not available.

And no, I don't think CAP-USAF will approve of CAP trying to get a couple from DRMO either!

[RiverAux]

sardak's numbers are much closer to the sort of prices I have paid to rent helicopters for varioius work-related activities. 

[Eclipse]

AVGas in Illinois if about $5 a gallon right now, so add $125 for the regular helos and $1200 for a skycrane.

Hm...

I bet if I did a Skycrane lift of a school bus (ala "Swordfish"), I'd have no problem with attendance at encampment this year.   


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC25hgTflVc

[NIN]

AVGas in Illinois if about $5 a gallon right now, so add $125 for the regular helos and $1200 for a skycrane.

100LL is $5.98 at PWK according to AirNav.  Jet A is, in theory, cheaper....

[sardak]

The USAF special ops 53s aren't on the list.

They're all retired to the boneyard and thus are not available.

That would explain why Kirtland sent us a V-22 Osprey for a search earlier this year instead of a 53.

Mike

[Eclipse]

They are still sticking to that $250,000 number...

Woman who disappeared won't be charged
By Ames Boykin | Daly Herald Staff
Published: 12/31/2007 6:53 PM | Updated: 1/1/2008 12:02 AM

No charges will be filed against a suburban woman who ditched her car with the motor running and ran away to California with a male friend last week, Cook County authorities said Monday.

Both Cook County sheriff's police and prosecutors reviewed the case of 24-year-old Anu Solanki, a resident of unincorporated Cook County near Des Plaines, who returned to the area Friday after fleeing her recently married husband Dec. 24.

"We have found that no criminal charges are appropriate," Cook County sheriff's police spokeswoman Penny Mateck said Monday.

Solanki told authorities she never meant to fake her disappearance. She told them she wanted a "clean and quick" break from her marriage.

After she left her job Dec. 24 at the Westin Hotel gift shop in Wheeling, she told her husband, Dignesh, she was headed to the river to dispose of a broken statue of a Hindu deity.

Investigators said she did throw the figure in the Des Plaines River in a Cook County Forest Preserve in Wheeling.

She then got into the car of a 23-year-old male friend -- Karan C. Jani -- and began driving to California.

Her disappearance prompted investigators to search the river and surrounding woods -- a search involving underwater divers and helicopters that investigators say cost $250,000.

Questions were raised after police tracked a call Solanki made to a female friend about the time of her disappearance and determined she most likely was driving westbound on I-88, not in Wheeling, at the time.

Solanki returned to the area to speak with investigators after the friend noticed the media coverage and impassioned pleas from family members. She told police she left her car because it belonged to her husband.

Authorities said they have not determined whether they might seek restitution for the costly search in civil court.

The young couple were born in India's Gujarat state and were married there Oct. 6, 2006, after Dignesh Solanki's mother introduced them. They held a second Hindu wedding May 6 in New Jersey.

Neither Diglesh nor Anu Solanki could be reached for comment Monday.

Dignesh Solanki, 27, had said last week he thought his wife was abducted or swept away in the Des Plaines River while trying to dispose of the broken Hindu statue.

After his wife turned up, Dignesh Solanki, a grocery store clerk, told a newspaper that he's angry with the male friend, a recent University of Southern California graduate who he says "messed my life up."

He also said the couple's marriage was strained, saying the two fought over finances and housekeeping.

But he said he loved Anu. Since they were married, they traveled to Las Vegas, the Wisconsin Dells and the Indiana Dunes, he said.

"If she had to run away, she could have told me she needed a break from me."