Times Staff Report

The search for a missing 28-year-old Chicago woman focused on a Calumet City golf course after her car was located Friday night across the state line in Hammond.

The Chevrolet Impala belonging to Nailah Franklin was located Friday night near an abandoned building in Hammond, Chicago police spokeswoman Monique Bond said.

"The vehicle has been relocated to Chicago for forensics and evidence processing," she said.

Authorities finished searching a small lagoon at the River Oaks Golf Course property at 1 Park Ave. in Calumet City at about 10 a.m. this morning, Calumet City Police Investigator Marco Glumac said.

"That turned up negative for anything," he said. "They were out there for a good three and a half hours in the water, and they searched every last inch of that. It's not all that deep or big, so we are not talking about a terribly big body of water. There was nothing to be found, evidence-wise, victim-wise or anything."

Franklin's car was found about three miles from the lagoon, near the intersection of Kenwood Street and Blaine Avenue in Hammond, behind the Oak Hill Cemetery, Glumac said.

It's common for police to "extend a large perimeter" and search nearby bodies of water, Bond said, but she couldn't confirm where exactly the car was found.

"They are searching all of that area, the entire area," she said. "It's an extensive search effort going on right now. They are not limiting their search (to the lagoon), but it's one of the locations they are searching."

Franklin, a 28-year-old pharmaceutical representative for Eli Lilly, was last heard from Tuesday when she sent a text message to friends and family, The Associated Press reported.

The golf course is on Cook County Forest Preserve property, said Forest Preserve police spokesman Steve Mayberry. The property is near 159th Street and the Bishop Ford Freeway in Calumet City, he said.

Cook County sheriff's police provided a number of officers to assist with this morning's search, Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Penny Mateck said.

Lehia Franklin Acox told The Associated Press that the discovery of her sister's car in Hammond was heartening because it could provide some clue about her whereabouts, but she could not say why her sister might have been in Indiana.

Franklin's family told NBC 5 they became concerned when she failed to show up for a business meeting earlier this week.

Police visited Franklin's University Village apartment in the 1500 block of South Sangamon Street on Thursday night and found several personal items missing, NBC5 reported.