Chicago — 31-year-old Elise Marary’s family and friends sought an answer about their whereabouts when Evanston activists stopped responding on March 9.
Two days later, Marary was reported missing, according to Evanston police. On Saturday afternoon, authorities confirmed Marary’s body after a woman was witnessed underwater and Thursday night after Evanston police and a fire department responded to a garden park on the shoreline of Lake Michigan in 500 blocks of Sheridan Square. Confirmed that it was identified in.
According to a statement by Evanston police, the Evanston Fire Department recovered the malary from the water and transferred it to the Cook County Medical Inspector’s Office.
After the Marary was reported missing, Marary’s friend Alexis Martinez was the one who was “always there for you.”
Marary was known for its social advocacy for LGBTQ people, people of color, and transgender people. Through her position as a board member of the non-profit Chicago Therapy Collective, Martinez said she had “deep influence.”
Born and raised in Chicago, Marary used to live in Andersonville. According to a statement from the Chicago Therapy Collective, activists and several elected officials, including Chicago’s Alderman Andre Vasquez, 40, and Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, have called for the return of the Marary. He said Basquez and Marary met in a city council campaign.
“You meet a lot of activists, they do a lot of work, but they don’t have the same level of joy and love that Elise brings,” Basquez said before Marary’s body was discovered. Said.
“We have faced personal losses in recent months,” and “occasionally expressed concern about her safety,” Marary said in a collective statement released Wednesday. According to police, she quit her job with Illinois Attorney General Kwameraul on March 9.
Police said the door to her residence was found to be unlocked, and on Tuesday afternoon a car was found locked in an urban area near where she disappeared. Police are continuing the investigation, but no signs of cheating have been found, officials said.
A friend described Marary as sweet, affectionate, and even shy at the first encounter. Her multiple friends described her as “intense.”
“She makes me feel very much seen and heard just by being with her, without saying a word,” said Nat Bikisles, who met her through the work of social justice.
“Elise is my best friend, leader and advocate of the transgender community,” Basquez wrote. “Her smile and energy illuminate every room she is in.”
In that statement, the Chicago Therapy Collective also cautioned against other cases of missing black women, indigenous women, and transgender women.
Maralley “wants to pay the same attention to all these groups,” said Iggy Laden, founder of the Chicago Therapy Collective, who said he was proud of how Chicago got together on behalf of Maralie. Said.
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