Tanner Conroyd of St. Charles Area Found Safe in Chicago

Tanner Conroyd, the St. Charles-area woman whose disappearance on Sunday after an argument with family members sparked a search from Chicago to Normal, was located safe in a Chicago hospital, the Kane County Sheriff’s Office reported Thursday shortly before 12:30 p.m.

“At approximately 11:15 a.m. today, the Kane County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by a Chicago area hospital who confirmed that Tanner is at their facility and being treated,” Sheriff’s Lt. Pat Gengler wrote in a release. “The Sheriff’s Office is not releasing the name of the facility or going into details of her condition. Based on the information that we have she was not the victim of foul play.”

According to Gengler, detectives were told by hospital staff that it was the media that led them to realizing who she was and led them to call the sheriff’s office with the information.

The search for the 20-year-old involved authorities from at least five jurisdictions from Chicago to Normal. The family initiated the search Sunday night after Conroyd failed to show up at Illinois State University, where her father believed she was headed after she left their home along Route 31 in rural St. Charles about noon Sunday. She left the home after an argument with family members, authorities said. She was planning to attend ISU this fall but had not yet enrolled.

Her family reported her missing to the Normal Police Department on Sunday evening when they contacted her friends at ISU and learned none of them had seen her arrive at the school.

That marked the beginning of a search that was joined by the Kane County Sheriff’s Office, and police departments in , Sugar Grove, Normal and Chicago.

Initial findings by authorities were not encouraging. They traced Conroyd to Sugar Grove, where she had filled her gas tank about 1 p.m., and then she was seen about 1:30 p.m. at the Brown Pub in Hinckley, where she stayed for about three hours after her car apparently broke down. Initial reports had her accepting a ride with an older man, but later, the sheriff's office said Conroyd had solicited the help of an area resident who gave her a ride to the Aurora Transportation Center, where authorities believe she took a train to Chicago's Union Station.

Late Sunday, she spoke to a security guard at Millennium Park in Chicago when the park was closing. She gave the guard her cellphone number so he could call her to make sure she got home OK. Her family had her phone and talked to the security guard when he called.

On Monday, Aug. 20, she was seen again at Millennium Park, which was the last confirmed sighting of her.

“This type of activity is out of the ordinary for Tanner and her family is concerned that she may be suffering from some sort of psychological issue,” a release on Wednesday stated. It also announced that the family has set up a Facebook page: Find Tanner Conroyd.