Carpentersville teen Brissa Romero drowned after crashing into pond; had alcohol and THC in her system
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Autopsy results revealed a 17-year-old girl was under the influence of alcohol and THC when she crashed her car into a pond in Vernon Hills and drowned last month.
Divers pulled Brissa Romero's body from a pond near Lakeview and Executive parkways on Dec. 12, more than a week after she had been reported missing.
On Thursday, the Lake County Coroner's Office said an autopsy determined her cause of death was drowning, with alcohol intoxication as a contributing factor. Toxicology tests showed Brissa's blood alcohol level was 0.16 – twice the legal limit for driving – and she had THC in her system. THC is the intoxicating compound found in marijuana, but was not listed as a factor in Brissa's death.
Brissa's death was ruled an accident.
Police believe Brissa accidentally drove her Nissan Rogue into the pond on the day she went missing on Dec. 4.
Brissa is believed to have been on her way to a bowling alley in Vernon Hills when she went missing. She was supposed to attend a holiday party at the bowling alley, but she never showed up.
Surveillance video obtained from a nearby fast food restaurant on Monday showed Brissa walking in and out of the restaurant by herself, and then driving away about 15 minutes before her cell phone last pinged near the pond.
One week after Brissa went missing, analysis of cell phone data led search teams to the pond in Vernon Hills where her SUV was found on Dec. 11. Her body was found one day later.
Police said the pond is just off a T-intersection of Lakeview Parkway and Executive Parkway, and it appears Brissa might have been unfamiliar with the area, an instead of turning right or left at the T, went through the intersection, down an embankment, and into the pond.
