A California Woman Has Been Missing for 3 Months. Her Brothers Are Determined to Find Her: ‘We Need Help’
Chantel Brooks, 37, had been missing since July 17, when she was last seen outside a CVS in Fairfield, California; police believed foul play was involved; her family wanted to keep the case in public view; brothers Calvin and Kevin had organized searches and launched a fundraiser to hire a private investigator.
The family of a California woman missing for three months remained determined to find her.
Chantel was last seen on surveillance footage in the early morning hours of July 17, according to an August press release from the Fairfield Police Department.
She turned 37 on August 13 and was 36 at the time of her disappearance.
She was last observed on surveillance camera leaving her job in the 700 block of Eddy Street in San Francisco at approximately 12:20 a.m. on July 17, according to the release.
Surveillance footage then caught her leaving a CVS store in Fairfield at approximately 1:45 a.m. the same morning. She was last seen approaching her car in the parking lot.
Her vehicle, as given in the article, was a black 2021 Infiniti QX50 SUV.
In a follow-up release shared on August 18, police stated that they believed Chantel’s disappearance involved foul play.
The police department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment on Thursday, October 22.
More than three months after she was last seen, the family was refusing to let the case go cold.
Calvin Robinson, to SFGATE, said his life had kind of been on pause and he did not mind, that he loved his sister, and that he would do anything he could to help bring her back.
Calvin, who lives in Los Angeles, said he immediately traveled to the Bay Area upon learning Chantel was missing.
He said people should understand she was more than a flyer or headline — a daughter, sister, friend, and a woman with dreams that still deserved to come true.
He said the family calls her CiCi, that she ran a beauty business called Glamour House, and that she was a hardworking woman with dreams and ambitions.
He described her as someone he could always talk to, his go-to person to vent to about anything in life.
Kevin Robinson described her as warm and social, with a talent for bringing people together; at a party with strangers, she would be the one mingling, introducing everyone, and making sure everyone was having fun, as told to SFGate.
The brothers were trying to ensure the case did not disappear from the headlines.
Kevin, to the outlet, said Black women who go missing are not always taken seriously, and that he brought that concern directly to the mayor and the chief of police.
He said the Fairfield Police Department had been doing everything they possibly could, reaching out every Friday, calling, communicating, and checking in on the family.
A spokesperson for the city of Fairfield confirmed, in a statement to PEOPLE, that Kevin met with both the mayor and the chief of police.
Both brothers continued to post regularly about the case on social media.
Calvin said he wanted to keep her face and story out there and, as a Black woman, not let her face fade away, sharing her every day.
The family said they recently learned Chantel’s cell phone was last logged at Lagoon Valley Park in Vacaville, about a 10-mile drive from where she was last seen.
They organized a volunteer search effort on October 18, but said they planned to return because the park was larger than anticipated.
Kevin said the searched area was much bigger than expected; he had thought it would be a small recreational park, but it turned out to be hundreds of acres, only a portion was searched, and they were going back.
Kevin created a GoFundMe to help pay for a professional private investigator who could dedicate themselves fully to the case. On the fundraising page, Kevin wrote that the family needed help, that this was not a headline to them but their sister and family, and that they could not do it alone.
