Ericka Brair was 18 and a senior at Frankford High School when she vanished on March 16, 2007, the morning she was due to testify as an eyewitness in a mugging case. Her mother, Janice Collins Krause, found Ericka’s bed empty that snowy morning and reported her missing.At 2:30 p.m. on April 16, 2007, Ericka’s body was found in a wooded area of an industrial park near Woodhaven Road and Roosevelt Boulevard. She had been stabbed more than 40 times and had defensive wounds on her hands and arms; the condition of the body made it difficult to determine the exact time and place of death.

Identification was confirmed by a distinctive tattoo described by her mother.Police called the killing a crime of passion. Investigators identified a person of interest described as a close connection and executed a search warrant at a nearby home; Ericka’s family says knives were missing from a set in that residence and that the father of one suspected individual lived near the scene, but no charges were filed. The case remains open and a reward has been offered for information that could lead to an arrest and conviction.

If anyone knew Ericka, her recent associates, or saw anything on the night she disappeared, please come forward with information.