Missing Chicago woman's car found with unidentified body inside; mom of 3 last seen last Wednesday

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Chicago police are searching for a 39-year-old woman who has been missing from the Far South Side since last week.

Rena Baker lives near 102nd Street and Forest Avenue in Roseland. She was last seen Wednesday, May 31, driving a maroon Hyundai Sonata with an Illinois Plate, Z709627.

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Her family said Tuesday afternoon police told them her car was found in an alley minutes from her home with the body of an unidentified woman inside. It's unclear how that person died.

The family said they are working with authorities to identify the individual in the car.

"There's an emptiness," brother Andre Baer said. "It's not a good feeling. I'm not even sure how to, like, describe it to be honest with you. But it's sadness. It's frustration. There's a little bit of anger."

Her brother said the last time Baker was seen was when she left a friend's house near 76th and King Drive around 10:30 p.m.

Her family said she took a roundabout way to get home and that leads them to believe someone else was driving the car.

"Doesn't make any sense because she lives due south from where she was at and east, so she went west to go south to go east. Doesn't make any sense, so we don't believe that was her driving the car," Andre Baker said.

Andre Baker said his sister has three children, and that she was supposed to pick one of them up from school Friday but didn't, which is when they reported her missing. The next day she missed her daughter's graduation. Andre Baker said this is out of character for his sister.

"She was happy. She was planning parties," he said. "Everyone loves her because she always makes sure that someone else and their well-being is put before her own."

Baker works at a dental office near 51st Street and Pulaski Road, and is known for being meticulous and organized.

Baker is 5 ft., 3 in. tall, and weighs 130 pounds.

The video in the player above is from an earlier report.

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