Monroe County woman disappears at Halloween party

Hundreds of people from Michigan and other states attended a weekend Halloween party at which a 22-year-old Monroe County woman disappeared, her family says.

Chelsea Ellen Bruck of Maybee was last seen walking with an unknown man at about 3 a.m. Sunday outside the party on Post Road in Frenchtown Township, the Monroe County Sheriff's Office reported, based on a witness statement. She was dressed as the Poison Ivy character from Batman, with black Yoga pants, a leaf-covered top and a dark-purple wig.

Bruck's family and friends are planning to expand a search today for clues to the missing young woman's whereabouts.

Her sister, Kassandra Bruck, 24, this morning said the family is encouraging people to share photos of Chelsea, even out of state.

"She could be anywhere at this point," she said.

Helicopter and ground search teams with all-terrain vehicles continue to search areas in and around where the party was held on Post Road.

The witness told investigators that Bruck was seen with an unknown man, described as white with a medium build, medium-length dark hair, a thin mustache and facial hair, wearing a black hoodie and black-framed glasses, according to a news release from the sheriff's office. The two were seen walking toward cars parked outside the party.

A composite sketch of the man was released, along with photos of Bruck. She is described as a white woman with blond hair, 5-foot-7, 140 pounds.

Kassandra Bruck said friends and family are planning to search areas outside the police perimeter today.

She said the party drew people from as far as three states away, and there were up to 800 people in attendance. Chelsea Bruck knew about 15 to 20 people at the event and rode there with a friend because she doesn't have a driver's license, her sister said.

"She's just never really wanted one. Never had a car," she said. "She relies on my parents, who are happy to drive her around, to and from work."

Chelsea Bruck left her purse and phone in the friend's car. The friend left the party earlier, handing off Chelsea's phone to a friend. But the friend didn't find Chelsea before she left, Kassandra Bruck said.

She said her sister had been to the house before and knew the party's host. To disappear like this would be "way out of character" for her, and it's never happened before, said Kassandra Bruck.

"We have no inclination that any of this is by choice on her part," she said. "We have weddings coming up for our family. She's in them and very excited about them."

She said Chelsea Bruck is single and works at Olga's in Monroe, and a number of the people at the party were work friends.

Chelsea is the youngest of five siblings, having grown up on the family farm in Maybee, a rural community several miles west of the intersection of I-75 and I-275 southwest of metro Detroit.

Kassandra Bruck said about 100 people attended a candlelight vigil Tuesday night at Heck Park in Monroe County.

"A deacon from our church spoke," she said. "We joined in prayer together and just kind of met together in prayer and hoping that that prayer has an effect."

Anyone with information on the case or the identity of the man in the sketch is asked to call the sheriff's office at (734) 240-7700 or dispatch at (734) 243-7070.

A Facebook group started by Bruck's family, "Help Find Chelsea Bruck," has amassed more than 2,500 members.

Robert Allen is a reporter for the Detroit Free Press