Anu Solanki is Home; No Criminal Charges but Will Police Recover Quarter Million Dollar Investigation Costs?

Anu Solanki, a married woman from Chicago, disappeared in Mt. Prospect Christmas Eve prompting a search reported to have cost a quarter million dollars. She returned home on December 28, unharmed, after traveling four days with Karan C. Jani, 23, a male friend with whom Solanki was seeing for at least a year. Her car was found on December 24 in a forest preserve parking lot close to the Des Plaines River, triggering the search by police and relatives.

A helicopter and boats were also used in the search. Early in the investigation authorities said that they feared Solanki might have slipped underwater and drowned while placing a broken religious statue in the river's current .

Her husband, Dignesh Solanki, had said his wife may have been at the river to place the broken religious statue in the Des Plaines River on the day she went missing. The statue was of the deity Ganesh, the Hindu god of good fortune and wisdom. According to Hindu religion placing it in the water would fend off misfortune.

However, at the time, police had not ruled out foul play. She was eventually discovered to be alive and with Jani through phone records. On her return home Solanki announced she disappeared to escape an unsuccessful arranged marriage.

On December 31, the Cook County State's Attorney's Office announced Solanki would not be charged with any criminal offense. They had been trying to determine if she could be charged with a false report of a crime. but at this point the evidence is insufficient to prove that Solanki knowingly took substantial steps to convince police that she was a crime victim.

Police however are still asking for help from anyone who has information in the case. Authorities have not said whether they are now considering filing civil suit to recover investigation costs, where their burden of proof would be much less than in a criminal case but without additional evidence even winning in civil court is doubtful.

On the day she disappeared Solanki worked at the the gift shop in the Westin Chicago North Shore Hotel in Wheeling where she held a job. She closed the shop around 12:00 p.m. on the 24th after receiving several phone calls from Jani.

On the day she disappeared, Solanki placed a call to a female friend about 1:40 p.m. saying she was at the river near the dam, but phone records showed she was near DeKalb., Illinois 65 miles away. She also said that someone in a car might be following her. This may have prompted her husband, who did not know of his wife's relationship with Jani, to call police when she failed to return home. However, relatives of Solanki are now saying that the friend claims Solanki then called back saying she was not being followed anymore. making Solanki's actions more difficult to determine. Whether Solanki did make a second call and when the call was made if it was are questions that remain to be answered. Similarly, while it raises questions, the significance of Solanki abandoning her car without turning it off it also unclear.

When and where Solanki met up with Jani after leaving her car is not known. It was through phone records that police were able to determine that Solanki was alive and who she was with for 4 days. But. no criminal charges will be filed against Solanki an indication that Solanki surfaced and returned home upon learning of the investigation, or at least authorities at this point cannot prove otherwise.