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.