Two young mothers left a birthday party in Indiana, dropped off a friend, and never made it home. Four days later their Jeep was pulled out of a Michigan river with both of them inside. Now the police chief running the case says he keeps hearing the same word from people who were out that night: followed.
Niles Police Chief James Millin confirmed on Thursday, September 17, 2026, that investigators are looking into claims that Alexa Navarro and Vanessa Bautista of South Bend were followed, or chased, before their vehicle went into the St. Joseph River.
Story Snapshot
- Navarro and Bautista were last seen early Sunday, September 13, after a night out at The Arena Nightclub in Elkhart.
- Their last phone ping was in Niles, Michigan, across the state line. The Jeep was recovered there Tuesday.
- Chief Millin says he has heard the women were followed both from the Elkhart club and inside Niles.
- Police say there is no sign so far that the Jeep was pushed off the road, but the cause remains under investigation.
“Followed” Or “Chased”
“There’s been statements made that possibly somebody was chasing the girl, so we’re investigating that,” Millin told reporters. “I’ve heard both that the girls were followed from the establishment that they left in Elkhart and also been followed in Niles. Some people are saying ‘followed,’ other people are saying ‘chased,’ so of course we’re looking into all that to try to determine is this factual?”
Millin was careful to say the claim is a lead, not a finding. Asked whether anything indicated the Jeep was forced into the water, he said there did not appear to be any outside force, such as a push, but that the point remained under investigation.
The Route That Made No Sense
What keeps the family from accepting a simple accident is the road the Jeep took. The women were last seen dropping off a friend in South Bend after the party. From there, the drive home was familiar. Instead, their phones pinged in Niles, and the Jeep was found near Laurel Drive and South Lincoln Avenue, where police believe it went over an embankment into the river.
“She would always take one route,” Jovani Ramirez, a relative, told WNDU. “Me and her would always take one route back and forth, which is Portage, which is so weird why she would come this way and take a left.”
What Police Are Working With
Investigators are pulling camera footage from the club and along the route, checking phone records for both women, and examining the Jeep for signs of impact or tampering. The medical examiner has not released a cause of death. Millin has said the department will not close the case on either theory until the evidence answers the question of what happened in the hours after the party.
Family and friends spent the days before the recovery handing out flyers and searching the area on their own. Both women leave behind young children.
Sources:
nypost.com, people.com, wndu.com, abc57.com, wndu.com