It's been almost two years since the disappearance and death of Nailah Franklin. Within days of her September 19, 2007 disappearance, Franklin's body was found in a wooded part of Calumet City. Shortly thereafter, Franklin's ex-boyfriend, Reginald Potts, Jr., was charged with her murder; he's still in jail awaiting trial. As the anniversary approaches, the Tribune's Dawn Turner Trice has an excellent feature on Franklin's family as they continue to cope with the Nailah's death and await Potts' trial. Trice's piece let's Franklin's family - her mother Maria Maner, her father Lee Franklin, and sisters Lehia Franklin Acox and Ashley Chappell - explain in their loss and experiences in their own words. more ›

County prosecutors today announced their intent to seek the death penalty against Reginald Potts, the man accused of killing Nailah Franklin. [S-T] more ›

On the missing/murdered woman radar, Reginald Potts, Jr., the former boyfriend of Nailah Franklin, who has been held without bail since Decemeber when he was charged with Franklin’s death, plead not guilty on Friday. Potts has been charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, vehicular hijacking and robbery. Potts and Franklin dated on and off for several months before Franklin’s death last September. more ›

More news today about the state's case against Reginald Potts, and the evidence is really piling up. Potts was charged with murdering his ex-girlfriend Nailah Franklin over the weekend and on Monday was denied bail. more ›

Reginald Potts, Jr., was charged late last night in the murder of Nailah Franklin, who went missing in September of this year and whose body was later found in a wooded area in Calumet City. Not a big surprise, as Potts has been the primary suspect all along. In fact, the police didn't have to go very far to find him -- he was already locked up in county jail on other charges of violating... more ›

"I saw the face of Nailah Franklin so often, I began to feel as if I knew her," writes Mary Mitchell in a thoughtful column that contextualizes Franklin's disappearance and the media attention it garnered (1, 2, 3) as part of a broader narrative of how the media responds — and how families approach the media — when black women vanish. "Franklin has been humanized in a way that so many missing black women have not been," she says, citing Nancie Walker's 2003 disappearance (a case Mitchell wrote about back then, too). more ›

A tragic update: Nailah Franklin's uncle confirmed that the body found earlier this morning in Calumet City is indeed hers.... more ›

Nailah Franklin is still missing today, but her car was found in Hammond, Ind., over the weekend. Now police are searching the Lake Michigan shoreline, too. According to the Trib, "Police found Franklin's vehicle near an abandoned building in Hammond on Friday night, and on Saturday searched a pond at the River Oaks Golf Course in Calumet City. [Franklin's sister] said personal items belonging to Franklin and found near the pond prompted the search, which... more ›

Nailah Franklin, a 28-year-old pharmaceutical sales rep, is missing. She was was last seen Sunday evening and last heard from Tuesday night, and now her friends and family think she's in danger. more ›