Faith fuels search for Maybee family’s missing daughter

Maybee — Beginning the second night after her daughter Chelsea was confirmed to be missing, Leannda Bruck woke up every night at 1 a.m.

“And I would have these silent conferences with Jesus,” she said.

The days stretched on and her 22-year-old daughter failed to appear, and Leannda continued to pray each night. She would get up the following morning to grab a pen and paper, jotting down notes from her nightly conversations.

These conversations with God included the reminder that the search volunteers should never go out in the rural Maybee area alone, and that they ought to wear reflective vests for protection.

The “conferences” with God, “probably went on for about eight nights. I finally said in my nighttime prayers that unless there’s something that we’re missing, please just let me sleep,” said Leannda.

But her prayers continue, as evidenced by the pictures of St. John Paul II, St. John XXIII and Our Lady of Fatima, as well as pieces of paper bearing prayers like the “Memorare,” in the entranceway of what is now the Chelsea Bruck search headquarters in Newport.

As of Dec. 9, The Michigan Catholic’s press day, there were still no signs of the missing woman.

“The whole thing is nothing you’d ever expect here because you’re such a small community and you figure you’re safe in farm country,” Leannda Bruck told The Michigan Catholic, who visited the search headquarters the afternoon of Nov. 25.

But Leannda said the turn of events has made her wonder what is in store for the future — both of her small town and of society as a whole.

“It’s scary, worrisome, heart-wrenching,” she said.

 



The party

The community of Maybee and the surrounding regions know the story well by now.

Chelsea Ellen Bruck had gone to a Halloween party in Frenchtown Township the night of Oct. 25, dressed as the comic book villain “Poison Ivy” from the Batman series.

She was last seen around 3 a.m. the morning of Oct. 26, cordially speaking to and leaving with an unknown man. She had left her cellphone and purse with a friend.

There is still no sign of her whereabouts, and her social media and bank account have remained untouched.

Chelsea’s family — parents Matt and Leannda, and siblings Nathaniel, 33; Jennifer, 30; Megan, 28; and Kassandra (“Kassie”), 25 — insist their youngest family member would not disappear intentionally.

“The day before I reported her missing I did her laundry and all her laundry was folded up in a basket and it literally sat there for three weeks until I finally put it in a Rubbermaid tote,” Leannda said.

 



Strong community

The Bruck family is a well-known name in the area, Leannda told The Michigan Catholic as she and several helpers fashioned purple bows to promote awareness of Chelsea’s disappearance.

Purple, the somber color of Advent, is also Chelsea’s favorite color, and all of the helpers were wearing variations of purple during The Michigan Catholic’s visit — except Leannda, whose purple items were in the wash at the time. Instead, her sweatshirt bore tiny purple ribbons and #HelpFindChelseaBruck buttons, a Twitter hashtag the searchers have been using.

The search headquarters itself, in the former Monroe Bank and Trust building on Swan Creek Road, features numerous “Find Chelsea” fliers, cards from well-wishers, and lots of purple decorations.

Leannda works for another branch of the bank, and had been given a key and permission to set up within the building, after the original, outdoor search headquarters proved difficult with the cold weather.

They moved into the building Nov. 1, and volunteers have kept the building open from noon to 4 p.m. daily to make more bows and distribute fliers, purple T-shirts and wristbands.

Leannda said she grew up living in Maybee — “Matt’s related to half of the community and I’m related to the other half,” she said — and could see her church, Maybee’s St. Joseph, from her back window.

“I married the boy from church and moved two-and-a-half miles east” to the farmhouse that her husband’s grandparents built, Leannda said. “My husband’s never lived anywhere else.”

The Brucks are parishioners of Divine Grace Parish in Carleton, though, “to me it’s still St. Joe’s,” Leannda said with a small smile. St. Joseph Church and St. Patrick Church are the two sites of Divine Grace, which merged into a single parish in 2013.

“I’ve said that I’m so fortunate that we still live in the communities that we grew up in,” said Leannda. “The support has been phenomenal. I wouldn’t expect anything less, though. Because if it was I’d be the first one to move when Chelsea’s home, because…” she paused, “it’s exactly what your community’s supposed to be.”

 



A faith thing

Chelsea’s disappearance is not the first time the Bruck family has undergone a test of faith.

“Eight and a half years ago we almost lost Kassie,” said Leannda. “Her appendix ruptured.”

Kassie was taken to the ICU on Mother’s Day, and doctors did not expect her to survive. When she lived through the night, “they thought that we would take her home to live in a bed and offer her nourishment and comfort for the rest of her life,” Leannda said.

Kassie, who with God had other ideas, recovered and now teaches in northeast Detroit.

Leannda describes her faith as a huge part of that experience, remembering the many times she and her husband went to the hospital’s chapel and put notes in the prayer basket.

“I can’t say why she came home and why little babies were taken off of life support,” Leannda reflected. “It’s just so hard to explain.”

Leannda said she is not preachy about her faith, though she has always considered church her home.

“I was born Catholic and I stayed Catholic by choice, but it’s not how you pray but that you pray,” she said.

 

Waiting and praying

Leannda said her husband has commented on how quiet their house is with the absence of their youngest daughter, who had once shocked Leannda by dying her light blonde hair a deep brown, and had gone through a phase of dipping her broccoli in Velveeta cheese.

“It’s those things that you get furious about, and you yell about, and right now I would just love to have her home, so that she can annoy the heck out of me and I can yell at her to put her stuff away,” said Leannda.

Leannda said Chelsea, an avid “Doctor Who” TV series and “Final Fantasy” game fan, loves her siblings more than anyone else. The anchor tattoo behind Chelsea’s right ear, now being cited as a way to identify her in the search, was in honor of her brother, who served in the Navy.

Leannda said people have asked her how she is handling the holidays, to which she responds: “One day at a time.”

“I pray about it in the morning, pray to make it through, hold it together as best I can, and deal with tomorrow when it gets here,” she said.

 

Chelsea Ellen Bruck

Age 22, height is 5’7”, weighs 140 pounds, has blonde hair and green eyes, and has an anchor tattoo behind her right ear. Last seen Oct. 26, 2014, at a Halloween party at 3587 Post Rd., Frenchtown, MI, around 3 a.m. She was wearing a “Poison Ivy” costume from the Batman series, with black yoga pants, green leaf-covered top and a dark wig. She was seen leaving the party with a white, medium-built male with medium-length dark hair, thin mustache and facial hair, wearing a black hoodie and black-framed glasses.

 

How to help

There are various ways to help the family of missing Chelsea Bruck:

• Like the public page: Facebook.com/findchelseabruck


• Send tips to the Monroe sheriff at [email protected] or call (734) 240-7700.


• Anonymous tips to Crime Stoppers: 1-800-SPEAK UP or visit www.1800speakup.org.


• Visit the search headquarters: 8799 Swan Creek Rd., Newport, to pick up fliers, ribbons, wristbands or $10 purple T-shirts. Hours are noon to 4 p.m.

 

‘Light of Hope’ fundraiser

A benefit Saturday, Dec. 13, from 4-7:30 p.m. in gym of St. Patrick School, Carleton, will include spaghetti dinner, bake sale, silent auction and “Light of Hope” luminaries to assist rescue effort expenses. Cost is $10 for adults 12 and up; $5 for children 6-10; free for 5 years and younger. Contact St. Patrick School office at (734)654-2522 for tickets or information.