'Linda Brown Advocacy Protocol' Created To Help Families Experiencing Missing Loved Ones

CHICAGO — The family of Linda Brown, 53, a caring CPS special education teacher, have created an initiative in her honor that offers guidance and support for families enduring missing persons cases. The Bronzeville teacher’s body was eventually discovered in Lake Michigan, whose death was ruled a suicide.

Brown was reported missing on Jan. 3. During the anguished search for Brown until its tragic conclusion nine days later, they came to understand the critical gaps, they came to understand the critical gaps that exist in the response to missing person casts.

The Linda Brown Advocacy Protocol was created in her honor to ensure families are not left navigating this process alone and that advocacy efforts are grounded in clarity, collaboration, and care.

Jen Rivera, announced the initiative through her non-profit, The Reignited Project. Families, Rivera said, are often left unprepared, isolated and unsure how to navigate, and how to advocate effectively without unintentionally causing harm to themselves or an investigation.

“We learned that missing persons cases require more than urgency,” Rivera said. “They require preparedness, ethical advocacy, coordinated communication, and trauma-informed guidance — especially during the earliest and most vulnerable stages.”

In addition to the Linda Brown Advocacy Protocol, Rivera has organized a GoFundMe titled Support for Linda Brown’s Family After Tragic Loss. Funds raised are intended to help Linda’s family recover the loss of income due to extended time away from work, remaining funeral and memorial costs, and basic expenses as her family begins to process the loss and heal.

“Linda was not just a missing person, she was a vital part of our family,” her niece said. “Like so many families before us, we were forced to learn how to navigate a missing person’s case in real time, without a roadmap."

Services for the Bronzeville teacher were held Tuesday at Blake-Lamb Funeral Home in Oak Lawn.