Fate of hotel worker in storm still a mystery
More than a week after the Omni Hotel’s spa manager went missing as Harvey’s floodwaters poured in, her family is still looking for answers as to what may have happened to her.
As heavy rains caused the Omni Houston Hotel to flood on the morning of Aug. 27, spa manager Jill Renick urgently called the hotel’s front desk at 5:40 a.m.
She also placed a call to 911, her sister said, and hotel guests on the first and third floors reported hearing her cries from the elevator.
As the 48-year-old Renick apparently desperately sought help, the staff moved to shut off the Galleria-area hotel’s power. About 100 guests were evacuated as water poured into the building.
But Renick, who had rid den out Tropical Storm Harvey overnight with her dog Sweet Pea in a fourth-floor room before reportedly being summoned to assist guests on the second floor, has not been seen or heard from since. Her car and dog were found later at the hotel.
Her disappearance — and possible death — at a four-star hotel has left family members anguished, mystified and looking for answers.
“It’s baffling to me that there is no sign of her — that she’s vanished,” said Renick’s sister, Pam Eslinger, 62. “And we’re going into the second week now. And nothing.”
Police searched at least one of the hotel’s elevators and found it empty but declined to say if they had searched other parts of the hotel. An Omni spokeswoman said the hotel staff combed through the building.
“When we determined Jill was missing, we immediately launched our own search of areas of the property we could still safely access despite the rising flood waters and contacted emergency responders to request assistance in locating her,” wrote Kristen Cadenhead, a spokeswoman in Omni’s Dallas headquarters, in an email to the Chronicle. “As
waters receded from the building, we continued our search along with law enforcement personnel. The entire building has been searched, and the Houston Police Department determined that Jill is not in the hotel or parking garage. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Jill’s family during this difficult time.”
Houston police on Tuesday assigned an investigator to Renick’s case, which is being handled as a missing person case.
In the meantime, Eslinger has called the Red Cross, the National Guard, Houston-area shelters and nearby hospitals. She’s also checked with the Harris County medical examiner’s office for a body that would match her sister’s description.
Local officials say around 70 people have died or are feared dead in Texas as a result of Harvey, which made landfall on Aug. 25 as a Category 4 hurricane before dumping 50 inches of rain on some parts of the Houston area. Authorities have confirmed 30 storm-related deaths, mostly drownings, in Harris County.
The Texas Center for the Missing had located at least 118 missing persons, including three who died, as of Monday.
The whereabouts of another 17 — including former Houston journalist Jim Sim mon—were still unknown. Houston police were continuing to investigate more than a dozen missing person reports opened since the storm.
The Omni, which backs up to Buffalo Bayou, suffered major flooding damage.
Water spilled into the lobby while the basement, where the spa is located, was completely flooded.
“The hotel will remain closed for the foreseeable future ,” Ca den head wrote.
Renick had spent the night at the hotel to help guests in anticipation of bad weather, Es lingers aid.
Hotel employees told Eslinger that Renick was awake early that Sunday morning.
Between 5:15 and 5:30 a.m., Renick left her fourth-floor hotel room to go to the second floor to help guests, an employee told Eslinger. Within 10 minutes, cellphone records show, Renick was trapped and calling the front desk, Eslinger said. The power was shut off by 6:30 a.m ., she said.
“It is our understanding that a call from Jill was received by the front desk on Sunday morning,” Cadenhead said. “At their request, we are not discussing the details of the call except with the family representative and law enforcement personnel.”
Eslinger still believes her sister, or her body, may be at the hotel.
Relatives and friends described Renick as friendly and caring, the kind of person who made family reunions fun, her nephew, Austin Miller, 40, said. She never would have voluntarily left the hotel when guests were in need, Es lingers aid.
And, judging by what she left behind, it doesn’ t appear she had voluntarily left the building, Eslinger added. A friend found Re nick’ s dog in the Omni hotel room where Renick had stayed Saturday night. A few days later, Renick’s car was spotted in the Omni’ s flooded garage.
The uncertainty has left Eslinger, and the rest of Renick’s family, desperate for answers.
“We just want to know where she is ,” Es lingers aid.