Family and friends are shocked and saddended after a young Illinois woman was found dead Sunday night at Davenport's Hotel Blackhawk. 27-year-old Brittany Russell was an employee at the Blackhawk Bowl and Martini Lounge.
Her mother tells TV 6 she leaves behind a five-year-old son. Russell’s mother describes her as a hard worker who was doing everything to give her son a better life. Russell was living in the Quad Cities and going to college to become a makeup artist. While her mother helped take care of her son.
Police say Russell was found unresponsive and pronounced dead at the hotel just after 10:00 Sunday night.
They also say preliminary information shows her death was accidental. A witness TV6 spoke to says they were bowling and another family had an issue with their bowling pins. Russell went to fix it and that was when they last saw her. The witness also says after not seeing Russell for a while, they told management and that's when staff went looking for her.
“We were terrified because the lady's belongings were there. She had a purse and some reading material,” witness Anthony Prezioso told TV 6. “She was just nowhere to be found. Someone even went behind the bar to look for her. They ordered food and she wasn't even there. So we just didn't know what happened,”
Russell's family says she celebrated her 27th birthday on June 24th. The family says they will continue taking care of her son. TV6 reached out to the General Manager at Hotel Blackhawk in regards to the death but did not hear back.
(Photo: TV 6)