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Lawyer who filed petition over missing Malaysia Airlines flight has disappeared

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A Chicago lawyer who filed a court petition seeking information about the disappearance of Malaysia Air Flight 370 is herself missing.

Monica Ribbeck Kelly has left “a trail of unhappy clients wondering about the U.S. justice system,” Forbes reports.

Kelly had traveled to Beijing with a Shanghai lawyer where they persuaded family members of victims of the March 2014 crash to hire her for a U.S. lawsuit against Boeing, the manufacturer of the plane, and Malaysia Airlines, according to Forbes. Kelly also filed a petition for discovery in Illinois that was tossed the same month.

The judge said the type of petition filed by Kelly is supposed to be used in cases where the defendants are unknown. Kelly’s petition had identified the defendants.

A malpractice lawyer who sued Kelly in a different case involving an airplane crash told Forbes that Kelly had returned to Lima, Peru, and her law firm had shut down its phone and website.

The Illinois Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission refers to Kelly as Monica Ribbeck and says she is authorized to practice law in the state. The website lists a 2014 censure for filing a personal injury lawsuit on behalf of a Turkish air crash victim even though he had fired her a year earlier.