Karen Schepers cold case: Missing woman's car found in Fox River nearly 42 years after disappearance

ELGIN, Ill. - More than four decades after an Elgin woman mysteriously disappeared on her way home, authorities made a major discovery on Monday while searching the Fox River for clues about her cold case.

Just hours after combing the water for evidence, divers found the vehicle belonging to Karen Schepers—a young woman who was last seen on April 16, 1983, leaving a Carpentersville bar.

What we know:

The Elgin Police Department confirmed late Monday night that Schepers’ yellow 1980 Toyota Celica was found submerged in the river near Slade Avenue Park. The discovery was made by an independent dive team, Chaos Divers, working alongside the Elgin police and fire departments.

Investigators identified the vehicle by matching its license plates to records from the missing woman’s case.

Chaos Divers is a nonprofit search and rescue organization based downstate, in Harrisburg, Illinois.

The backstory:

Schepers, 23, was last seen around 1 a.m. on April 16, 1983, after leaving PM Bentley’s, a bar located in the Meadowdale Shopping Center in Carpentersville. She was there with co-workers and according to police, she was the last in her group to leave the establishment.

She never made it home. Both Schepers and her vehicle, a yellow 1980 Toyota Celica with red accent stripes, went missing without a trace—until now.

Elgin police were searching the Fox Fiver on Monday as part of an investigation into a 1983 cold cast involving a missing woman. Karen Schepers was last seen around 1 a.m. on April 16, 1983, when she attended a party with co-workers at a bar in Carpe (Elgin Police Department)

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The Elgin Police Department’s Cold Case Unit, established last year, has been re-visiting evidence in Schepers’ case.

This year, Detective Andrew Houghton and Detective Matthew Vartanian launched a podcast, Somebody Knows Something, to generate new leads about various cases, including this one.

Its latest episodes have been taking a deeper dive into Schepers’ disappearance. Since she vanished, theories have swirled about what may have happened, but now officials are one step closer to cracking this case.  

Authorities weren’t certain that Schepers’ vehicle was in the Fox River, but detectives theorized that it’s possible she lost control while driving and ended up in the water.

"We’ve waited a long time to be able to do this, and the time is now—to be able to give the family a sense of closure and a sense of peace," Elgin Police Chief Ana Lalley said of their search efforts on Monday morning.

It was only hours later that the dive team made a stunning discovery.

"At a location northwest of the Slade Avenue boat launch, a vehicle was identified. A diver then conducted a further assessment of the vehicle and was able to locate a license plate, XP8919, which matched the license plate of the 1980 Toyota Celica," Lalley explained on Monday night. "Due to current diving conditions, efforts to safely remove the vehicle from the Fox River will be conducted [Tuesday] with the assistance of Chaos Divers, the Elgin Fire Department, and the Kane County Coroner’s Office. Currently, there is no information available as to if any human remains are in the vehicle. This will be confirmed once the vehicle is removed from the Fox River."

What we don't know:

Authorities have not disclosed whether human remains or additional evidence were found inside the vehicle.

It’s still unclear whether or not foul play is suspected.

What's next:

Investigators are treating the location of the vehicle like any other crime scene. They plan to remove the car from the water on Tuesday morning.

Police will continue processing the vehicle for evidence and analyzing its contents.

Anyone with information about the case is urged to contact Elgin police at ColdCaseTips@elginil.gov or call the tip line at 847-289-COLD.