Crews expected to remove car Karen Schepers, missing since 1983, from Fox River​on March 25, 2025 at 8:58 pm

ELGIN, Ill. (WLS) — In the western suburbs, efforts are being made to shed new light on a cold case.

On Monday, search teams found the car of an missing Elgin woman who disappeared more than 40 years ago.

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Karen Schepers was last seen in 1983 as she was out with her co-workers at a bar in Carpentersville.

There have been no signs of her car 1980 Toyota Celica until Monday near the Slade Avenue boat launch in the Fox River.

Elgin police chief gives an update after a car belonging to a missing woman from 1983 was found in the Fox River.

A nonprofit group called the Chaos Divers set out to search for Schepers’ car in the Fox River on Monday.

Our news partners at the Daily Herald shared photos of search teams using sonar technology to find the car. Whether any human remains are in the vehicle is unclear, police said.

Elgin police recently launched a podcast called “Somebody Knows Something” to search for answers in other cold cases.

Elgin Police Chief Ana Lalley said this has involved the community and allowed people to come forward with any leads.

“Our detectives have received a lot of leads in terms of information coming in,” Chief Lalley said. “They are focusing on some theories, potentially what could have happened to her and I think the most important thing to is that we are not going to lock in and we are not going to lock out a theory.”

Chaos Divers, the Elgin fire and police departments and the Kane County Coroner’s Office will work to remove it from the water on Tuesday. They were unable to remove the vehicle on Monday due to diving conditions.

Schepers was last seen attending a party with coworkers at a bar in Carpentersville. Neither Schepers nor her 1980 Toyota Celica were seen again, until now.