Major New Clue Found In Decades-Old Illinois Cold Case

Technology has made for some interesting discoveries.

All of our home-states have some kind of long unsolved case from the 70's-90's. But one in Illinois just got a major clue.

But first let's review the case.

The Case of Karen Schepers

On April 16th, 1983, Karen and her coworkers went out to a bar in Carpentersville to celebrate her promotion at work. Karen and her car (a 1980 Toyota Celica) disappeared without a trace.

The last Karen was seen was at 1:00 a.m. at the bar. She was "unofficially engaged" but the fiance had called it off shortly before her disappearance and a boyfriend passed the lie detector test.

But now, dive crews this week have been able to find her submerged 1980 Toyota Celica. Complete with matching license plate number.

The crews were in the Fox River on Monday afternoon when they made the discovery. They haven't said yet if they found anything inside it.

Elgin Police Department Chief Ana Lalley said that the department reopened the case in 2024, when it was featured on a podcast called "Somebody Knows Something".

In that podcast, police say there is no record of any searches for Karen or her car in the water in the 80's, even though Fox River and a few other ponds would have been possible routes home.

Chief Lalley reiterated that it remains an "open and active investigation" and now that the car has been found, more details are expected. She's also asking people to avoid the area that the car has been found in.