Car of woman missing since 1983 pulled from Fox River

Authorities on Tuesday removed a car from the Fox River that belonged to an Elgin woman who has been missing for 42 years.

Chief Ana Lalley said before the work began that a search of the river Monday by the department and Chaos Divers, a group that uses sonar to search for people suspected missing in bodies of water, yielded a vehicle with the license plate XP8919, which matched the 1980 Toyota Celica owned by that Karen Schepers.

Schepers, who grew up in Sycamore, disappeared after attending a party with coworkers at a Carpentersville bar in 1983.

It took several hours for Chaos Divers and members of the Elgin Fire Department to remove the car from the river on Tuesday afternoon. Authorities will determine if any human remains are inside.

“It is important to stress that this is the beginning of what is still considered an open and active investigation, with many questions still to be answered,” she said. “As we continue to investigate this case we will remain steadfast in our resolve to provide answers and closure to Karen’s family.”

Jacob Grubbs of Chaos Divers said they found the car near the west bank of the river north of the Slade Avenue boat launch in about seven feet of water. He said diver Mike McFerron had about six inches of visibility in the murky water when he was able to locate the license plate.

Schepers’ case was at the top of the list for Elgin’s new Cold Case Unit, led by detectives Andrew Houghton and Matt Vartanian.

On Tuesday, Karen Scheper’s older brother, Gary, said the family is waiting for the car to be removed from the river, and for information about what may or may not be found in it, before commenting.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20250325/news/missing-womans-car-to-be-pulled-from-fox-river/