Car Of Woman Missing Since 1983 Found In River Near Chicago

A 1980 Toyota Celica registered to Karen Schepers, who has been missing since 1983, was discovered in Fox River near Chicago.

The Elgin Police Department reported Karen Schepers went missing on April 16, 1983, at the age of 23.

The new discovery of teh car is a major break in the cold case, which has had no leads for several decades.

CBS reported skeletal remains were also discovered in the car and will be taken to a lab for identification.

Authorities inspect a vehicle recovered from the Fox River – identified as belonging to Karen Schepers, missing since 1983. Divers located the vehicle as part of a cold case investigation into Ms. Schepers’ disappearance. Follow the investigation at https://t.co/vhbRxCcLib pic.twitter.com/NOSBAI74HJ

— Kris Habermehl (@KrisHabermehl) March 25, 2025

Illinois woman missing since 1983 found in Toyota Celica pulled from Fox River https://t.co/y8vt6bb8e2 pic.twitter.com/8mPRXJYpau

— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) March 27, 2025

Here’s what ABC News reported:

Human skeletal remains were discovered in a submerged vehicle Tuesday outside Chicago. Law enforcement say they are working to determine if they belong to a Chicago-area woman who has been missing for 42 years.

A 1980 Toyota Celica registered to Karen Schepers, who went missing in 1983 when she was 23, was discovered in the Fox River by sonar late Monday; a dive team helped raise the vehicle, an operation that for many in the surrounding area had been a long time coming.

Elgin Police Chief Ana Lalley called the discovery “a tremendous break in this investigation.”

Schepers’ disappearance was a mystery for decades.

A musician and former cheerleader at her high school, she was working as a computer programmer at a bank when she was last seen at a local bar with about 20 co-workers in the early hours of April 16. Detectives said she had just broken off an engagement and was living alone in an apartment in Elgin, located about an hour west of Chicago.

Human remains found in car pulled from the Fox River belonging to Elgin woman missing since 1983https://t.co/ukmx8xVLJT

— Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) March 26, 2025

Here’s what People reported:

The car belonging to a woman who disappeared more than 40 years ago has been found in an Illinois river.

Karen Schepers disappeared on April 16, 1983, at the age of 23, according to the Elgin Police Department.

Schepers was last seen inside P.M. Bentley’s, a Carpentersville bar, with about 20 of her coworkers, and left around 1 a.m. local time, police said.

No further activity was found on the Elgin woman’s bank accounts and credit cards after she vanished, and her yellow 1980 Toyota Celica with license plate XP8919 had not been seen since her disappearance, according to the department.