In 1983 Karen Schepers went missing after a night out with coworkers at a Carpentersville bar. Now, divers are searching Fox River.
It's a mystery more than 40 years in the making in Elgin.
On April 16, 1983, then 23-year-old Karen Schepers went to a Carpentersville bar with coworkers until 1 a.m. Schepers and her 1980 yellow Toyota Celica with a red stripe have not been seen since.
Schepers lived in Elgin, but it's unclear if she ever made it to her apartment that morning.
Elgin police are working to solve her case more than 40 years later after the department launched a cold case unit and podcast last year. Scheper's case is at the top of their list.
The investigators on the case have several theories as to what could have happened to the young woman. One of them is that her car went off a road and into a body of water.
"Here we are 40 years later, and we’re exhausting every investigative lead that we can," said Elgin Police Department Chief Ana Lalley. “One of the theories our detectives discussed is that her vehicle went into the water the evening she went missing.”
Elgin Police detectives, along with divers from 'Chaos Divers' spent Monday searching several access points in the Fox River.
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According to their podcast, there is no record of any searches for Schepers or her car in the water in the 1980s, despite the Fox River and several other ponds being near potential routes home from the bar.
"Over the years it settles into a dull ache and a lack of expectations," Schepers' brother Gary told NBC 5's Courtney Sisk over the phone Monday. "It has an effect, it’s always had an effect, and will continue to have an effect. It would be good to know.”
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Gary described his sister as intelligent, a talented pianist and very kind. He said her family in Sycamore has held onto hope over the past several decades that she will come home.
"Part of the reason we have this house and haven’t torn down the old barn or even painted it a different color is there’s still the outside chance that if she might be out there somewhere, and want to come back, we want her to be able to see the place and know it’s the same place," he said.
Divers didn't turn up any substantial evidence on Monday, but plan to be back out on the water in the Elgin area all week in hopes of getting answers for her family.
