A significant breakthrough in a decades-old cold case has led to the discovery of human remains in a vehicle pulled from the Fox River Tuesday. Jenn Schanz has breaking details.
Note: The video in the player above is from a previous report.
Human remains that were recovered from a vehicle found in the Fox River in Elgin earlier this week have been positively identified as those of Karen Schepers, a 23-year-old woman who went missing in April 1983, officials said Thursday.
According to the Kane County Coroner's Office, Schepers' remains were confirmed using a forensic odontologist with dental records provided by Schepers' family.
The positive identification comes days after investigators found a vehicle in the Fox River that was determined to be connected to the decades-old cold case.
Karen Schepers was 23 years old when she disappeared in April 1983 after a night out with coworkers. Schepers had left a bar in Carpentersville with coworkers, and was never seen again.
Last weekend, Elgin police announced they would search the Fox River near Slade Avenue Park. They discovered a license plate that belonged to Schepers’ vehicle, and then were able to find the vehicle itself, removing it from the river on Tuesday.
According to Elgin police, the Kane County Coroner’s Office discovered skeletal remains inside of a 1980 Toyota Celica that was discovered in the river on Monday, moving one step closer to closure for a suburban family who has sought answers for decades.
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On Wednesday, authorities announced that the vehicle was also unknowingly found in 2022 by a man fishing.
According to Elgin police, a person approached an Elgin police officer Tuesday at the Slade Avenue boat launch during the vehicle recovery to report information.
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Police said the person told officers that while fishing in the river in 2022, the sonar equipment he was using detected an "unusual object" in the river.
Authorities said the man contacted the Elgin Fire Department, who began a search using an underwater, remote-operated vehicle with camera and sonar technology.
The dive team located what was believed to be a small vehicle underwater, with a diver entering the river shortly thereafter and encountering a tire, police said.
Police said the tire's small diameter led the diver to prematurely conclude that the object in the water was an ATV (all-terrain vehicle) or UTV (utility-task vehicle).
Following the discovery, no further investigation was conducted. Police said Elgin police were unaware of the dive team's activities in 2022 before Tuesday.
"When this information came to my attention, I immediately met with Elgin Police Chief Lalley to discuss the incident. Upon careful review, I concluded that more should have been done in 2022, including a comprehensive underwater examination of the vehicle," Elgin Fire Chief Robb Cagann said.
Schepers' brother, Gary, speaking to NBC Chicago on Tuesday night before the announcement was made, said that the discovery of the vehicle represents the culmination of decades of uncertainty.
"I've spent four decades wanting answers and now I have one,” he said.
Gary Schepers described the lack of answers in the case as “butting your head up against” a wall, but that search for answers has now reached a potential conclusion.
"You kind of feel like your feet aren't quite on the ground because you've gone for so long butting your head up against no answers and now there's a crack in that wall and you really don't know what's going to happen when that wall comes down,” he said.
The case was launched back into the spotlight when the Elgin Police Department profiled the disappearance on a podcast entitled “Somebody Knows Something.” Detectives reexamined theories in the case, which resulted in a search of the Fox River.
Elgin firefighters and a group called Chaos Divers utilized sonar technology to comb the river for the vehicle, which they found Monday afternoon.
According to the podcast, police indicated there was no record of any search for the vehicle in the water in the 1980s, despite the Fox River and several nearby ponds potentially being on Karen’s route home from the bar she was last seen at.
Gary Schepers isn’t sure why those steps weren’t taken, but is grateful that the search for answers may finally be nearing its conclusion.
“I don’t know the answer. I don’t think the current detectives know the answer,” he said.
