In May of 2024, Elgin Police Chief Ana Lalley created the Elgin Police Department Cold Case Unit to take a fresh look at unsolved homicides and missing persons cases with the belief that dedicating resources and using new technology will help solve these cases. As part of this new unit, the Elgin Police Department also decided to launch a podcast dedicated to Elgin cold cases to seek information from the public.

Somebody Knows Something: The Elgin Police Cold Case Podcast was created by the Elgin Police Department and is recorded with assistance of WRMN in Elgin, Illinois. Detective Andrew Houghton, Detective Christopher Hall, and Detective Matt Vartanian of the Elgin Police Department Cold Case Unit host the podcast and take listeners along as they investigate missing persons and homicide cases in real time and seek justice for the victims and closure for their families. This podcast includes actual police interviews, re-creations, and information that has never been released publicly as Elgin Police seek assistance from the community.

Season 1, “Where is Karen?”, detectives investigate the disappearance of 23-year-old Karen Schepers, who, along with her car, disappeared without a trace after a night out with co-workers on April 16th, 1983.

Season 2, Elgin: The 1970’s, follows the Elgin Police Department Cold Case Unit as they review five cold case homicides and one missing person case, all of which occurred between 1970 to 1979.  With Detective Matt Vartanian’s promotion to sergeant, Detective Andrew Houghton is joined by new Cold Case Detective Chris Hall for Season Two.  Over the course of this season, they review the shootings of Guadalupe Alanis in 1971 and Maynard Chester Holley in 1975 as well as the death of 16-year-old Lori Bolger and the disappearance of 14-year-old Barbara Glueckert in 1976, the stabbing of Cayce Kyles in 1977, and the murder of Renee Tovar in her apartment in 1979. Join Detective Houghton and Detective Hall as they revisit cases from the 1970’s cold case files of the Elgin Police Department while remembering the victims and pursuing answers for them and their families.

Anyone with information on Karen’s case or any other cold case in the City of Elgin are encouraged to contact the Elgin Police Deparment via email at [email protected] or via phone at 1-847-289-COLD. A list of all cold case missing persons and homicide cases are listed at https://epdopendata-cityofelgin.hub.arcgis.com/pages/cold-cases.


DISCLAIMER: This podcast is based on information sourced primarily from police reports and media reports, but certain names and other identifying details may have been changed or altered for privacy and security reasons. While the events and cases discussed are based on real investigations, some aspects may be simplified for time and for narrative purposes. Voice actors may be used to read from statements or documents. All information presented is intended solely to inform and raise awareness. Hosts may discuss theories regarding the cases examined in this podcast, but such discussions are not intended to, and should not be considered by the listener to be, legal conclusions. All persons discussed are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Listener discretion is advised.