Chaos Divers locate more than 90 submerged cars in Chicago River system

By Marissa Sulek

Click here for updates on this story

    CHICAGO (WBBM) — More than 90 cars were reported found in the Chicago River system on Wednesday.

CBS News Chicago rode along Wednesday with Chaos Divers, the dive crew searching for the cars.

The Chaos Divers team travels the country looking for cars involved in cold cases. This week, they have been traveling the Chicago River system — from Diversey Parkway on the North Branch to Cicero Avenue on the Sanitary and Ship Canal.

“We have 10 missing persons cases in Chicago,” said Chaos Divers manager Lindsay Bussick. “But our focus is Edward and Stephania Andrews.”

It was May 15, 1970 — more than 55 years ago — when Edward and Stephania Andrews, both 62, left a cocktail party at a Sheraton Hotel on Michigan Avenue. They got in their car and were never seen again.

But as the Chaos Divers team were looking for the husband and wife, they came across dozens of other cars.

“Once we kind of reached that like 50, you know, 60 number point, it was kind of, ‘OK, this is even a little more than we had expected to find,'” said Bussick.

Bussick said the Chaos Divers found more than 90 cars in the depths of the Chicago River system over the past few days. To find the cars, the dive team uses a command center equipped with sonar so they can see the cars before they dive in.

If they locate a car, they could pull it out themselves. But on Wednesday afternoon, they called Chicago police to pull out a Nissan sedan that Bussick said was damaging boats.

The Nissan was a stolen car in 2023. However, there are times when the team discovers submerged cars that solve decades-old cases.

“Thankfully, we have had the opportunity to bring 20 people home over the last four years,” said Bussick.

Two of the cold cases were in the Chicago area. In the Fox River in Elgin this past spring, the Chaos Divers found a car containing the skeletal remains of Karen Schepers — who went missing in 1983.

As for what is next for the more than 90 cars in the Chicago River system, Chicago police directed CBS News Chicago to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources — which had not issued a comment as of late Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, the Chaos Divers said they will be in Chicago a couple more days before they go to the next stop.

“It is the most heartbreaking job that you never want to give up,” said Bussick.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.