Divers locate over 90 cars in Chicago River amid renewed search for couple who disappeared in 1970

CHICAGO (WGN) — A renewed search for a couple at the center of a 50-year-old cold case has led to the discovery of nearly 100 cars that were submerged in the Chicago River.

Edward and Stephania Andrews were a married couple from Arlington Heights who disappeared on May 15, 1970.

The Chicago Tribune reports that the two were headed home in their yellow 1969 Oldsmobile after leaving a cocktail party at the Sheraton Hotel downtown, but they never made it.

The couple was reported missing the following Monday, but 55 years later, the mystery surrounding their whereabouts remains.

A renewed effort to locate them in 1994 provided investigators with few answers.

In another attempt to locate the missing couple, members of the Chaos Divers team jumped into the Chicago River last week in search of the Oldsmobile.

Chaos Divers is a sonar search and recovery dive team that is dedicated to bringing answers to families of those missing, often collaborating with law enforcement.

The team documents its efforts and shares the stories on its YouTube channel and they are not unfamiliar with Chicagoland. Earlier this year, Chaos Divers helped authorities in a search on the Fox River, eventually locating the remains of Karen Schepers, a 23-year-old woman who went missing in 1983.

It is one of more than 20 cold cases the team has provided valuable information on.

The team came to Chicagoland last week in an effort to help crack 10 local cold cases, but was focusing on Edward and Stephania’s disappearance at the time they located the cars.

But their efforts to uncover answers happened to reveal another curious case.

During their search on the Chicago River, between Cicero and Diversey, Chaos Divers located nearly 100 cars sunken in the water.

In a Facebook post shared last week, the team said the search began on Aug. 27.

“Over the last two days, we’ve been working the Chicago River and have located over 60 vehicles beneath the water. Starting yesterday evening and continuing through today, we’ve begun the process of clearing them, one by one,” a Chaos Divers spokesperson said in a social media post.

Crews initially located more than 60 cars, but continued returning to the site, eventually locating 97.

Chaos Divers will be back out at the scene on the Chicago River on Thursday before they focus their search on the Calumet River on Friday.

Chicago police have not offered an update on the discoveries, and it is unclear if the cars are tied to any criminal cases or disappearances.