Somebody Knows Something

In this episode, the Detectives discuss their work on Wyteria’s case as they continue their search for her.  Wyteria would have turned 89 just last month on May 1st, if she is still alive. And while that is possible, it may not be very likely.  So, we have to at least consider the possibility that Wyteria Jones is dead and still waiting to be found. And the Detectives have a few tools in their too...

Over the past several episodes, the detectives have travelled to Elgin, Joliet, Aurora, and Chicago as they seek more information in Wyteria’s case.  Now, they want to look at the forensic options they have moving forward.   For this episode, the detectives turn their attention to a group called the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System or NamUs, which is currently the only national rep...

In this episode, we are travelling outside of Elgin once again to the City of Chicago to see the neighborhood where the Jones family lived in the late 1960’s before moving to Aurora…the same neighborhood that Waymon Jones lived in November of 1967 when he was arrested for murder.

This episode takes them to Aurora, a city with deep ties to Wyteria's past and a direct bus line that could have brought her right to her old doorstep. But Aurora also means revisiting the man who reported her missing: her husband, Waymon Jones. With family members alleging years of physical abuse, a prior battery arrest, and Wyteria herself on record reporting violence in the home, the detectives...

Detectives leave Elgin and head southwest to Joliet, Illinois — chasing one of their strongest theories in the search for missing woman Wyteria Jones. Could she have quietly slipped away to another city in 1982? The detectives trace every route she might have taken — Greyhound, Trailways, RTA buses, commuter trains — uncovering just how complicated that journey would have been. Then, when they go...

In this episode, newly uncovered records turn the entire investigation upside down — revealing a timeline no one expected and connections to Elgin that run far deeper than anyone knew. Detective Beth Sterricker joins the team to break it all down, and what they find forces them to rethink everything. How long was Wyteria really here? Where did she go before Elgin? And does any of it point to what...

In 1982, Wyteria Jones vanished from a rundown Elgin, Illinois hotel where she was living as an outpatient of the Elgin Mental Health Center. Over 40 years later, her case remains unsolved. In this episode of the Elgin Police Department's Cold Case Podcast, Detectives walk the same streets Wyteria walked — from the historic Douglas Hotel to the bus stops of downtown Elgin — piecing together her fi...

Season 3 of Somebody Knows Something — the Elgin Police Department's Cold Case Podcast — opens a brand new case: the 1982 disappearance of Wyteria Jones. Detectives Andrew Houghton and Chris Hall introduce listeners to Wyteria, a Black woman from rural Tennessee whose family roots stretch back to the Civil War Era. After moving north to Illinois, Wyteria found herself in Elgin in the spring of 198...

Bonus Episode – Still Missing As the Elgin Police Department Cold Case Unit heads into 2026 and prepares for Season 3 of Somebody Knows Something, Detectives Andrew Houghton and Chris Hall are taking stock of every open missing persons case in their files — and asking the public for help finding answers for families still waiting. The unit is also growing. Detective Beth Sterricker brings nearly t...

In this final episode of the season, Detectives Andrew Houghton and Chris Hall from the Elgin Police Department Cold Case Unit lay out the investigation into Renee’s murder in 1979, release new information about the case, and discuss potential links between Renee’s murder and the serial killer group known as the Ripper Crew. They also close out the season and remember all 27 homicide victims from...

On November 23, 1979, the day after Thanksgiving, Renee Cruz Tovar decided to stay home while her roommate went out on a date.  The following morning, November 24, 1979, her roommate returned home and found Renee murdered in their apartment.  In Part 1 of this two-part episode, Detectives Andrew Houghton and Chris Hall from the Elgin Police Department Cold Case Unit meet with family members and fr...

It was a warm, summer evening when 68-year-old Cayce D. Kyles strolled down an alley behind the Douglas Hotel in downtown Elgin on July 21, 1977. Moments later, he was attacked and stabbed to death less than a block from the Elgin Police Department. Detectives Andrew Houghton and Chris Hall from the Elgin Police Department Cold Case Unit revisit the Cayce’s case and seek information from the publi...

Detectives Andrew Houghton and Chris Hall from the Elgin Police Department Cold Case Unit continue their investigation into the disappearance of Barbara Glueckert as they meet with retired Mount Prospect Detective Mike Nelson who worked on Barbara Glueckert’s case for over two decades. They also speak with a listener who contacted the cold case tip line to report an  experience she had with Thomas...

During “Season One: Where Is Karen?” Detectives Andrew Houghton and Matt Vartanian researched the previous tenant of Karen Schepers’ apartment, Thomas Urlacher.  They found that while he was not involved in Karen’s disappearance, he was the prime suspect in the disappearance of 14-year-old Barbara Glueckert from nearby Huntley, Illinois on August 21, 1976. In Part 1 of this two-part investigation,...

On the morning of June 22, 1976, 16-year-old Lori Jean Bolger left a summer driver’s ed class at Larkin High School to walk home to South Elgin, Illinois. She planned to meet friends to swim, but she never made it.  Less than two hours after she left the school, two workers found her body lying in a grassy field near Randall Road in Elgin.  Detectives Andrew Houghton and Chris Hall from the Elgin...

It was a cold, winter night when 47-year-old Maynard Chester Holley left his wife and children to head to work at the Yellow Cab Company in downtown Elgin on February 18, 1975.  Hours later, he was murdered in the office as he sat dispatching taxis.  Detectives Andrew Houghton and Chris Hall from the Elgin Police Department Cold Case Unit remember Maynard and review his case to seek new informatio...

On June 30, 1971, a 35-year-old foreman at the Woodruff and Edwards Foundry, Guadalupe Alanis, was murdered while working in downtown Elgin.  Detectives Andrew Houghton and Chris Hall of the Elgin Police Department Cold Case Unit review Guadalupe’s case and discover that it has links to two other Elgin murders.

Detectives Andrew Houghton and Matt Vartanian from the Elgin Police Department Cold Case Unit make an announcement for Season Two and introduce a new detective, Chris Hall, as Matt is promoted and leaves the unit.  Elgin Police Chief Ana Lalley also joins the episode to reflect on Season One and to discuss the future plans for the Cold Case Unit.

Detectives Andrew Houghton and Matt Vartanian from the Elgin Police Department Cold Case Unit reflect on the past 6 months of this investigation with Karen’s family, friends, and coworkers as Karen finally comes home and is laid to rest.

Detectives Andrew Houghton and Matt Vartanian from the Elgin Police Department Cold Case Unit wrap up Karen’s cold case investigation by detailing the final steps in Karen’s case and they discuss what they believed most likely happened to Karen on that fateful night in April of 1983.

Detectives Andrew Houghton and Matt Vartanian from the Elgin Police Department Cold Case Unit speak with Jacob Grubbs and Lindsay Bussick from Chaos Divers, the group which was instrumental in bringing Karen Schepers home, to talk about their organization, their experience in search and recovery, and their amazing work on Karen’s case. 

Detectives Andrew Houghton and Matt Vartanian from the Elgin Police Department Cold Case Unit search the Fox River with the Illinois-based search and recovery team Chaos Divers and make a discovery almost 42 years in the making . 

Detectives Andrew Houghton and Matt Vartanian from the Elgin Police Department Cold Case Unit move up their original Theory #6, that Karen and her car are submerged in a body of water, as new tips come in and new technology becomes available.  They identify the routes that Karen would have likely taken, travel those routes, and follow-up on new tips about a car recently discovered in the Fox River...

Detectives Andrew Houghton and Matt Vartanian from the Elgin Police Department Cold Case Unit review multiple serial killers who were active in the Elgin area in the early 1980’s and travel to the Pontiac Correctional Facility to interview Brian Dugan, an Illinois serial killer who is serving a life sentence for three murders in the area, one of which has similarities to Karen’s disappearance.

Detectives Andrew Houghton and Matt Vartanian from the Elgin Police Department Cold Case Unit continue their investigation into Theory #2, that something happened at PM Bentley’s.  As they review the case file, they discover that a former employee of PM Bentley’s was never interviewed, so they track her down and she reveals new information about a man who stalked her and her and her car in the par...