Car found in river linked to mysterious 1976 cold case of two missing men, IL cops say

For nearly 50 years, a cold case involving the disappearance of two business partners has stumped Illinois investigators.

But now, authorities received a break in the case thanks to a discovery by fishermen.

The fishermen, Winnebago County Sheriff Gary Caruana told WREX, recently found what they believed to be a car as they fished in the Pecatonica River using sonar.

The car, a 1966 Chevy Impala, was pulled out of the river Monday, March 11, Caruana said in a news briefing streamed by Eyewitness News in Illinois.

Authorities said the Impala is linked to Clarence Owens and Everett Hawley, who went missing Feb. 19, 1976.

According to the Rockford Register Star, Hawley was a real estate broker in Freeport and Owens was a salesperson in his firm.

Owens, who was 65 when he went missing, picked up his 74-year-old business partner, Hawley, in the Impala the morning of Feb. 19, according to The Doe Network. Their day included attending a political rally, walking to a cafe and visiting a family member.

The pair traveled to a farm auction near the Winnebago-Ogle County line, which is where they were last seen, the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office said in a cold case report.

They were reported missing the following day. The Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office worked with the Stephenson County Sheriff’s Department and Illinois State Police during the “intense” investigation, but the missing men and the car they were traveling in were never found.

Until Monday, when the Impala was found in mud submerged in water 8 to 10 feet deep, the sheriff said.

Caruana did not say if the remains of the missing men were in the car, but said he believes “there’s going to be more findings” in the case.

“No case is ever done and this is definitely, obviously a cold case,” he told reporters at the scene.

Winnebago County is in northern Illinois about a 95-mile drive northwest from Chicago.