For nearly four decades, the disappearance of 35-year-old Linda Seymour, who disappeared without a trace just before Christmas in 1982, has stumped Illinois investigators.
But this week, they may have finally caught a break in the case after receiving a tip to search the backyard of the Northbrook house where Seymour once lived.
The Northbrook Police Department confirmed to The Daily Beast that starting on Tuesday, officers and the North Regional Major Crimes Task Force have been “exploring a lead” in the 1400 block of Orchard Lane. Neighbors told ABC7 Chicago that tents and tarps have been set up in the backyard of the home where the missing woman’s son now lives, and investigators have been busy searching the area.
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“It’s interesting that they’re moving and digging things up. There is a missing person and now they’re digging… I don’t want to connect those dots,” Gail Crue, one neighbor, said.
“It’s kind of frightening and a little sketchy to have something like this happening on the North Shore,” Judy Erickson, another neighbor, added.
Details surrounding Seymour’s disappearance are sparse. Police said the woman, who had a scar on her abdomen and wore thick brown glasses, was last seen in Northbrook around 2:30 p.m. on Dec. 21, 1982.
ABC7 reported that property records show Seymour’s son, James Seymour Jr., currently lives in the home that once listed Linda as the owner. Neighbors said that Seymour’s husband, James Seymour Sr., lived in the house until his death in 2009. Police confirmed that the family still owns the house.
“We did know that the first wife went missing. We were under the impression she had left on her own accord, and that’s really all we knew,” Crue added.
The search, which continued Wednesday morning, also comes two weeks after neighbors told local outlets investigators brought “dogs into the backyard to sniff around.”
“They also asked the gentleman who lives there if he could move the shed because of easement issues. So the gentleman who lives there, he moved the shed,” Lindsay Reed, another neighbor, told Fox32.
The Seymour family did not immediately respond to The Daily Beast’s request for comment.
