Deborah McCall was 19 and a student at Downers Grove North High School when she disappeared on November 5, 1979 after leaving school. Her case remained unsolved for decades with no immediate leads or suspects and extensive searches and public appeals produced no resolution for more than 40 years.

In 2019 investigators re-examined evidence using advanced DNA testing and genetic genealogy, which linked the crime scene DNA to Bruce Lindahl, a suspected serial criminal who was active in the area in the late 1970s and early 1980s and who died in 1981 while attacking another victim. That genetic connection led authorities to conclude Lindahl was involved in McCall’s presumed abduction and death, providing long-awaited confirmation for her family and the Downers Grove community.