David and Sharon Schoo Now, Left Two Young Children Home Alone, with Frozen Dinners,1992
David and Sharon Schoo: Where They Are Now After the 1992 Child Abandonment Case That Changed Illinois Law
The 1992 abandonment of Nicole and Diana Schoo remains one of the most disturbing and unforgettable child welfare cases in modern Illinois history. More than three decades later, interest in the case continues as the public revisits the events that unfolded on December 21, 1992, when two young sisters were found alone at Christmastime while their parents vacationed in Mexico. The incident, which triggered national outrage, reshaped state law and became a defining moment in conversations about child protection.
On that frigid December evening, nine-year-old Nicole and her four-year-old sister Diana appeared at the home of their neighbor, Connie Stadelmann, cold, frightened, and seeking help. They explained that their fire alarm was sounding, something was leaking in the house, and—most alarming of all—their parents had left the day before for a nine-day trip to Acapulco. Their father, 45-year-old engineer David Schoo, and their mother, 35-year-old homemaker Sharon Schoo, had left them without a babysitter, without emergency contact information, and with only frozen dinners, cereal, and handwritten instructions on when to sleep and eat.
Firefighters and sheriff’s deputies soon arrived at the Schoo residence. They discovered no adults, no fire, and no signs of supervision. The girls were immediately placed in the temporary care of their grandmother and, later, in foster care as authorities searched nationwide for the couple. After days of investigation, David and Sharon were detained on December 28 at a Houston airport during their return to the United States.
The case quickly dominated national headlines. It struck a nerve partly because it occurred just two years after Home Alone captured audiences with its comedic take on forgotten children. The Schoo case, however, presented a grim and serious breach of parental responsibility. Investigators soon uncovered troubling details about the family’s past. Reports revealed that the girls had been left alone before, including an unsupervised four-day stretch during a previous trip to Massachusetts. Media coverage also shed light on the couple’s withdrawn and isolated behavior. David had once surrendered a pharmacy license after admitting he stole nearly 1,900 high-potency Valium tablets, while Sharon’s own father described her as distant and reclusive.
David and Sharon were ultimately indicted on multiple felony charges, including abandonment, neglect, and child endangerment. The pair avoided trial through a plea agreement that reduced the charges to misdemeanors. They received two years of probation, a sentence that many families, lawmakers, and neighbors criticized as too lenient given the severity of the situation. The case sparked statewide debate and led to swift legislative action. In 1993, Illinois lawmakers adopted a revised definition of child abandonment, making it illegal to leave a child younger than 14 unattended for 24 hours or more.
In the same year, Nicole and Diana were placed for adoption, and their identities later became private to ensure their safety and long-term stability. Their adoptive families requested confidentiality, and the public record of the girls’ later lives remains sealed.
As for David and Sharon Schoo, the couple withdrew entirely from public view following the case. They completed probation and, according to records from the mid-1990s, relocated and lived quietly away from media attention. Their current whereabouts remain unknown, and there is no public documentation indicating they ever regained contact with their daughters.
More than 30 years later, the Schoo case stands as a powerful reminder of the importance of child welfare systems and community vigilance. It remains one of the clearest examples of how a single incident can reshape state laws and protect future generations of vulnerable children.