Remains found in sunken car identified as student missing for nearly 50 years

Remains found in a car at the bottom of a creek in Alabama have been identified as belonging to a 22-year-old student who went missing nearly 50 years ago.

Kyle Clinkscales disappeared on the night of January 27, 1976 while traveling to Auburn University, USA Today reported. He was never seen or heard from again.

Police recovered his 1974 Ford Pinto from the creek in December 2021, and on Sunday, Troup County Sherrif’s office confirmed that skeletal remains found in the car belonged to Clinkscales.

The remains were analyzed by the Georgia Bureau of Investigations Crime Lab and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A wallet containing Clinkscales’ ID and credit cards had also been recovered from the sunken vehicle.

At around 11.20 a.m. on December 7, 2021, police recovered the sunken car from a creek about 30 miles north of Auburn University.

A member of the public had contacted the Chambers County Sheriff’s Office in Alabama to report the submerged car.

Investigators removed the car from the creek and analyzed the license plate to find that the details matched Clinkscales’ Ford Pinto.