Car of student missing for more than 45 years discovered with human remains

The car of a Georgia college student who has been missing for more than 45 years has been discovered in an Alabama creek along with human remains, CNN reported.

Kyle Clinkscales, then a student at Auburn University, went missing while driving from his hometown of LaGrange, Ga., back to the university’s campus in 1976. The whereabouts of Clinkscales and his 1974 Ford Pinto have remained a mystery ever since.

On Tuesday, a passerby called 911 to report a partially submerged vehicle in a creek about three miles from the route Clinkscales would have taken to return to school. Inside the vehicle, which was determined to belong to the missing student, police found a wallet containing credit cards and Clinkscales’s ID.

Police examining the car also located what they believe to be human remains. The bones have not yet been confirmed to belong to Clinkscales.

Sgt. Stewart Smith, a spokesman for the Troup County Sheriff’s Office, said it’s too early to tell if foul play was involved in Clinkscales’s death, according to AL.com. 

“For 45 years, we have searched for Kyle and his car. We have followed hundreds of leads and never really had anything substantial develop from those leads,” Troup County Sheriff James Woodruff said during a Wednesday news conference, according to CNN.

He added, “Just the fact that we have hopefully found him and the car brings me a big sigh of relief.”