The skeletal remains of a student who disappeared 47 years ago have been found in a car at the bottom of a canal. Kyle Clinkscales, 22, was last seen at a bar where he worked on the night of January 27, 1976 in the small US city of LaGrange in Georgia.
He had been returning to where he studied 44 miles away, Auburn University, in his 1974 Ford Pinto but never arrived.
Investigators drained lakes close to his last known location in the intervening years – but a break came in the case on December 7, 2021 when someone spotted the rusted hatchback in a creek en route to his destination.
Human bones, a wallet, ID and credit cards were found inside.
The skeletal remains were passed to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for DNA analysis who confirmed a match on Sunday.
“The Troup County Sheriff’s Office was notified by the Troup County Coroner’s Office that those remains were positively identified as that of Kyle Clinkscales,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
Police released a black and white photo of Clinkscales alongside the Pinto after it had been towed from the water.
The precise circumstances of his death remain a mystery – as it is unclear whether the incident was an accident or involved foul play.
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Lauren Griffen, a friend of Clinkscales who met him a year before his disappearance, told NBC affiliate WXIA: “Everybody was always wondering if he was going to show up somewhere.
“His personality was just charming. He was a sweet guy. Most of the time he was very quiet. But he was very kind to everyone.”
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