Human bones in car matched to Georgia man missing since 1976

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

LAGRANGE, Ga. (AP) — Human bones found inside a submerged car near the Georgia-Alabama state line in 2021 have been matched to a college student who had been missing for 47 years, according to a Georgia sheriff.

Kyle Clinkscales, 22, of LaGrange, vanished in January 1976 after leaving the Georgia club where he worked as a bartender to return to school at Auburn University in neighboring Alabama.

Investigators got a break in the cold case in December 2021, when someone spotted a car in a murky Alabama creek. The 1974 Ford Pinto pulled from the water belonged to Clinkscales, and some of his belongings were still inside. So were about 50 bones, including part of a skull.

The office of Troup County Sheriff James Woodruff announced in a statement Sunday that forensic tests by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the FBI have concluded that the bones found inside the car more than a year ago are Clinkscales’ remains.LAGRANGE, Ga. (AP) — Human bones found inside a submerged car near the Georgia-Alabama state line in 2021 have been matched to a college student who had been missing for 47 years, according to a Georgia sheriff.

Kyle Clinkscales, 22, of LaGrange, vanished in January 1976 after leaving the Georgia club where he worked as a bartender to return to school at Auburn University in neighboring Alabama.

Investigators got a break in the cold case in December 2021, when someone spotted a car in a murky Alabama creek. The 1974 Ford Pinto pulled from the water belonged to Clinkscales, and some of his belongings were still inside. So were about 50 bones, including part of a skull.

The office of Troup County Sheriff James Woodruff announced in a statement Sunday that forensic tests by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the FBI have concluded that the bones found inside the car more than a year ago are Clinkscales’ remains.



Read more: https://apnews.com/article/georgia-alabama-b72f9cf318e20447476434d8b822b712

[AngryOldDem]

1. His parents went to their graves with no closure.

Heartbreaking.

[rainin]

2. My first thought, too. A lifetime of pure anguish. So sad

[Fla Dem]

8. I was just going to post my first thought.

That his parent and perhaps siblings never knew what happened to their son and sibling. So sad.

[Ligyron]

3. It took them a year to figure this out?

[melm00se]

4. Bones and bone fragments

don't come with labels.

While the car may have been registered to the deceased, that doesn't mean that the bones were his.

Real life isn't like CSI or Bones. Tests take time and I am sure that there were more cases that were less than 45 or so years old that might have been a tad bit more pressing.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

5. Yes. They were careful. Not just DNA test. Highly likely does not equal certain

A person could have killed someone in their own car and shoved it into the creek. If they killed someone, there would be blood all over the car and they might as well get rid of body and evidence at the same time; and then disappear with a new identity.

That is just one of many scenarios that could lead to the body in the car not being the 'obvious' one.

Police and authorities have to be certain. Being certain takes time. Yes, you can get a DNA test in a hurry if you are chasing a suspect, but that test is not certain and would have to be backed up by more careful tests.

For one thing, the condition of the bones would be very contaminated with fish and snail and worm DNA.

For another, there would have to be careful forensic measurements of the lengths of bones, wear on teeth and other indicators of age and sex, because the DNA could be of a relative. There may not have been familial DNA available (apparently no progeny). The bones would have to be consistent with the 27 year old male of a certain height, etc.

AND ...

Detectives would be analyzing everything to determine cause of death and whether or not a crime was involved.

Did the guy crash?

or was he murdered and the car pushed in.

AND ...

Everything was 47 years old. 47 year old records are not easily available at somebody's fingertips.

[FelineOverlord]

6. Yes, it can take a long time

https://www.websleuths.com/forums/threads/ga-kyle-clinkscales-23-lagrange-27-jan-1976-car-found-in-2021.56164/

[oldsoftie]

7. Wow. Its amazing no fishermen ever saw that car in all these yrs.

In the South almost every bridge will get some level of fishing during the warmer months. Not to mention during drought this creek would likely have been a lot lower. Its amazing this car stayed hidden so long

[Shipwack]

9. I can believe it...

These rivers are very murky. There was a similar discovery a coue if decades ago in SE Georgia. Police were testing a sonar system they had just bought when they unexpectedly got a large "ping". The sent down divers and found a submerged car with a body about a dozen feet from a frequently traveled bridge.

Turned out to be a woman who had been missing for several years. She had dementia and apparently took the car and ran off the road. Her husband, who had been a prime suspect (but never charged) had died a couple of years previously.

[oldsoftie]

10. Wow thats crazy. Wonder how many are out there

[Warpy]

11. It's especially horrible when people die without knowing what happened

This guy's parents are most likely gone. He might have had siblings, they'd have provided the DNA to confirm his identity.

January down south can be both stormy and foggy. Chances are he was tired and ran off the road in bad weather that could have consisted of a patch of fog near a creek.

Foul play would have seen his belongings robbed and his car dumped in an urban area.

It's just sad that his parents likely never knew that it was just an accident. A car at the bottom of a deep pool in a typical southern creek wouldn't have been spotted by anyone standing on the bank right where it went in. Only extreme drought would have exposed it.

[Random Boomer]

12. There are diving companies that specialize in these recoveries

There are a couple of diving companies that specialize in checking out river and lake locations for missing people, including some who have been missing for years. Some do this for free, just to try and help the family left behind reach closure.

Check out YouTube for the video diaries, which are quite moving. It's also unnerving how easy it is for someone to inadvertently run off a road and disappear without a trace.

[Skittles]

13. outstanding

you can't help but wonder how many long missing folk are in submerged cars - so terrible for the loved ones to wonder where they went