The remains of an Auburn University student who went missing in 1976 have been identified, ending a mystery that has baffled investigators for nearly five decades, authorities said.
Kyle Clinkscales, 22, was returning to school from LaGrange, Georgia, on the night of January 27, 1976, when he disappeared. He was last seen at the Moose Club in LaGrange with his 1974 Ford Pinto, according to authorities.
Over the years, authorities have drained lakes looking for him and the car. A break in the case came on December 7, 2021, after someone saw the white Ford Pinto in a creek in Cusseta, Alabama, and called 911, authorities said.
A wallet, ID, credit cards, and bones were inside the car.
The skeletal remains were turned over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for DNA analysis.
On Sunday, authorities announced a match in the case.
«The Troup County Sheriff’s Office was notified by the Troup County Coroner’s Office that those remains were positively identified as those of Kyle Clinkscales,» the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
The manner and cause of death are unknown.
“Everyone was always wondering if it was going to show up somewhere,” said Lauren Griffen, a friend of Clinkscales. WXIA, an NBC affiliate from Atlanta.
She said they met about a year before he went missing, adding that everyone in town knew him. “His personality of him was just charming. He was a sweet guy. Most of the time he was very quiet. But he was very nice to everyone,” Griffen said.
Clinkscales’ mother died last January and his father died in 2007, according to the news station.