Kyle Clinkscales.Photo: Troup County Sheriff’s Office
Kyle Wade Clinkscales, 22, disappeared on the night of Jan. 27, 1976, according to the Troup County Sheriff’s Office.
Decades later, in December 2021, his 1974 Ford Pinto was recovered from a creek in Chambers County, Ala., police said. Afterwards, investigators and agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation recovered skeletal remains as well as personal items belonging to the student. The remains were then sent to the GBI Crime Lab for additional examination.
Over a year later, the Troup County Sheriff’s Office received notification that “those remains were positively identified as that of Kyle Clinkscales.”
Police say for years “there were so many theories and so many questions” regarding the case, according to Atlanta News First.
“It was always a big mystery in Troup County,” said Sgt. Stewart Smith. “Hopefully now getting that confirmation can at least bring that closure and those questions to what family and friends are still out there that knew Kyle.”
Although the GBI is working to determine a cause of death, Smith said that’s one aspect of the case that may never be solved.
“Due to the time that it’s been and it was in the water, we may not know,” he told the outlet.
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The outlet reported that in 2006, a man claimed that Clinkscales was fatally shot, but prosecutors later said the man had changed his story too many times to be a credible witness.
The man was sent to prison for hindering the investigation, according toThe Guardian, which also reported thatno homicide charges were ever filed.
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When the student’s car was found in 2021, along with his wallet and bones, authorities said they were “glad” to finally have some answers.
Unfortunately, Clinkscales' parents did not live long enough to learn that his remains had been positively identified.
“It was always her hope that he would come home,” Woodruff said in 2021, the outlet reported. “It was always our hope that we would find him for her before she passed away.”
source: people.com
