Remains found in car identified as Auburn University student who went missing in 1976

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Remains found in a car in an Alabama creek have been identified as an Auburn University student who went missing in 1976, officials say.

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In a news release, the Troup County Sheriff’s Office said that the car found in a Chambers Country, creek on Dec. 7, 2021, belonged to Kyle Wade Clinkscales. Clinkscales was 22 years old when he went missing on Jan. 27, 1976.

Law enforcement officials found bone fragments and tissue in the 1974 Ford Pinto, according to WIAT.

On Sunday, the remains were identified as belonging to Clinkscales. The manner of death remains under investigation.

WIAT spoke with Clinkscales’ aunt, Martha Morrison of Oxford, Ala., who said she was grateful that her nephew’s body had been found.

“I am so grateful for closure in this and that he can finally rest in peace between his mom and dad,” Morrison said.

Morrison said that Clinkscales’ parents worked to find him, and wrote a book about his case. His father, John, died in 2007 and his mother, Louise, died almost a year before the car was found.

Morrison plans to get Clinkscales’ remains cremated and have him buried alongside his parents.