US officials believe the discovery of human remains in a car at the bottom of an Alabama creek has solved the mystery of a student who went missing 45 years ago. In 1976, Kyle Wade Clinkscales left LaGrange, Georgia, to drive back to Auburn in Alabama, but never arrived. The disappearance of the 22-year-old and his 1974 Pinto has never been solved. But on Tuesday a member of the public spotted the car submerged in the creek.

After pulling the vehicle out, investigators confirmed that the car belonged to Clinkscales. They found what appeared to be human bones along with identification and credit cards belonging to the missing man, Troup County Sheriff James Woodruff told a news conference. “For 45 years, we’ve looked for this young man and looked for this car,” he said. “We’ve drained lakes, and we’ve looked here and looked there and ran this theory down and that theory down and, it’s always turned out nothing.” Tests are now under way to confirm that the remains belong to Clinkscales. Police had previously stated that they believed the student had been killed.(BBC)…[+]