TROUP COUNTY, Ga. (WRBL) – There is a significant break in the case of a missing Auburn University student who vanished 45 years ago from a LaGrange, Georgia bar. His vehicle, with human remains and a wallet inside, was pulled from a Chambers County creek this week.

On January 27, 1976, 22-year-old Kyle Clinkscales left the Moose Club, a bar he worked at in his hometown of LaGrange, Georgia. Kyle planned to make the thirty-five-mile drive to Auburn University in Alabama, a junior. He never arrived. 

Picture of Kyle Clinkscales. The vehicle was pulled from a Chambers County, Alabama Creek. Courtesy: Troup County Sheriff’s Office

This week, the Troup County Sheriff’s Office confirms Kyle’s white two-door 1974 Pinto Runabout with Georgia tag CEF-717 has been located in a Chambers County creek off County Road 83.

Sheriff James Woodruff held a news conference Wednesday morning to reveal additional information. Woodruff says on Tuesday, December 7th, around 11:20 AM deputies with the Chambers County Sheriff’s Office were notified of what appeared to be a car submerged in a creek off of County Road 83 approximately 1 mile from County Road 388.

Louise Clinkscales holds a photo of her son Kyle Clinkscales at age 21 in this undated file photo. Investigators have discovered the 1974 Pinto a 22-year-old student was driving on his way back to Auburn University from Georgia when he disappeared more than 45 years ago, sheriff’s officials announced Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021. Kyle Clinkscales’ car was pulled from a creek around Cusseta, Alabama, on Tuesday after a man called 911 to say he believed he had spotted a vehicle. (Renee Hannis/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

“Once they arrived on the scene, they recovered the car from the water and it appeared to be an older model Ford passenger car with a 1976 Georgia tag with a Troup County decal. Chambers County contacted the Troup County Sheriff’s Office for assistance in trying to run the tag information. The Troup County tag office was contacted and investigators in our criminal investigations division began to check for any records we may have had,” said Sgt. Stewart Smith.

After verifying information, it was found the tag and VIN matched that of a 1974 Ford Pinto Runabout which was the same car that Kyle was last seen driving on the night of January 27th. 

The vehicle was transported to the Troup County Sheriff’s Office where it is currently being processed by Special Agents with the GBI to determine the contents of the vehicle. At the time of this release, a wallet with identifying information and skeletal remains have been recovered.

Kyle’s father wrote a book about his disappearance, titled “Kyle’s Story: Friday Never Came.” He also established a non-profit missing person organization, “Find Me Inc.” 

Both of Clinkscales’ parents are dead.