Found Deceased GA - Kyle Clinkscales, 23, LaGrange, 27 Jan 1976 *car found in 2021*

[sleepysleuth]

I am very familiar with both Lagrange and Auburn, and Lafayette is completely out of the way. I do not believe he died in a single car accident. This car was stashed there. He would have gone 85 south .

Not necessarily. Kyle would have been leaving from the Moose Club, which used to be located at 110 Old Airport Road in LaGrange. If I was heading south towards Auburn today from that location (and probably even more so in 1976) I would travel via West Point Road (US HWY 29). I would then get on the interstate by entering via West Point (Exit 2) or Lanett (Exit 79) or Huguley (Exit 77)..... but maybe he chose Cussetta (Exit 70)?

I don't even know if all of those exits existed in 1976? Do you? I've tried finding a map from that time with no such luck.

Anyway, it's entirely possible that for whatever reason, Kyle chose to take the back roads, almost the entire way to Auburn, and then traveled County Road 83 to cut over to the interstate to finish the last part. Maybe there was a wreck on the interstate and he detoured? Maybe he stopped off at a friend's house? Maybe he was avoiding roadblocks?

I don't know - but it is completely within the realm of possibility that he did indeed travel that route and died in a single-car accident.

I guess we shall see.

Map of the possible route below.

 

[YaYa_521]

Really good article that came out about Kyle back in September.

The Mysterious Disappearance of Kyle Clinkscales

So sad that his mother passed away this year and never got answers.

SBBM
Kyle was the type of person who wouldn’t hesitate to pick up a hitchhiker, and some of his friends worried that he might have stopped for the wrong person. Investigators noted that it was possible Kyle had been killed for his car and doubled their efforts to find it, but despite listing it as stolen in national databases, its location remained a mystery.
#

If the information in the linked write up is true, it could be that Kyle was in Cussetta because he gave someone a ride. If this is the case then 2 possibilities come to mind:
1) He met with foul play at the hands of the hitchhiker or someone else in the area.
2) He drove into the creek. It was nighttime when Kyle, who supposedly had a couple of drinks before leaving the Moose Club, was driving in an area that may or may not have been familiar to him.
MOO

 

[ELepo]

Not necessarily. Kyle would have been leaving from the Moose Club, which used to be located at 110 Old Airport Road in LaGrange. If I was heading south towards Auburn today from that location (and probably even more so in 1976) I would travel via West Point Road (US HWY 29). I would then get on the interstate by entering via West Point (Exit 2) or Lanett (Exit 79) or Huguley (Exit 77)..... but maybe he chose Cussetta (Exit 70)?

I don't even know if all of those exits existed in 1976? Do you? I've tried finding a map from that time with no such luck.

Anyway, it's entirely possible that for whatever reason, Kyle chose to take the back roads, almost the entire way to Auburn, and then traveled County Road 83 to cut over to the interstate to finish the last part. Maybe there was a wreck on the interstate and he detoured? Maybe he stopped off at a friend's house? Maybe he was avoiding roadblocks?

I don't know - but it is completely within the realm of possibility that he did indeed travel that route and died in a single-car accident.

I guess we shall see.

Map of the possible route below.

Sheriff said it was 3 miles off his main route.
"South on I-85, exit 7 and take a right and it's about 3 miles off the interstate. He was off his main route about 3 miles."

 

[Sonny Crockett]

Just heard/read about this case for the first time today, after reading the Yahoo article about KC's car & remains being found. Sad that he died in this way, and also very sad that his parents never got closure re: their son (they are both deceased).

From skimming through earlier posts about this case over the years, it sounds like there were a lot of theories that KC met with foul play, etc. That's definitely very possible. Maybe he ran into a criminal that led to his demise (possibly for the purposes of robbery?!) and then the criminal put the body in the car, then ran this off the road into the water.

However, due to the car being found & the remains being found in the car - it's equally possible that he had a car accident (not necessarily involving another car), went off the road & into the water - and drowned. Maybe he was injured/killed during the accident, which would explain why he didn't try to get out of the car/water to safety after it went under. Going along with this, my understanding of these situations is that - even if you're fully conscious - it's very difficult to get out of a car after it's submerged in water....even if you have the windows open ahead of time.

 

[Alleykins]

RIP Kyle.

 

[Alleykins]

Remains found in car that belonged to Georgia student who disappeared 45 years ago

From the article

“For 45 years, we have looked for this young man and his car. We drained lakes. We looked here and looked there and it always turned out nothing,” said Troup County Sheriff James Woodruff. “Then out of the blue, we got the car, his ID and hopefully his remains.”
~~~
The Chambers County, Alabama 911 center received a call from a man who believed there was a car in a Cusseta, Alabama creek. Deputies went to the creek and found a car around 11:15 a.m. Tuesday.

 

[Valiant]

It seems the statements from LE in the articles I’ve read are free of details that would confirm an accident or if foul play is suspected.

 

[sleepysleuth]

Sheriff said it was 3 miles off his main route.
"South on I-85, exit 7 and take a right and it's about 3 miles off the interstate. He was off his main route about 3 miles."

Based on previous articles and reading the book - it seems the Clinkscales thought that Kyle would have travelled from the Moose Club via West Point Road (HWY 29) and would have gotten on the interstate at the Lanett/West Point Exit. Because of this, it seems that they focused their search efforts along that route - even stating in an old LDN article that they drove 15 mph down I-85 searching for Kyle.

Unfortunately (IMO) it appears that for whatever reason, Kyle chose to take that unexpected route and it likely wasn’t ever even searched.

ETA: added article for source

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

It seems the statements from LE in the articles I’ve read are free of details that would confirm an accident or if foul play is suspected.

I watched the entire press conference (about 12 minutes long) and didn’t get a feel either way …:
https://fb.watch/9M-QK7k42i/

 

[sleepysleuth]

It seems the statements from LE in the articles I’ve read are free of details that would confirm an accident or if foul play is suspected.

They have not stated one way or another. When they were asked during the press conference today what this meant for the people who were previously arrested and charged in connection with the case, they said those questions would have to be directed towards the former administration.

It’s just my own opinion that Kyle died in a car accident, based on the visual evidence of the car, which has damage IMO that would be consistent with an accident. Also, it appears to me that the scene does not corroborate the bones in a barrel scenario at this point considering it’s suspected that he was in the car. But I am open to the possibility that he met foul play, though I consider it unlikely.

I am eager to hear the GBI’s results of the investigation.

 

[evilwise]

Absolutely fascinating. I feel bad for those two people who were charged (convicted?) for tampering with a body when the body had been car crashed in a stream this whole time, 45 years! Based on what, the testimony 30 years later of someone who was a child at the time? It's literally like a movie. I guess Georgia (Alabama?) doesn't have a statute of limitations even on murder - adjacent crimes.

It's just amazing that he was right there all that time, in that iconic malaise era car - still with the drivers side windows intact! It's almost like when both his parents, who from the sound of the book really wanted to hold out hope, were finally gone that it was okay for him to be found. May they all rest peacefully together.

 

[Richard]

Found after 45 years...


Kyle Clinkscales, 23
Went missing 27 January 1976

 

[Richard]

1974 Ford Pinto, like the one driven by Kyle Clinkscales.

 

[joijoi12]

I came here after reading a CNN article (outdated, apparently) that hadn’t mentioned the ID of his bones. Imagine my shock as I read thru the earlier posts and read the barrel story and the 2 men who were arrested.
It pains me that his parents never knew his fate and especially that his mother passed earlier this year. RIP

 

[strangerthanfiction1200]

Remains found in car. Is it Kyle Clinkscales? Waiting to hear a positive identification and if it was a single car accident and no foul play. RIP.

 

[bootchies]

New to the Clinkscales case. Pretty fascinating read about this 45 year-old cold case. I looked at the Google street view where they found Kyle's car in the creek bed and was expecting to find a bend in the road but the road is as straight as an arrow. I would have to think he fell asleep at the wheel? It was late at night and he there were reports he had been drinking at the bar.

 

[StarrChance]

First time reading this case, from the first post when it said missing after leaving bar tending job and car missing my first thought was a drink driving accident, surprised it wasn’t suggested.

 

[sleepysleuth]

New to the Clinkscales case. Pretty fascinating read about this 45 year-old cold case. I looked at the Google street view where they found Kyle's car in the creek bed and was expecting to find a bend in the road but the road is as straight as an arrow. I would have to think he fell asleep at the wheel? It was late at night and he there were reports he had been drinking at the bar.

Yes, I think he either fell asleep at the wheel, swerved to miss a deer, or the crash was drinking-related. If you look at the car being pulled out of the creek, you can tell that the wheels are turned very sharply towards the left. I think he probably flipped the car just by looking at the damage done to the top of it, the rear bumper, and the passenger side.

I think his car was missed for so long because up until recently, the area was much denser. I have attached a collage of photos from Google Street view and one I took at the scene. If you look at the one I took of the scene, you can see the muddy bank where the car was pulled. I think that's where the car was, down that bank. If you look at the Google street view pics, you can see that until today, that area of the creek was pretty hidden by brush.

Attached pics: Kyle's car and pics from the scene that I took.

 

[johnnytucats]

Just joined the forum.

I started at Auburn in the fall of 1976 and don't recall ever hearing anything about this case (I was from north Alabama and I moved from the state after graduation). That's not unusual as there was no internet, TV consisted of just a few channels and college students don't read the paper!

The road system was, of course, different then. For example, I-65 through Birmingham was incomplete (to say the least).

According to the 1976 map here what is now Chambers CR83 was then CR55. If this area wasn't searched it was either negligence or intentional. Did anyone (from his town or at Auburn) have any info on what routes he had taken in the past? Were they even asked?

Looks to me like he ran off the road…sleep, swerving to miss a deer (VERY common), distracted or whatever.

I'd be interested to know when that bridge was built. It's a more modern design…it would be nuts if it were constructed after the accident and the car was sitting right there.

I think this article demonstrates that, in Alabama, if you're a known criminal (for whatever) they'll try to pin any crime they can on you!

 

[sleepysleuth]

Just joined the forum.

According to the 1976 map here what is now Chambers CR83 was then CR55. If this area wasn't searched it was either negligence or intentional. Did anyone (from his town or at Auburn) have any info on what routes he had taken in the past? Were they even asked?

(respectfully snipped by me)

According to his Dad's book Kyle usually took a back road from the Moose Club to the Interstate. I think that (based on the map you posted) they probably stuck to the main route, which would have been to take US29 and enter I-85 via West Point/Lanett. They said this was his typical route in an article that I cannot find right now (it was an old LaGrange Daily News article, I believe). They also specifically state that they drove about 15mph down I-85 looking for him along the route.

I don't know if they even thought to check this alternate route, which is really sad.