When a parent sends their child off to college, they trust that they will be safe. It is a place for them to grow their knowledge and learn important life skills to help them in making their mark on the world. The worst a parent fears is a bad hangover or two from an ill-advised but rite-of-passage fraternity party. For the parents of Kyle Wade Clinkscales, their son's college ambitions became their worst nightmare when he left home in 1976 and never arrived at the Auburn University campus in Georgia.
Forty-six years later, his remains were finally found, and investigators are closer to having answers about what transpired. Unfortunately, Clinkscales' parents died without knowing what happened to their beloved son.
In December 2021, authorities finally located Clinkscales’ 1974 Ford Pinto in a creek near a Chambers County, Alabama, road. The car was exhumed from the water and searched. Inside it investigators found Clinkscales’ wallet, complete with his driver's license, and several bones that were believed to be human.
On February 19, 2023, the Troup County Sheriff's Office issued a press release about the bones found in the vehicle. Members of the sheriff’s office and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation worked collectively to process the scene. The remains were sent to the GBI Crime Lab, which confirmed that they were Clinkscales.
At this time, it is unknown what his cause of death was or what occurred before the car went into the creek. When the discovery was initially made, Troup County Sheriff James Woodruff was hoping to find concrete answers. He also acknowledged that this would be an uphill battle.
“Was he murdered and left there? Did he run off the road and wreck there?” Woodruff mused during a 2021 interview with Fox 5 Atlanta. “That’s something we hope to discover, but it’s been 45 years.”
Clinkscales' parents, John and Louise, received multiple leads regarding their son's disappearance. One caller told them their son had been murdered and his body dumped. They never gave up in their pursuit for answers.
Unfortunately, neither of them lived to see the answers they so desperately sought. Louise died in 2021 before Kyle’s Pinto was found. John died back in 2007 of a heart attack.
In 2005, two people were arrested in connection with Clinkscales’ case. Jeanne Pawlak Johnson and Jimmy Earl Jones served some time for hindering the investigation and were accused of being present when Clinkscales was killed by another person. They were never charged with murder.
Clinkscales’ friend Lauren Griffen says his loved ones never gave up hope of finding answers. “Everybody was always wondering if he was going to show up somewhere,” she told WXIA. She remembers him fondly. “His personality was just charming. He was a sweet guy. Most of the time he was very quiet. But he was very kind to everyone.”
