You may remember Kyle Clinkscales' case as one of the ten featured in the missing persons special alert that aired after the Bonnie Wilder segment. Kyle went missing in 1976 after he left work in LaGrange, Georgia. He was headed to his school, Auburn University, in Alabama. However, he never arrived, and neither he or his car were ever seen again.

In 2005, a man came forward, claiming to have witnessed the disposal of Kyle's body. The alleged killer was already dead by that point, but two others were arrested and convicted of charges relating to the disposal of his body.

However, it now seems uncertain whether foul play was actually involved in Kyle's case. Yesterday, a witness called police and said they saw a car in a creek below County Road 83 in Cusseta, Alabama. The car was pulled out later that day, and its license plate matched Kyle's car. Also found in the car were his wallet, credit card, and human remains.

Sadly, Kyle's father passed away in 2007 and his mother passed earlier this year.

So now the question remains: did Kyle crash his car accidentally into the creek? Or did someone put him and his car there?

Here (https://www.google.com/maps/dir/LaGrange,+GA/1914+Chambers+County+83,+Cusseta,+AL+36852/Auburn+University,+Auburn,+AL/@32.7879636,-85.4054019,10z/data=!4m20!4m19!1m5!1m1!1s0x888b569b5431221b:0xe0046782ffc03f1a!2m2!1d-85.0322444!2d33.0362218!1m5!1m1!1s0x888c97b258f4fb59:0xc7286a73610963cc!2m2!1d-85.3015234!2d32.769663!1m5!1m1!1s0x888cf30b116620af:0xec90525c51d712f7!2m2!1d-85.4951663!2d32.5933574!3e0) is a map of the route between LaGrange and Auburn, with a stop in the area where I believe his car was found.

Remains found in car that belonged to Georgia student who disappeared 45 years ago (https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/remains-found-car-belonging-georgia-student-who-disappeared-45-years-ago/KRLYRRFWQVGX5EREIFKZKDRRIE/)

https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Kyle_Clinkscales

That 10 missing persons alert remains one of the creepiest UM segments of all time to me, and pretty much none of them are fully resolved. Hopefully Kyle's case will be an outlier and they can determine what really happened here. If this was simply an accident in Alabama, why was his credit card found in Georgia many years later?

Crazy how someone could be at the bottom of a creek for that long.

I do not remember this case on UM, but it is listed on the UM fan website, so I assume it's OK to post here.

https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Kyle_Clinkscales

If you want a very deep dive into the case (with far more detail), read this blog post:

https://medium.com/@jennbaxter_69070/the-mysterious-disappearance-of-kyle-clinkscales-e8717474569d

Kyle was a 22 year old student at Auburn university in 1976. (Auburn is in Alabama near the Georgia border). Kyle was a native of La Grange, GA and worked at the Moose Club in LaGrange. His shift ended at 11 PM and his coworkers said they saw him get into his Ford Pinto and drive away as usual. The drive back to Auburn was 45 minutes but he never made it back. His college roommate said everything was in order and nothing seemed unusual. Kyle has been missing for 45 years.

Workers at the club said Kyle was in a bad mood when he left because he had to deal with an "obnoxious" customer. The manager said he believes Kyle had a few drinks before he went home, but he didn't think he looked drunk. Because of this, the Police's initial theory was that Kyle was inebriated and had an accident. Both Georgia and Alabama troopers scoured every possible route back to Auburn looking for his wrecked car, but found nothing.

It should be noted that no matter which route you take from La Grange, GA to Auburn, AL, you only pass one body of water, the Chattahoochee River. At the time he went missing, the river was only ankle deep which virtually eliminates any possibility he had slid off the road and drowned in the river.

Over time the case went cold. However, Police have had a bunch of tips over the years. One anonymous caller said the body could be found in a lake on a piece of private property. Police got a warrant, drained the lake, and found nothing.

In 1987 (11 years after he went missing) a guy walking his dog found Kyle's credit card lying on the ground in Troup County, GA. This is the county where La Grange is located (Kyle's hometown).

But the big break came in 2005. Someone came forward and said he witnessed the murder when he was 7 years old. Unfortunately the main suspect, Ray Hyde, died in 2001 so he couldn't be charged. Police arrested two accomplices who have since served time and been released. One of the accomplices confessed. He told Police he went to Hyde's house and saw Kyle's dead body (he had been shot). Hyde then asked him to help dispose of the body, which he did. He claims he and Hyde placed the body in cement and dumped it into a pond.

Now, fast forward to Monday December, 6 2021 (two days ago at the time of this post). A driver was driving near a creek in Lafayette, AL on County Road 83 and spotted a car in the water. He called Police who arrived on the scene to pull it out. Guess what? It was positively identified as Kyle Clinkscale's 1974 Ford Pinto (verified by the VIN number). Inside the car were bones and a wallet with Kyle's ID inside.

So now the mystery deepens. We (probably) have Kyle's body and now we have his car. So we have to ask: What in the world is going on here? How could Hyde and his accomplice have put the body in cement and dumped it in a pond when we now have Kyle's car in a CREEK with a body inside? And how could Kyle's car sit in that creek for 45 years without being discovered? Did someone move it there much later? Hyde has been dead since 2001.

Picture from Monday (Dec. 6, 2021) as Police pull his car out of the water.

https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AARC5Ea.img?h=338&w=600&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f

Link to an MSN news story:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ncaafb/missing-auburn-univ-student-s-car-found-in-alabama-45-years-later/ar-AARAkUu

You beat me. I just made my own post. Refer to it for some more links.

That 10 missing persons alert remains one of the creepiest UM segments of all time to me, and pretty much none of them are fully resolved.

Just out of curiosity, do you have a list of the other nine cases that were covered in addition to Clinkscales?

Thanks for this.

Just out of curiosity, do you have a list of the other nine cases that were covered in addition to Clinkscales?

I tried finding a thread that listed all of the cases, and this was the best one I could find (many of the links are no longer available, though):

https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=210068&highlight=clinkscales

Here are the UM wiki pages for each person:

https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/John_Simmons

https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/David_Tyll_and_Brian_Ognjan

https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Diana_Braungardt

https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Julie_Weflen

https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Susan_Cappel

https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Lily_Mae_Huff

https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Carlos_Alvarez

https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/David_Thies

https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Stefanie_Stroh

That 10 missing persons alert remains one of the creepiest UM segments of all time to me, and pretty much none of them are fully resolved.

Except the Mio, Michigan hunters. I read the book a couple years ago and their fate was more horrific than one could imagine. Murdered, decapitated and fed to the pigs by an evil hillbilly. Kind of like a winter time version of the movie 'Deliverance.' Just terrifying.

It's pretty wild -- they are finding resolution on old UM cases left and right these days.

Except the Mio, Michigan hunters. I read the book a couple years ago and their fate was more horrific than one could imagine. Murdered, decapitated and fed to the pigs by an evil hillbilly. Kind of like a winter time version of the movie 'Deliverance.' Just terrifying.

Agreed. I picked up the paperback secondhand on vacation a few years ago. Let's say "check under the bed before going to bed" acquired new resonance.

Except the Mio, Michigan hunters. I read the book a couple years ago and their fate was more horrific than one could imagine. Murdered, decapitated and fed to the pigs by an evil hillbilly. Kind of like a winter time version of the movie 'Deliverance.' Just terrifying.

I read Tom Henderson's book about this case, Darker Than Night. What happened to these two is horrific. Every time I used to stay in Kalkaska, we would go through Grayling and there was always the sign for Mio. Always gave me the creeps.

Is the special alert part of the Filmrise episodes? I don’t remember it.

No., alas

I agree, that missing persons segment was super creepy. It was aired in the same episode as the Bonnie Wilder segment, also not on Filmrise :( (I have the full episode)
It will be interesting to see what the cause of death was.
Didn't a couple of people already go to jail for supposedly "discarding" Kyle's remains though?

I agree, that missing persons segment was super creepy. It was aired in the same episode as the Bonnie Wilder segment, also not on Filmrise :(

Ok, that explains why I couldn't see it when I looked up the episode on YouTube the other day. For a moment there I thought I was going slightly crazy! :eek:

What was so scary about this Missing Persons segment? Was it the music? Pictures of the missing? For some reason I always find Missing Persons cases where the photo of them is very, very low in quality to be more scary (for some strange reason!).

What was so scary about this Missing Persons segment? Was it the music? Pictures of the missing? For some reason I always find Missing Persons cases where the photo of them is very, very low in quality to be more scary (for some strange reason!).

Extremely eerie music and only quick narration about how they disappeared (abduction or just "disappeared") and how old they would be at the time of the segment (1989) and any applicable reward for information. The pictures themselves aren't scary, but the music and circumstances make it all the eerier.

Edited to add: It's also scary because of how few of these cases have been resolved. Besides Kyle Clinkscales, only John Simmons' remains have been proven to be found (but his killer remains unidentified). Even the two missing hunters where we know what happened to them haven't been found, likely because of the method used to dispose of the bodies. If Kyle Clinkscales is positively identified and investigators determine this was just an accident, his case will be the only one out of ten actually listed as of fully resolved over three decades after the airing of this special alert.

Ok, that explains why I couldn't see it when I looked up the episode on YouTube the other day. For a moment there I thought I was going slightly crazy! :eek:

What was so scary about this Missing Persons segment? Was it the music? Pictures of the missing? For some reason I always find Missing Persons cases where the photo of them is very, very low in quality to be more scary (for some strange reason!).
If you want to know what the music that was used in the roll call sounded like watch the Roxanne Jeeves segment (season 6, episode 20). Around the 38 minute mark it's heard when they show the suspect enter the store demanding to use the telephone. It was also used in quite a few other segments but most of those were also removed from Filmrise.

Extremely eerie music and only quick narration about how they disappeared (abduction or just "disappeared") and how old they would be at the time of the segment (1989) and any applicable reward for information. The pictures themselves aren't scary, but the music and circumstances make it all the eerier.

Yes. When you describe it, it doesn't sound that scary. But even though it's simplistic, you have a very unsettling feeling. Probably because you know something really horrible happened to every one of these people without knowing most of the details. Plus, as I've said before, UM could put that very creepy music over a picture of puppies and you'd immediately feel concern for their safety.

Yeah, learning how many of these people seemed to have evaporated with no trace -- the power worker disappearance is especially creepy -- combined with the brevity of the segment turned the thing into a haiku of doom.

If you want to know what the music that was used in the roll call sounded like watch the Roxanne Jeeves segment (season 6, episode 20). Around the 38 minute mark it's heard when they show the suspect enter the store demanding to use the telephone. It was also used in quite a few other segments but most of those were also removed from Filmrise.

Thanks for the info omegadoom! I just had a look...or rather a listen then. Creepy music. Oh and Kurt Jeeves B & W mugshot in the segment was also a bit unsettling. :eek:

Crazy how someone could be at the bottom of a creek for that long.

Sadly, it's not.

If you have the time, watch some of the "Adventures with Purpose" Youtube channel.

Love what those folks are doing, though their video production leaves something to be desired in my eyes. A bit too clickbaity at times for my tastes based on what they're doing.

https://www.youtube.com/c/AdventureswithPurpose

I tried finding a thread that listed all of the cases, and this was the best one I could find (many of the links are no longer available, though):

https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Lily_Mae_Huff



Speaking of Mrs. Huff, the headstone she shares with her late husband has Lillie's birth year of 1915 and the other side as the date she went missing. The date on Lillie's memorial (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/166640894/lillie-mae-huff) is the date her family declared her legally deceased.

Hi everyone, I discovered this forum 15 years ago at the beginning of 2007, when jpenn (dynoguy) uploaded a lot of cases to YT, but this is my first post.

Yes the 10 missing persons cases are not included in the Filmrise Version of this episode. The original version was originally broadcasted on October 25th.1989. The very famous Bonnie Wilder segment was substituted by the Salvatore Michael Caruana segment in the Filmrise version, which was originally broadcasted two weeks later on November 8th. 1989. Another diference is that the original version only includes the update of Sylvia Wemhoff's brother, but not the search of Francis Murphy's sister which is in the Filmrise Version. Finally, after the 10 missing persons cases, at the end of the original version there is a brief intro done by Robert Stack of the Rudolf Hess segment which was broadcasted one week later on November 1st. 1989. This brief intro is missing at the end of the Filmrise version of this episode.

I am very glad to be here!!!

Hi everyone, I discovered this forum 15 years ago at the beginning of 2007, when jpenn (dynoguy) uploaded a lot of cases to YT, but this is my first post. :wave:

The JPenn youtube account. That was the first of 3 youtube accounts that kept getting shut down by Cosgrove & Meurer for uploading UM content.

Fast-forward ten years and it's finally O.K.

Hi everyone, I discovered this forum 15 years ago at the beginning of 2007, when jpenn (dynoguy) uploaded a lot of cases to YT, but this is my first post.

Yes the 10 missing persons cases are not included in the Filmrise Version of this episode. The original version was originally broadcasted on October 25th.1989. The very famous Bonnie Wilder segment was substituted by the Salvatore Michael Caruana segment in the Filmrise version, which was originally broadcasted two weeks later on November 8th. 1989. Another diference is that the original version only includes the update of Sylvia Wemhoff's brother, but not the search of Francis Murphy's sister which is in the Filmrise Version. Finally, after the 10 missing persons cases, at the end of the original version there is a brief intro done by Robert Stack of the Rudolf Hess segment which was broadcasted one week later on November 1st. 1989. This brief intro is missing at the end of the Filmrise version of this episode.

I am very glad to be here!!!

Welcome! :wave: I love it when our lurkers finally step out and say Hello! We're glad you're here! :)

Thank you very much LooksLikeCRicci and dynoguy88!!

Hi everyone, I discovered this forum 15 years ago at the beginning of 2007, when jpenn (dynoguy) uploaded a lot of cases to YT, but this is my first post.

Yes the 10 missing persons cases are not included in the Filmrise Version of this episode. The original version was originally broadcasted on October 25th.1989. The very famous Bonnie Wilder segment was substituted by the Salvatore Michael Caruana segment in the Filmrise version, which was originally broadcasted two weeks later on November 8th. 1989. Another diference is that the original version only includes the update of Sylvia Wemhoff's brother, but not the search of Francis Murphy's sister which is in the Filmrise Version. Finally, after the 10 missing persons cases, at the end of the original version there is a brief intro done by Robert Stack of the Rudolf Hess segment which was broadcasted one week later on November 1st. 1989. This brief intro is missing at the end of the Filmrise version of this episode.

I am very glad to be here!!!

Welcome! Always nice to hear from new folks.

Thank you very much mphs95!!!

Solved: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/21/kyle-clinkscales-missing-student-1976-identified-alabama-car-creek

The JPenn youtube account. That was the first of 3 youtube accounts that kept getting shut down by Cosgrove & Meurer for uploading UM content.


Pretty sure JPenn80 was the first channel I ever subscribed to on YT.

Pretty sure JPenn80 was the first channel I ever subscribed to on YT.

I was obsessed with uploading tv show (and sports) content in the early days of YouTube. Copyrighted content was always inconsistent in how long it would stay up. And UM content…became quite the battle.

On my UM channel, I would always put tags in for the cities the segment took place. So I’d always hear feedback from residents who lived there but had no knowledge of the case. For instance, a resident from New Rockford, North Dakota watched the Kathy Bonderson segment and their mind was blown over this happening where they lived. She even mentioned she knew where that bridge was.

So, someone brought up a very good point earlier on.

Jimmy Earl Jones went to jail for 7 years over this. Technically, he was convicted of making false statements, but it was all related to this case.

The synopsis on the UM Wiki reads poorly. Who was the 'eyewitness' who 'saw' Kyle dead at age 7? Seems that guy should get popped for false statements. Had he not said anything, police wouldn't have investigated Jones.. Who wouldn't have done 7 years in jail.

If anyone is interested in viewing the "Special Alert" segment, it was recently uploaded along with Bonnie Wilder's. I won't link to it, but search "Unsolved Mysteries Bonnie Wilder" and it will come up.