Human remains found in a creek more than a year ago have been identified as an Auburn University student who disappeared in 1976, Alabama and Georgia officials said Sunday.

The human remains were found inside a car submerged in an east Alabama creek on December 8, 2021.

Those remains have been identified as Kyle Clinkscales, who disappeared in 1976, as he was reportedly driving back to Auburn from LaGrange, Georgia, where he worked as a bartender.

The Troup County Coroner’s Office announced Sunday that the remains have been positively identified as Clinkscales, who went missing after leaving the Moose Club in LaGrange in Jan. 27, 1976.

On Dec. 8, 2021, the Troup County Sheriff’s Office was notified by the Chambers County Sheriff’s Office that a 1974 Pinto Runabout, belonging to Clinkscales, had been located submerged in a body of water off of County Road 83 in Chambers County.

The vehicle was transported to Troup County, and investigators located skeletal remains.

The remains were sent to the Georgia Bureau of Investigations for DNA analysis. A press release from the Troup County Sheriff’s Office said analysis was completed by an FBI lab at the request of the GBI.

“We certainly appreciate the work of the FBI and the continued work of the GBI in this case,” TCSO said in a press release. The cause and manner of death have not been determined and the case remains under investigation by the TCSO.