A year after skeletal remains were found submerged for decades in an Alabama creek, investigators said they have closed the investigation into the Auburn University student who went missing in 1976.

On Tuesday, Troup County (Georgia) Sheriff James Woodruff said the Georgia Bureau of Investigation could not determine the cause of death for Kyle Clinkscales and that as a result the investigation into his disappearance and death has been closed.

Clinkscales, an Auburn University student at the time, disappeared in 1976 as he drove back to Alabama from LaGrange, Georgia, where he worked as a bartender.

“I want to once again thank my team of Investigators, the Georgia Bureau of Investigations and the Chambers County Sheriff’s Office for their hard work to finally close this case after more than four decades,” Sheriff Woodruff said.

After decades of no activity, the investigation into Clinkscales’ disappearance was brought back up after a car, a 1974 Pinto, was discovers submerged in an Alabama creek in December 2021.

Human remains found inside the vehicle were identified as Clinkscales.