Missing Auburn student's car found, but 1976 mystery remains

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LAGRANGE, Ga. – An Auburn University pupil disappeared aft leaving his occupation astatine a Georgia barroom 1 nighttime successful January 1976, and authorities agelong believed helium was murdered. But the lone idiosyncratic ever convicted went to situation for years for making mendacious statements astir a sidesplitting that whitethorn ne'er person happened.

Nearly a half-century aft the disappearance, the unfastened hatch of a 1974 Pinto became disposable successful the murky h2o of an Alabama creek. It was Kyle Clinkscales' car, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation volition present analyse astir 50 bones recovered inside, including portion of a skull, a Georgia sheriff said.

“We whitethorn ne'er know” however the 22-year-old died, Sheriff James Woodruff of Troup County said astatine a quality league aft the car was pulled from the creek connected Tuesday adjacent Cusseta, Alabama. He said Clinkscales could person accidentally tally disconnected the road, astir 3 miles (five kilometers) disconnected the interstate betwixt his occupation and campus, but he's not ruling retired foul play.

Neither is Donny Turner, whose bureau interviewed astir 75 radical successful the lawsuit erstwhile helium was sheriff from 1993 to 2012. He told The Associated Press connected Thursday helium remains assured Clinkscales was the unfortunate of a homicide, that Jimmy Earl Jones was determination and that Jones was correctly prosecuted for lying to investigators.

Clinkscales was from LaGrange, adjacent the Georgia-Alabama authorities enactment and astir 45 miles (72 kilometers) from Auburn. He disappeared aft leaving the LaGrange Moose Club, wherever helium worked arsenic a bartender, astatine astir 11 p.m. connected Jan. 27, 1976, to instrumentality to school.

His parents prayed for accusation astir their lad until they died — his begetter successful 2007 and his parent this year. They offered rewards, consulted psychics, provided DNA samples and had a brief, mendacious glimmer of anticipation successful 1981 erstwhile a antheral successful Oregon claimed helium had amnesia and mightiness beryllium their son, according to quality reports.

The probe has started and stalled respective times implicit the years, and authorities accidental Jones' archetypal soundlessness and aboriginal inconsistencies analyzable things. The AP tried to scope Jones and the lawyer who represented him for remark but was incapable to find either of them.

One tipster, successful 1996, pointed to a antheral who was a person of Jones, saying that antheral knew wherever the assemblage was. Investigators drained a 5-acre water adjacent the man's property, but they recovered nothing. Jones' person denied immoderate involvement, and Jones stayed mum. Investigators didn't person capable grounds to bring charges.

Then, successful 2005, a antheral called Clinkscales' parents, saying that erstwhile helium was 7, helium witnessed the disposal of their son’s body, covered with factual successful a tube and dumped into a pond. He said his relative was progressive successful trying to get escaped of the body.

The relative denied it but said helium heard a gunshot and witnessed Jones and the person dragging idiosyncratic away, Turner said. The pond was drained, but a assemblage was not recovered.

When questioned by investigators successful 1996 and successful 2005, Jones failed to disclose that helium was a witnesser to Clinkscales' sidesplitting and aboriginal gave conflicting statements, authorities said.

Investigators talked to Jones galore times, and his lawyer was involved, Turner said.

“He knew we were not trying to railroad him,” Turner said.

Investigators charged Jones successful April 2005 with concealing a decease and hindering the apprehension of a criminal. He pleaded blameworthy a twelvemonth aboriginal to 2 counts of mendacious statements.

Jones said during his plea proceeding that helium was astatine his friend's spot that nighttime erstwhile Clinkscales showed up, expected to bring wealth owed to idiosyncratic else. Jones said his backmost was turned erstwhile helium heard the 2 men arguing, and past heard 2 shots.

“When I turned around, I was successful shock. And we carried him and enactment him successful the shop,” Jones said, according to a proceeding transcript.

Judge Allen Keeble agreed to hold his sentencing due to the fact that his plea statement depended connected his grounds against a pistillate who Jones claimed had been determination astatine the killing.

When Jones reappeared for his sentencing successful August 2007, authorities were exasperated.

District Attorney Pete Skandalakis told the justice helium had called Jones to his bureau earlier presenting the lawsuit against the pistillate to a expansive jury, and erstwhile asked again if the pistillate had been determination erstwhile Clinkscales was killed, Jones said she was not. The planned indictment fell apart.

“I questioned him further, and finally, helium told maine that helium would accidental thing that I wanted him to say, which was of nary usage to me, Your Honor, due to the fact that I wanted lone the truth,” Skandalakis said.

The authoritative said Jones had told inactive different communicative close aft his apprehension successful 2005: That helium had gone to get brew that nighttime successful 1976, and returned to his friend's spot to spot Clinkscales wounded connected the ground. Jones said his person said helium changeable him accidentally, and that helium helped him transportation Clinkscales, inactive alive, into a shed, and ne'er saw him again.

“Based connected each the inconsistent statements this suspect has given, the State is of a presumption that his grounds is perfectly useless to us,” Skandalakis told the judge. Nevertheless, the authoritative continued to enactment the plea woody for 4 years successful prison, followed by 4 years connected probation.

Clinkscales' parent wanted a stiffer punishment, blaming Jones for his soundlessness and inconsistency that “continues to hinder the betterment of my son's assemblage truthful that I whitethorn springiness him a Christian burial,” according to a connection she wrote that Skandalakis work aloud astatine the sentencing. She asked the justice for “the maximum allowable sentence.”

Jones' attorney, Julianne Lynn, told the justice her lawsuit didn't mean to mislead and tried to help. She acknowledged his mendacious statements, but said his culpability successful immoderate transgression beyond that "is successful question by everybody.”

The victim's household and assemblage had been "torn by this for truthful galore years,” she said, but she urged the justice not to enactment connected emotion. Jones was 65 years aged by then, had nary anterior transgression grounds and conscionable wanted to get backmost to his roadworthy enactment job. She asked for his release, crediting him for clip served.

There was nary existent grounds that Jones was progressive successful sidesplitting Clinkscales, but his mendacious and inconsistent statements added to Clinkscales' parents' anguish and misery, the justice said.

“You tin beryllium punished for that, and you ought to beryllium punished for that," helium said. Jones was sentenced to service 9 years and yet spent 7 years and 8 months locked up.

After the car was recovered, Skandalakis said successful a telephone interrogation that the “most plausible explanation” is that Clinkscales accidentally ran disconnected the road, but it's imaginable helium was killed elsewhere and placed there. Either way, Jones deserved situation for the symptom helium caused by muddying the investigation, helium said.

Turner, the erstwhile sheriff, said helium can't "imagine anybody going to tribunal and pleading blameworthy to thing and telling his portion of the communicative that didn’t bash it.”

“I don’t person regrets," Turner said. "I don’t person thing successful my caput that makes maine deliberation we’ve done thing wrong.”

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Brumback reported from Atlanta.

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