Diver finds sunken car of teenage couple who went missing 21 years ago

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A diver who runs a YouTube channel about the search found the sunken car of a pair of teenagers who went missing in 2000.

The whole story happened in the USA, in the state of Tenessee. More than 21 years ago, on 3 April 2000, 18-year-old Erin Foster and 17-year-old Jeremy Bechtel disappeared without a trace. The pair of teenagers drove off in a car from under Foster’s house and no one has known them since.

Despite the investigation and ongoing search, officers from the White County Sheriff’s Office were helpless. The police officers did not come across any clues, nor did any of the missing persons’ friends know where Erin and Jeremy were. They had disappeared like a stone into water…

Unfortunately, it turned out that the solution to the mysterious disappearance of the American teenagers lies in this saying. Although for many years, no traces of Erin and Jeremy were found, it does not mean that no one was looking for them. The parents of the missing two were still looking for a way to solve the mystery of their disappearance.

21 years later

Sheriff Steve Page stated in a press release that Foster’s family members notified him on Nov. 28 about YouTuber Jeremy Beau Sides. The man is in the business of solving missing persons cases, which he reports on in videos he posts on his channel Exploring With Nug.

Last month, at the request of Sheriff Page, the YouTuber appeared in Sparta, Tennessee, to search for a missing car. His search includes using sonar to pinpoint potential locations, which he then verifies through a dive. Sides began searching along Highway 84 in the Calfkiller River, the location where the couple went missing.

On November 30, Jeremy Beau Sides discovered a submerged vehicle in the river. As it turned out upon closer inspection, it was a rusty Pontiac Grand Am. This was the exact model that Bechtel had driven that day. Upon receiving this information, people from the sheriff’s office immediately arrived on the scene.

As expected, human remains were found in the vehicle. Technicians have secured them and submitted them for further DNA-based genetic testing. Specialists will compare them with dental records and genetic material taken from relatives. The families of the missing teenagers have been informed of the discovery.

“I am short of words. I am so happy to have found them. At the same time I am very sad to have found them at the bottom of that river. I can’t believe it – it’s been over 20 years, and they’ve been there all this TIME, waiting for someone to find them – Sides said in his YouTube video.

While the most important thing for the families is that Erin and Jeremy’s remains have been found years later, this is not the end of the matter. Sheriff Page has already launched an investigation to find out under what circumstances the car ended up at the bottom of the river.

Interestingly, 20 years ago, the river was searched by divers. However, they did not have the equipment that many enthusiasts can afford today. This also shows that potentially many other cases from many years ago can be solved if someone takes a fresh look at them.