21 years after 2 youngsters went lacking, an beginner investigator discovered his automobile in a river whereas diving

Car security has grown in recent years, but that wasn’t the case a few decades ago. Most vehicles lacked modern crash-prevention equipment and technology, and some dangerous roads didn’t even have crash barriers. This had led many to believe that subpar road safety led to many missing person and disappearance cases, including one of the most interesting car mysteries. Well, according to the New York Times, the fate of two teenagers who disappeared over 20 years ago was finally revealed in December.

An old cold case of missing teenagers has been solved by the diving YouTuber

A crane pulling a car out of a river | NICOLAS LAMBERT/AFP via Getty Images

In April 2000, Jeremy Bechtel and Erin Foster seemingly disappeared after leaving Foster’s home for a drive. The two were last seen alive in a Pontiac Grand Am down a country road in Sparta, Tennessee. At the time, the road in question had few crash barriers protecting motorists from sliding into the surrounding rivers.

Jeremy Beau Sides, who runs the Exploring with Nug YouTube channel, is an amateur detective specializing in missing persons. The 42-year-old YouTuber has used scuba diving and sonar technology to explore hundreds of soaked cars in search of human remains.

After finding the two teenagers in a missing persons database, Sides made his way to Sparta. He didn’t make any discoveries during his first video, but it caught the attention of one of Foster’s family members. They quickly contacted Sheriff Steve Page, who reported the incident on Facebook.

Page told Sides he was in the wrong area and directed the diver to the Calfkiller River on Highway 84. Armed with this information, Sides quickly located the abandoned vehicle that was involved in a car accident. As soon as he removed the algae from the license plate, he knew he’d found the right thing.

Sides immediately notified local police, who arrived within minutes to help recover the vehicle. Human remains were found at the Pontiac Grand Am that required genetic testing and dental records matching. However, authorities are almost certain that the remains belong to Foster and Bechtel.

Although Sides was saddened to find that the teenagers had passed that night, overall he was pleased with his discovery. The only reason he started his YouTube journey was to help bring peace to families affected by missing loved ones, he says. Sides was involved in solving another cold case in 2005 after finding a missing woman’s car in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Sheriff Page’s press release on Facebook is awash with textual sighs of relief from the community. The lead investigator in this case, Major John Meadows, was a classmate of the teens who died. He said he was honored to help bring peace to their families.

Cars are often associated with missing persons and disappearances

*{padding:0;margin:0;overflow:hidden}html,body{height:100%}img,span{position:absolute;width:100%;top:0;bottom:0;margin:auto}span{ Height: 1.5cm; text alignment: center; Font: 48 pixels/1.5 sans serif; Color white; Text shadow: 0 0 0.5 cm Black}

Many old cars and discoveries can be found underwater

*{padding:0;margin:0;overflow:hidden}html,body{height:100%}img,span{position:absolute;width:100%;top:0;bottom:0;margin:auto}span{ Height: 1.5cm; text alignment: center; Font: 48 pixels/1.5 sans serif; Color white; Text shadow: 0 0 0.5 cm Black}