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SAWMILLS, N.C. (AP) — A rusty, mud-caked sedan pulled from the bottom of a lake in the foothills of the North Carolina mountains could bring closure to the family of a retired airman who disappeared 43 years ago.
Investigators believe human remains found in a 1968 Pontiac Catalina recovered Tuesday from Lake Rhodhiss belong to Amos Shook, who was reported missing on Feb. 19, 1972. The model matches the car that belonged to Shook, and investigators found his identification and wallet in the car.
"We found a wallet and some ID cards in it. It amazed us how preserved that stuff was," Caldwell County Sheriff Alan Jones said at a news conference.
The four-door sedan showed some rust, but the windows were intact after it was pulled from the lake about 75 miles northwest of Charlotte. There were no signs of foul play.
Sheriff's Lt. Aaron Barlowe said the remains are being sent to the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for an autopsy. Medical examiners will try to use dental records for a positive identification, but may need to use DNA testing that could take weeks.
"Circumstantially, everything points to it being Mr. Shook, but we can't conclusively say that yet," he said Thursday.
Authorities say the search for Shook resumed after his daughter asked last month that they take another look. But few records from the original investigation were left when investigators searched their files, Jones said.
"Records from that far back, there's not a lot that was left because I know we looked for it," he said.
Barlowe said investigators have been going back over old leads but wouldn't say what brought them to the lake. A dive team used advanced sonar to find the car in 30 feet of water.
Shook, who was 44 when he disappeared, had retired from the U.S. Air Force and lived in the town of Sawmills, which lies just north of the lake. The mostly rural area was home to the first modern furniture factories starting in the late 19th century, according to a county website, and empty buildings in the heart of Sawmills point to its manufacturing past.
Shook's surviving family members live throughout Tennessee, and some are coming to meet with investigators on Friday to discuss the case, Barlowe said.
Given the time that's passed, authorities may not be able to say definitively what happened to Shook. But the sheriff hopes the discovery gives his family some peace of mind.
"They're just happy to get closure," he said.
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