Sunken Car's Remains May Solve 43-Year-Old Mystery

An autopsy may help write the final page of a 43-year-old mystery that began with the disappearance of a military retiree in western North Carolina. The Caldwell County Sheriff's Office says human remains found Tuesday in a 1968 Pontiac recovered from a Lake Rhodhiss, 75 miles northwest of Charlotte, could help solve the case of Amos Shook, who was reported missing on Feb. 19, 1972. Officials say the car, found in 30 feet of water using advanced sonar, matches the model that belonged to Shook, who was 44 when he disappeared. A sheriff's rep won't say what led investigators to the lake, but adds that there were no initial signs of foul play.

The Charlotte Observer reports that the search for Shook, who had retired from the US Air Force and was living in the town of Sawmills, was resumed after his daughter approached police last month with a newspaper article about her missing father and asked them to search again. "Unless the medical examiner says the autopsy shows some type of foul play, we may never know what happened," an officer says. "We don't know his state of mind, and most of his family members are probably in their 80s now. But we're glad to have brought the family some closure." (More North Carolina stories.)