(USNewsBreak.com) – Nearly 21 years ago, teenagers Jeremy Bechtel and Erin Foster left a party in Tennessee. The pair immediately disappeared without a trace. Officers ultimately failed to locate them despite an intense investigation and search. However, a YouTuber who made a heartbreaking discovery in a local river on December 1 may have helped their families finally get much-needed closure to start the healing process.
Two teens went missing 21 years ago. A scuba-diving YouTuber solved the cold case. https://t.co/WiigZ0GVMG
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) December 10, 2021
Jeremy Sides, a scuba diver who often aids law enforcement in locating weapons, missing people, and other objects within bodies of water, discovered a car submerged in Tennessee’s Calfkiller River that fateful day.
It tragically contained human remains. When White County Sheriff Steve Page ran the license plate, it came up in the name of one of the missing teens.
Sides said he became interested in the story just a few weeks prior. He knew that when a car disappears, it is often because it entered a body of water. Sheriff Page, who heard about Sides’ work, gave him access to case information that eventually led the YouTuber to the Calfkiller River.
Jeremy Bechtel and Erin Foster initially went missing on April 3, 2000. After their disappearance, their small hometown of Sparta began ringing with rumors. Some locals felt they ran away together, while others suspected they were trafficking drugs.
The teens’ families hoped to find them alive and well. When Sides alerted officers to the submerged car, they realized they were truly gone forever. The news also squashed ongoing rumors about their fate; Sparta residents now understood the teens likely died in a horrible accident.
According to The Washington Post, authorities are still waiting for confirmation that the remains are Jeremy and Erin’s.
Copyright 2021, USNewsBreak.com
