Car found in North Carolina creek with human remains may hold answers to 1982 cold case

A car that was found submerged in a North Carolina creek last Friday may hold the answers to a 41-year-old mystery that has puzzled investigators for decades.

On Dec. 10, 1982, three men, William Clifton, 30, David McMicken, 24, and Michael Norman, 32, vanished after leaving a bar in Chocowinity. Their last known sighting was in a black and white 1975 Chevrolet Camaro, police said.

The case went cold for years. Now, a breakthrough has brought renewed hope to the families of the missing men and the tight-knit community that has been gripped by their unexplained disappearance – all thanks to the efforts of a stranger.

Jason Souhrada, a Myrtle Beach native, played a pivotal role in reopening the case.

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His motivation stemmed from watching YouTube videos where people repeatedly searched the town without success. 

This prompted Souhrada to question why they hadn’t explored Jack’s Creek, a body of water in the town of Washington, located about 4 miles from Chocowinity.

“I got inspired by YouTubers that searched multiple times in that town and could not find them,” Souhrada told Fox News. “I questioned why they did not search this body of water and realized they couldn’t access it with regular boats.”

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This led him to construct a makeshift remote-controlled sonar device for the task. He described it as a Boogie Board with a sonar contained in a mounted protective case.

“I decided to build my sonar boat, as I don’t have a real boat, nor have a place to keep one,” he said. “A real boat would’ve been far more expensive. Plus, I only wanted to scan retention ponds and other areas real boats aren’t allowed or can’t access. Tons of missing people are found in retention ponds.”

Souhrada made two trips to North Carolina. The first was to scan what looked like a car on Google Earth in a large pond on a dirt road. After determining that it wasn’t one, he shifted his focus to Jack’s Creek and began scanning there.

“Later, inspecting video recorded on the scanner, I noticed what looked like an upside down car, but wasn’t sure, being this was my first time finding anything,” he said. “So, after confirming with four dive teams across the nation, I went back for another scan for more images.”

He then turned over his findings to Washington Chief of Police Phil Rollinson and Sidney Dive Team Captain John Scott Rose Jr.

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With the coordinates provided by Souhrada, the group organized a dive team to investigate the creek on the morning of Feb. 9, 2024. Family members of the missing men were also present.

Kayla Melendres, McMicken’s daughter, said, “Stepping onto the site, the reality hit me deeply.”

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“We were very hopeful that was the vehicle he was looking at,” Rose told Fox News. “The dives went as usual. Normal bad visibility, and the depth is normal for the area. A lot of mud, trees, fishing lines. Lots of fishing lines all over everything from years of people fishing in there. Tree stumps, logs, things like that floated in and out of that place.”

Rose was the diver who successfully located the vehicle.

“I found the vehicle after about 45 minutes of searching,” he said. “The vehicle was in such bad shape that when I put my hands on it, it was hard for me to determine that it was even an automotive. Maybe it was a lawnmower or something. It seemed real small to me, but then I realized that it was small mainly because there was nothing left of it but the chassis and the axles and the motor.”

To retrieve the vehicle, the diving team and law enforcement drained approximately four million gallons of water from Jack’s Creek, according to Rose.

The vehicle, significantly deteriorated after decades underwater, was positively identified as the missing Camaro through a VIN number matching that of the car Clifton, McMicken and Norman were last seen in, according to Rollinson.

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Inside the car, human remains were discovered, prompting authorities to send them to a medical examiner’s office for identification. Police said they would have to wait for the remains to be identified before determining whether any foul play might have been involved.

The families of the missing men are now awaiting the results of the identification process. In a joint statement, the families have requested privacy to grieve, reflect and process these events in their own time.

“They were very appreciative of us,” Rollinson said. “They expressed how thankful they were that so many people were involved in the effort to recover the vehicle and what remains we could recover. We just want to give them some closure.”

Lea Rose, Clifton’s daughter, emphasized the families’ collective gratitude.

“Without Jason Souhrada’s sacrifice, taking time away from his family to help ours, we wouldn’t have this potential chance for closure,” she said. “This has reopened wounds, initiating the grieving process anew for three families. Despite the pain, there’s a slight relief in finally having some answers.”

“I feel like I am in a dream of sorts,” ReAnne Mayo, Clifton’s other daughter, told Fox News. “I never thought to prepare myself had we found them. For years, I may have been watching the sunset near the creek with my father nearby and never knew it.”