1956 Disappearance Possibly Solved

On May 9 and again on May 18 human remains were discovered in a vehicle submerged approximately 45 feet deep in Parksville Lake. The vehicle description, as well as personal effects, appears to match the description associated with the Bradley County missing persons case of Kathleen Wrinkle who disappeared in 1956.

Initial examination of a femur bone found in the vehicle confirms it to be a young adult female. Authorities suspect the remains may belong to Wrinkle, the young woman who disappeared in 1956. Positive identification however is pending at the Knox County Forensic Anthropology Department.

Divers actually first began searching the bottom of Parksville Lake last summer in hopes of finding the car Kathleen Wrinkle was driving when she left home. She was driving a 1951 Chevrolet Bel Air. Divers actually located as many as seven different cars in the bottom of the lake just off shore from a steep bank along a curve on Highway 64. Due to the depth of the water and lack of visibility, divers had an extremely difficult time searching the vehicles and have returned to the area on several occasions.

It was May 9th when a group of volunteer divers discovered the vehicle submerged in silt and recovered a femur bone inside the vehicle that was turned over to the Polk County Sheriff's Office. From that time forward the BCSO, the Polk County Sheriff's Office, the Benton Police Department, as well as the West Polk County Fire and Rescue Unit and the volunteer divers, worked together to recover additional remains and artifacts.

Sheriff Tim Gobble commends Sgt. Bill Coultry, the BCSO Crime Scene Forensics Unit, the volunteer divers, Sheriff Bill Davis of the Polk County Sheriff's Office, and other agencies for their persistence and dedication in trying to solve this missing persons case.

Go HERE to learn about other Missing Persons Cases in the area.