WHITE COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — A car belonging to a teenager missing from White County since 2000 was discovered in a river Tuesday.
The White County Sheriff’s Office reported the vehicle that belonged to 18-year-old Erin Foster was found in the Calfkiller River.
Foster was reported missing along with 17-year-old Jeremy Bechtel on the night of April 3, 2000.
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the teens were last spotted around 10 p.m. as witnesses reported seeing them in Erin’s black Pontiac Grand-Am.
Sheriff Steve Page reported he was at church with Foster’s family on Sunday when they asked if he had seen the YouTube account, Exploring with a Nug, which is run by a scuba diver who searches rivers and waterways for lost or stolen items and “helps bring closure to families in need.” The diver had searched for Foster and Bechtel the previous week.
Sheriff Page then contacted the diver to let him know he was searching in the wrong area and told him exactly where the pair had gone missing from 21 years ago.
The diver moved his location to a spot near Highway 84 on the Calfkiller River, where the vehicle was discovered. Sheriff Page and Major John Meadows came to the scene within minutes to verify the vehicle was Foster’s.
Roughly six years after the pair’s disappearance, investigators searched for Foster in Pensacola, Florida, after receiving tips she was living and working there.
Meanwhile back in Tennessee, police followed leads suggesting the pair had been murdered and their bodies dumped in an abandoned well somewhere in White County.
The sheriff said the discovery of the vehicle could help further the investigation and more information will be released as soon as it is available.