Erin Foster and Jeremy Bechtel were two American teenagers from Sparta, Tennessee, who disappeared in April 2000. Their bodies were found in Foster's vehicle in 2021 by

Jeremy Sides Jeremy Beau Sides, aka "Nug" from the YouTube channel Exploring with Nug, is an American scuba diver and civilian crime investigator who investigates missing person cases and missing items. In 2021, he found the bodies of Erin Foster and Jeremy ...

, a volunteer civilian cold-case investigator and YouTuber.

Disappearance

Erin Foster and Jeremy Bechtel were residents of Sparta, Tennessee. Bechtel spoke to his father Ronnie Bechtel by telephone on the evening of April 3, 2000. Foster was seen by her brother Will the same evening. Foster and Bechtel attended a party that night but returned to Foster's parents' home before leaving again. Both teenagers were probably last seen around 10:00 p.m. in Foster's black

Pontiac Grand Am The Pontiac Grand Am is a mid-size car and later a compact car that was produced by Pontiac. The Grand Am had two separate three-year runs in the 1970s: from 1973 to 1975, and again from 1978 to 1980. It was based on the GM A platform. Production ...

. Foster was 18 at the time of her disappearance, while Bechtel was 17.

Searches

No one saw them alive after the evening of April 3, 2000, prompting rumors and speculation of their whereabouts including false reports of sightings. Searches were undertaken locally, and also in

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ...

, during 2005 and 2006 following reports that Foster was living and working there.

Discovery

On November 24, 2021, scuba diver

searched a lake near the location of the party attended by the teenagers. Sides found a submerged vehicle, but it was not Foster's Grand Am. On November 30, using sonar technology, Sides found a vehicle located thirteen feet below the surface of the

Calfkiller River The Calfkiller River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 8, 2011 stream in the east-central portion of Middle Tennessee in the United States. It is a tributary of t ...

, next to Highway 84, before running out of daylight. The following day, on December 1, 2021, Sides returned to the vehicle he had seen in the river and went diving to film the car. The license plate was confirmed to be that of Foster's Grand Am. He called White County Sheriff Steve Page to report his discovery and to confirm that it was Foster's car with two human remains found inside. The remains were later confirmed to be Foster and Bechtel, found in the vehicle after missing for 21 years. Police have theorized that Foster lost control of her vehicle while driving on Highway 84, which did not have a guardrail along that section in 2000. As of July 2022, the police investigation was not closed, but foul play was ruled out from police lines of inquiry.

Burial

Both Foster and Bechtel were buried in 2022.

References

External links

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COLD CASE: Searching Lake For Two Teenagers That Vanished 20 Years Ago!
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Exploring with Nug Jeremy Beau Sides, aka "Nug" from the YouTube channel Exploring with Nug, is an American scuba diver and civilian crime investigator who investigates missing person cases and missing items. In 2021, he found the bodies of Erin Foster and Jeremy ...

'', YouTube, Nov 24 2021.
''SOLVED 21 Year Old Missing Persons Case (Erin Foster & Jeremy Bechtel)''
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