How scuba-diving YouTuber made haunting discovery that solved decades old cold case of two missing teens
Thanks to the power of social media and the internet, mysteries that have remained unexplainable for years are suddenly being solved.
In 2019, the remains of a missing man were found in Florida after 22 years - thanks to someone zooming into his former neighborhood onGoogle Earth. Then there was YouTuber Rich Aloha who was filming content for his channel when he stumbled across an abandoned camera that belonged to 22-year-old Richard Ragland who had lost his life two years prior. And now, a new cold case has been cracked open.
Another man who helped solve a missing persons case whilst making content, was Jeremy Beau Sides - Father, husband and scuba-diver who’s best known for his YouTube channel Exploring With Nug.
His channel, which has amassed over 636,000 subscribers, is dedicated to solving underwater mysteries - And one day, he made a heartbreaking discovery.
Whilst diving in Sparta, Tennessee, in 2021, Jeremy was exploring an area where just over 20 years earlier, teenagers Erin Foster and her friend, Jeremy Bechtel went missing.
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The pair left home in her car and were never seen again, that was until Jeremy and his team decided to explore the waters.
Armed with scuba, sonar and other exploratory equipment, they began to search the Calfkiller River.
Using this equipment, he searched the waters and was able to locate the vehicle 13 feet below the surface of the water.
They then alerted the police of their discovery, and a team of forensic investigators were collecting evidence from the 1998 Pontiac.
White County Sheriff Steve Page told News Channel 5: "Of course, I’m shocked. I’m like really? I didn’t believe it until I got there."
It was then later reported that they found Foster and Bechtel's remains inside the car.
'It was like losing him all over again,' Jeremy's father, Ron Bechtel, said in an interview with the New York Times.
'We kind of had just had a thin bit of hope that he was still alive.'
With the car almost completely intact, the scene indicated that the pair had simply run off the road.
For years, dive teams believed that if that were to have happened, the guardrail along the highway would’ve shown signs of damage. However, it wasn't until 2021 that investigators realised the guardrail wasn't there in 2000.
“We all make mistakes," Page said afterwards. "The best we can do is learn from those mistakes and just keep moving forward."
Since his discovery in 2021, Jeremy has continued to dedicate his YouTube channel to solving cold cases and finding missing people - His most recent upload being titled ‘Explosive Underwater Discovery: 3 Vehicles Found While Searching for Missing Man!’
When interviewed after solving the case in 2021, he said “We’re just doing what we do and we make the rules - and end of the day, we try to find these people who are missing. We focus on the waterways because that’s what our specialty is...
"We all have the same objective: Just keep looking and bring closure to these families.”