The rusty axel of a 1970s-era Camero is the first clue to this cold case mystery being pulled from a North Carolina Creek over the weekend.

They've been waiting for this for 41 years.

It's been four decades of heartache and unanswered questions for the families of Bill Clifton, David McKmickens, and Michael Norman.

But the wait is finally over, replaced by bittersweet closure.

Police think DNA testing will match human remains discovered inside the Camero to the three men who disappeared in 1982 appeared in 1982 seemingly without a trace. The break in the case coming thanks to a sonar-equipped one-man search team able to scan previously unsearched areas.

I feel like it's giving them some closure.

Closure and case closed, thanks to some good old-fashioned curiosity, determination, and ingenuity.

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