*** shocking discovery on *** private pond in Kington is linked to *** man that went missing there in 2013. Donnie Irwin, who was 59 years of age at the day of his disappearance. 10 years ago, left his home the morning of December 29th to go get cigarettes at *** nearby gas station. *** stop he would frequent except this time he never returned. That this appearance left investigators baffled after checking surveillance videos of nearby gas stations. None of which saw *** glimpse of Irwin. Now 10 years later, James Hinkle, *** videographer and owner of Echo divers, *** youtube page that investigates cold cases across the state of Missouri discovered the car belonging to Irwin in *** pond on private property in Kington while flying his drone looking for any clue as to where Irwin could have gone. And it was my second to last stop. I was gonna take off there, uh, hit that pond and then one just slightly north of it. Uh, and then I was gonna go home. I was, I was getting ready to pack things up and, uh, flew over, seen *** tire that was in water, I could see from the drone that it wasn’t attached to any vehicle. And then I just panned the, uh, the drone over and I seen, uh, something else in the water Sergeant Scott Hines was one of the original investigators that was assigned to Irwin’s case. He says, volunteers and the community play massive role in providing leads and other important information. He says, Hinkle’s discovery takes *** massive burden off of Irwin’s family. What an amazing discovery. Uh you know, for us that have been involved in this case from the beginning, uh It’s *** bit of *** relief. Uh because for 10 years, we’ve had virtually zero leads that panned out. You know, we uh we followed leads up as far away as Texas uh all over Missouri Kansas, Oklahoma, Lieutenant Cole Hurst, *** rescue diver for mid county fire Protection District says his team served as *** resource to Hinkle and part of the discovery adding that it was *** tense day for all of those involved, but with this being such *** big case and uh the community kind of all hearing about it all knowing about it. Um And then the tension of that, you know, you could kind of feel that. So we were really hoping that we could bring some closure to the family. That’s kind of the whole reason we all do this. So Sergeant Hein says Irwin’s investigation is still ongoing as the body belonging to Irwin has yet to be found. Hinkle says with the discovery of the car, it’s only *** matter of time till they are able to close the case of Donald Irwin reporting for KRCG 13. I’m Ryan Smith.

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YouTuber helps lead authorities to human remains believed to be of man missing since 2013

Updated: 6:56 AM EST Dec 27, 2023

Sarah Engel, CNN

Human remains were found Sunday in connection to a 2013 missing person’s case with the help of a YouTuber, according to the Camden County Sheriff’s Office in Missouri.In a news release, the sheriff’s office said that James Hinkle, a local videographer who operates the YouTube channel Echo Divers, spotted a submerged vehicle in a private pond while filming with his drone.Hinkle was searching the area for clues related to the disappearance of Donnie Erwin, who was 59 when he went missing from Camdenton, Missouri, in December 2013.“When I found out that Donnie was a veteran and lived an hour and a half from my home in Clinton, Missouri, I knew I could help with the search,” Hinkle, who oversees a scuba diving search and rescue team, told CNN via Facebook.In a Dec. 16 news release, the sheriff’s office said divers confirmed the vehicle’s license plate number matched that of Donnie Erwin’s, but were unable to find any remains.During the weekend before Christmas, authorities brought in cadaver dogs, who alerted detectives to a specific area of the pond. On Sunday, divers recovered human remains and “an artificial hip consistent with the one Mr. Erwin had,” according to the Camden County Sheriff’s Office.“While a forensic pathologist will have to examine the remains to determine for certain if they are indeed those of Mr. Erwin, investigators are confident the hip and remains belong to him,” the sheriff’s office said.According to a missing person’s alert, Erwin was last seen around 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 29, 2013.

Human remains were found Sunday in connection to a 2013 missing person’s case with the help of a YouTuber, according to the Camden County Sheriff’s Office in Missouri.

In a news release, the sheriff’s office said that James Hinkle, a local videographer who operates the YouTube channel Echo Divers, spotted a submerged vehicle in a private pond while filming with his drone.

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Hinkle was searching the area for clues related to the disappearance of Donnie Erwin, who was 59 when he went missing from Camdenton, Missouri, in December 2013.

“When I found out that Donnie was a veteran and lived an hour and a half from my home in Clinton, Missouri, I knew I could help with the search,” Hinkle, who oversees a scuba diving search and rescue team, told CNN via Facebook.

In a Dec. 16 news release, the sheriff’s office said divers confirmed the vehicle’s license plate number matched that of Donnie Erwin’s, but were unable to find any remains.

During the weekend before Christmas, authorities brought in cadaver dogs, who alerted detectives to a specific area of the pond. On Sunday, divers recovered human remains and “an artificial hip consistent with the one Mr. Erwin had,” according to the Camden County Sheriff’s Office.

“While a forensic pathologist will have to examine the remains to determine for certain if they are indeed those of Mr. Erwin, investigators are confident the hip and remains belong to him,” the sheriff’s office said.

According to a missing person’s alert, Erwin was last seen around 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 29, 2013.

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