Mysterious submerged vehicle belongs to man missing since 2003, NC sheriff says

A crumpled Pontiac found submerged in a creek belongs to a man who went missing on Christmas Eve in 2003, according to investigators in North Carolina.

However, deputies did not report finding the remains of 22-year-old Travis Lamont Lynch.

His car was spotted around 2:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 10, in Turkey Creek, about 17 miles northeast of Wilson, officials say. A license plate was used to identify the vehicle as belonging to Lynch.

“A citizen contacted authorities to report a vehicle submerged in the water near Old Middlesex Road and Turkey Creek. Deputies from the Nash County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene and confirmed the presence of a white Pontiac passenger vehicle,” the sheriff’s office says.

“The investigation identified the vehicle, (1992 Pontiac Grand AM), as belonging to Travis Lamont Lynch, who was reported missing in 2003. The vehicle was successfully recovered from the water and the Nash County Sheriff’s Office is currently processing and evaluating evidence.”

The department has requested the assistance of the FBI Submersion Evidence team “to conduct further investigation of the area.”

Maps show a two-lane bridge crosses Turkey Creek on Old Middlesex Road, and the area is heavily wooded.

Lynch was last seen driving the car as he left his girlfriend’s home in the Middlesex area “in the early morning hours of Christmas Eve 2003,” the sheriff’s office says.

“He intended to return to his home in Wilson, NC, but never arrived and did not contact any of his family,” officials say.

He was supposed to alert his girlfriend when he got safely home that morning, but that call never came, according to the Charley Project. He was reported missing by his mother two days later, the site says.

Middlesex is about a 30-mile drive east from downtown Raleigh.

This story was originally published December 12, 2025 at 8:25 AM.