On December 10th, 2025 at around 2:45 PM police were called to a creek located near Old Middlesex Road and Turkey Creek in Middlesex, North Carolina due to a report of a vehicle found submerged in the water. The vehicle discovered was a White 1992 Pontiac Grand Am which after finding the license plate was confirmed to belong to 22 year old Travis Lamont Lynch missing since Dec 24th, 2003.

Police divers have begun to search for additional clues over the last few days however no sign of any remains have been discovered. Investigators suspect the vehicle had been submerged in the creek for a long time as the car had deteriorated severely. Lynch went missing December 24th back in 2003 after leaving his girlfriend’s house at around 1:00 AM with plans to head to Wilson, North Carolina however he never arrived. Investigators are investigating how Lynch’s vehicle ended up in the creek but for years have indicated they suspect foul play in his disappearance.

The discovery of Lynch’s vehicle has led to the local sheriff’s department calling in the FBI to look over evidence and clues in the case. Investigators have begun to have their forensic teams look over the vehicle while also having divers assist in checking the nearby waters for any additional clues. The search for clues around the location where his vehicle was found is ongoing.

Source:

https://www.wral.com/news/local/nash-cold-case-car-found-december-2025/

https://abc11.com/amp/post/travis-lamont-lynch-car-linked-20-years-old-missing-person-cold-case-found-nash-county/18279357/

https://www.cbs17.com/news/local-news/car-of-missing-man-from-2003-found-in-creek-in-nash-county-deputies-say/amp/

https://charleyproject.org/case/travis-lamont-lynch

https://www.wilsontimes.com/news/car-found-from-2003-missing-person-case-41957293

https://www.wilsontimes.com/news/person-of-interest-named-in-travis-lynchs-2003-disappearance-53334

https://thencbeat.com/2003-missing-man-car-found-nash-county-creek/

https://amp.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article313644984.html

https://namus.nij.ojp.gov/case/MP2241

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1eMvV_raOKo

  • I did find some additional information from articles. This comes from his Charley Project page, and the Wilson Times for the paywall I got around it and found more information about the investigation.

    When his family went to investigate his disappearance they went to the girlfriend’s house in Middlesex, North Carolina however they were not allowed into the home. The family reported Travis missing on December 26th of that year. A few months after Lynch’s disappearance a mobile home owned by the girlfriend’s family caught fire twice on separate occasions. The first fire was reported April 23rd with the house burning but not entirely with a second fire a few days later finishing the house.

    At the time the mobile home was located on near Bailey, North Carolina and was occupied by Sean Fontae Whitley who would later be arrested in 2004 and convicted in 2005 where he served time in jail on federal drug charges and was released in August of 2021. Police suspect the fires were related to Lynch’s disappearance though didn’t label the fires as arson but considered them suspicious. Sean is also uncle of Lynch’s girlfriend Carlisha Whitley and was named as the main person of interest in the 2003 disappearance back in 2020.

    The Wilson Times article(locked behind a paywall):

    “A locked up drug ringleader is the main person of interest in the disappearance of a Wilson man more than a decade ago.

    Travis Lamont Lynch, 21, vanished on Christmas Eve 2003. He was last seen alive with his girlfriend, Carlisha Whitley. She lived on Claude Lewis Road near Middlesex at the time.

    Carlisha Whitley's uncle, Sean Fontae Whitley, lived in a mobile home on Stoney Hill Church Road outside Bailey at that time. The mobile home burned down in a suspicious fire four months after Travis went missing.

    Sean Whitely is serving time in a federal prison on drug charges.

    "We were already investigating Sean Whitley when Travis Lynch disappeared, that stepped up our efforts," said Maj. Miste Strickland of the Nash County Sheriff's Office.” (Wilson Times)

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  • I work in Nash County, NC; I can think of quite a few "creeks" that regularly reach road level with just a little bit of rain.

    For some reason, this case hasn't had much coverage locally. Based on this update, I'm guessing he didn't accidentally drive off the road. :/

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    Body hasn’t been found in the water yet, they’ve suspected foul play since the 2003 disappearance and have a person of interest.

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  • Wow, amazing to have found the car so many years later, I wonder how it had gone without notice for so long.

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  • So young. Very sad 💔

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  • A creek is not usually a body of water big enough to disappear an entire vehicle for 22 years. Was the area heavily overgrown with trees and foliage?

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    Look it up on Google Maps. It looks to me like much of the year, it would be pretty overgrown. Also, it’s fairly large for a creek, but I’m unsure of the depth.

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    Sometimes they use the word creek for a small river, there isnt a lot of naming standard there.

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    Based on where it was found, if I had to guess weather, and water levels probably played a factor in the vehicle remaining hidden.

    It was also discovered in the day so compare this to an area at night with foliage and possibly higher water levels of a car which had begun to disintegrate probably

    Edit: Had a link attached to imugr showing a photo but it got taken down

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  • UK here, this is the first I've heard of this case.

    I'll need to read up on it but was there been anything to suggest that he was involved with the girlfriends uncle and his drug case?

    He goes missing December 2003 and the uncle is arrested in April 2004. That's a small timeframe of difference.

    Did her uncle maybe think he was going to inform on him or (if he was involved) then maybe he was skimming some.

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