The rear hatch on my '07 Sport won't open. The handle feels like it's stuck in a half-open position and is not springing back to closed position.

I've read a few threads on this board but am still unclear what I need to do. First, I cannot get it open even from the inside. Manual says (from inside) that I should push the silver plate to the right, which I've done and it's still not opening. I've sprayed some WD40 in there and that hasn't helped. So my first task is getting this open. Any ideas?

Thanks

 

Looks like I fixed it, at least temporarily. Pulled the back plastic panel off and noticed that the white plastic bits were disconnected in two spots (circled in photo below). Popped them back in and the hatch opened. My worry is that if they fell out of place once, they will likely fall out again. Will search around and see if I can find those plastic piece to purchase.

Thanks