NC Wanted: Mystery of Hope Mills man's disappearance lingers

Kent Jacobs was 42 when he disappeared on March 10, 2002, from a neighborhood about 2 miles from his mother's home. Relatives said he has a disability that left him with the mental capacity of a 9-year-old.

Family friend Dennis Mahon has erected a banner on the side of Camden Road that quotes a warrant investigators used to search nearby property last year. "There is probable cause to believe that a refrigerator containing the remains of Kent Jacobs is buried," the banner reads.

"I'm of the belief that he could be anywhere, but that is the No. 1 lead that needs to be taken care of right now," Mahon said.

The Cumberland County investigator heading up the case received a credible lead indicating that Jacobs' body might have been buried off Brooklyn Circle. Forensic archaeologists then used high-tech scanners to search for items buried on a wooded lot, but they found no sign of Jacobs or a refrigerator.

"If I have closure for Kent, then at least I'll know where he is and I can put him to rest," said Marth Jacobs, Kent's mother. "Each and every day I think of Ken."

Jacobs' disappearance is oldest unsolved missing persons case in Cumberland County. It has been treated as a homicide since about five months after he went missing.

Anyone with information about his disappearance is urged to call the toll free hotline at 1-866-43-wanted.