‘Barbecue Man’ is still missing after 13 years, a frustrating case with no end in sight
Thirteen years ago, a 59-year-old man vanished from his home in rural Rich Square, a case that has baffled investigators for more than a decade and left his family frustrated, tired and constantly grieving.
Daniel Moses was known as “The Barbecue Man” around his hometown in Northampton County, which holds only 17,000 people — fewer than Holly Springs. Well-known around Rich Square for delivering his home-cooked chicken, he was also a large man at 6-foot-3 with a black belt in karate, making him an unlikely victim.
But in June of 2011, investigators found his house burned halfway down without a trace of Moses, though the air-conditioner was running inside, his car was parked in the driveway and his barbecue tools sat on the grill.
A sister’s push for answers
Since then, his younger sister Sheila Moses has pushed tirelessly for answers while law enforcement turns up little.
Last year, a crowd of 50 searchers pushed through the swampy woods east of Interstate 95, turning up no clues.
The case is doubly painful for Shelia Moses, a celebrated writer who penned one young adult story, “The Legend of Buddy Bush,” featuring Daniel as a character and set on the road where they grew up.
Twice since he vanished, people have contacted her offering fresh tips.
Three years ago, after one of her Facebook posts, a woman called to say she had been joyriding around Rich Square around the time Daniel Moses disappeared, smoking marijuana while on a break from work.
She reported following a car not far from Daniel’s house, then seeing it hit a bump at a bridge where the trunk popped open. From inside, she said, a dark-skinned leg emerged wearing a tennis shoe and tube sock.
Then not long ago, Moses said, a second woman called to say she knew the killer, who told her he stabbed Moses’s brother after a fight. But, Moses said, that suspect passed a polygraph test.
“So did Erik Menendez,” she said, unconvinced and referencing the 1989 California murder.
Who is looking for these people?
She continues to push for the FBI to open a case, not only because her brother had been in Virginia around the time of his disappearance, giving it a two-state jurisdiction, but also because Northampton County has a total of seven people missing, all of them Black.
“Who is searching for Daniel Moses?” she asked. “That is the question. Who is looking for these people?”
Walter Brown, a retired SBI agent, is now working with the Northampton County Sheriff’s Office part-time to investigate these cases. He said he is in contact with a federal agent but could not comment on the extent of federal involvement.
“We’re kind of where we were 11 years ago,” he said Monday. “We’re investigating all leads with our law enforcement partners.”
Meanwhile, Sheila Moses hopes the next anniversary will bring answers rather than another year’s pain.
