Search for Kent Jacobs comes up empty, but case remains open, officials vow

HOPE MILLS — A three-day search came up empty in Hope Mills this week for clues into the 2002 disappearance and presumed death of a disabled Fayetteville man, officials said Wednesday afternoon.

Kent Jacobs was last seen on March 10, 2002, a week before his 42nd birthday, officials said.

On Monday, the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office announced that new leads prompted a search at 5437 Jackson St. — one of the last places Jacobs was seen walking past on his Sunday visits with childhood friends.

While no dwelling is currently on the property, a house was located at the property back then, an official said.

"Unfortunately, the search did not locate Kent Jacobs, but we discovered endless support from the community. Not only did multiple agencies and businesses partner together and integrate strategies, neighbors, family members, concerned citizens, the public, and the media contacted us to assist us with our investigation," a news release from the Sheriff's Office said. "The search for Kent Jacobs continues. Kent Jacobs has not been forgotten, and this investigation remains active and ongoing."

Related: Search of Hope Mills property to continue Wednesday in hunt for man missing since 2002

Described by family as having the mental acuity of a 9-year-old, the trusting, friendly and predictable Jacobs lived in a Fayetteville group home but visited with his mother on weekends. He had $200 in cash on him from his paycheck when his mother last saw him leaving her home — as he did every Sunday afternoon — to visit with friends in the Colonial Heights neighborhood where he grew up.

When he didn't return home at 4 p.m. — something he also did every Sunday — the family knew something was amiss.

Lt. Patrice Bogertey said that this week, searchers using ground penetrating radar scoured about 19 acres of land on Jackson Street and nearby on Calhoun Street. The equipment uses radar pulses to image the subsurface. Various digs over the three days prompted by the ground radar came up empty, she said.

Also providing no clues, according to Bogertey, was a septic system on the Jackson Street property that was drained and searched.

"My heart breaks for the family," Faithe "Nan" Trogdon said Wednesday afternoon by phone from her Florida home. Trogdon is a former Cumberland County Sheriff's Office detective senior sergeant who investigated Jacobs' cold case. She retired from the department in 2014.

Related: Detectives searching Hope Mills property in 2002 disappearance of 42-year-old man

Earlier tips lead to search elsewhere

More than a decade ago, Trogdon headed up the last physical search for Jacobs on Hulon Street.

Trogdon's 2010 affidavit in support of the search warrant stated that the Sheriff's Office had received tips that Jacobs was buried in a refrigerator on the property.

At the time he went missing, the land was owned by a man named Clifton Jones who died a year before the 2010 search, Trogdon confirmed Wednesday. Jones had a series of trailer parks and tenants on his property and a backhoe which he used to bury trash and large items like appliances, Trogdon said.

In the search warrant affidavit posted to the website findkent.com and its authenticity confirmed by Trogdon on Wednesday, she wrote that a witness reported seeing Jacobs near the Jones property. The website is run by Dennis Mahone, a former Fayetteville resident who now lives in Charlotte and said he's been following the Jacobs case for years.

The affidavit stated that another person told investigators Clifton Jones claimed he'd buried Jacobs encased in the refrigerator on the land.

Trogdon said Wednesday that crews back then searched only 60% of the Hulon Street land — unearthing carpets, trailer parts, trash and at least one water heater — before having to conclude the search when they hit the water table. She believes that in order to properly rule out the location, the remaining land should be examined.

"I still stand by my search warrant," she said. "The door is still open ... the door has to be closed."

She said she's been closely following news of the recent search and was saddened that it ended without any answers.

Particularly, she said, for Jacobs' elderly mother who, even with failing health, still lights an electric candle each night in her window so her son can find his way home.

"Somebody knows something. Please, please come forward because the Jacobs family needs closure," Trogdon implored. "They've been doing this for 21 years. Miss Martha's health is declining.

"He didn't drop off the face of the earth. Somebody needs to come forward. This family needs closure — they deserve closure."

Related: 'I've never given up hope': Family of Kent Jacobs speaks of the impact his absense has on them

The case remains open

Lt. Bogertey said the Sheriff's Office's search this week included assistance from Dr. Billy Oliver of the North Carolina State University Forensic Sciences Institute, John Deloatch of Geo-Solutions Limited, the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation, N.C. Forest Service, Cumberland County Emergency Management, Cumberland County Solid Waste Management and Cumberland Septic Services.

She said that crews spent hours each day going over the property and that even when nightfall prevented searchers from continuing, law enforcement remained on the scene overnight to secure it.

Bogertey also noted that while investigators are no closer as a result of this probe to finding out what happened to Jacobs, they are no less dedicated to finding the answers.

"We're never going to stop," she said. "We still keep on with whatever leads come in."

To that end, the Sheriff's Office encourages anyone who may have information in Jacobs' disappearance to contact Senior Sgt. R. Westmoreland at 910-677-5596 or CrimeStoppers at 910-483-TIPS (8477).

What tips led to the recent search, however, will not be publically released, Bogertey said.

The affidavit in the case that would lay out the details that prompted the search was sealed by the court, she said.

"We're not done investigating this case. This case is not resolved. We are going to work it until it's resolved," she said.

Crime and military editor F.T. Norton can be reached at fnorton@fayobserver.com.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Search for Kent Jacobs ends with no clues in his 2002 disappearance