Log in to WRAL.com with one click using your favorite social network:
OR
Log in using your WRAL.com account:



Wrong email/password combination.

Forgot password?

Register with WRAL.com using your favorite social network:
OR
Register for a WRAL.com account using our web form.

Login Options

12:47 a.m. • 2-12-12

Weather Forecast for Raleigh

  • Today: Clear.
    • Hi: 41° F
  • Mon: Mostly Cloudy.
    • Hi: 50° F
  • Tue: Light Rain.
    • Hi: 53° F

Other Locations

> 7 Day Forecast

Doppler Image

Marketplace Links

Social Links

Main Menu

The Search for C.J. Wilkerson Continues


e-mail print friendly

New search plans are in the works to track down 9-year-oldC.J. Wilkerson. The North Carolina Center for Missing Persons has been called in to help with the case. The focus may be shifting from search and rescue, to search and recovery.

When searchers fanned out over Wake Forestlast weekthey were hoping to find C.J. and bring him home safely. That did not happen.

Now authorities will search again, this time beyond Wake Forest. They will bring in cadaver dogs to help locate the boy who may not be alive.

"As time goes on, I think it's only prudent that we continue to search for a live C.J., but we also begin to look at the possibility of doing a body recovery," says John Goad, the director of the North Carolina Center for Missing Persons.

The agency defends the Wake Forest Police Department's decision not to organize a search as soon as C.J. was reported missing on January 12.

In contrast, search crews were out in Chatham County Tuesday night, just hours aftertwo young boys disappeared.

Goad says C.J. Wilkerson's case is different, because it was considered a parental abduction.

"It was a stepfather, not a stranger abduction ... It was a stepfather who took the child, and that happens dozens and dozens of times across the state every year," he says.

Goad says it is possible C.J.'s case will never be solved. At the same time, he is hoping someone will recognize C.J.'s face, and bring the young boy home.

Leads are still coming in to authorities. If you have any information about C.J. Wilkerson, call the Wake Forest Police Department at919-554-6150.

You can also see C.J.'s picture and contribute to the search online.

Wilkerson is one of the prominent cases on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Web site. You can see the details on how he disappeared as well as phone numbers to call.

Three other missing children from North Carolina are also on the Web site.

  • Reporter: Laurie Clowers
  • Photographer: Terry Cantrell
  • Web Editor: Michelle Singer

RELATED TOPICS: Chatham County, Wake Forest

e-mail print friendly

0 Comments


WRAL.com welcomes your comments on this story. All comments are moderated prior to publication based on our posting guidelines. Please review them prior to posting and if your message is not approved.

View Comments 0 COMMENTS

This story is closed for comments. Comments on WRAL.com news stories are accepted and moderated between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.

View Comments 0 COMMENTS
Report It

Multimedia

Click Here