Prayer service held Friday for missing Durham minister

Kent Torrey Hinkson, 71, left his home Monday afternoon to run errands, his family says, and hasn't been seen since.

Police found his car, a red 2011 Hyundai Sonata, Wednesday night in the parking lot of The Mews Apartments, at 1801 Williamsburg Road, and his last known whereabouts is believed to be at a Wells Fargo bank branch about a half-mile from his home in Durham's Woodcroft community.

Hinkson, who has been in ministry for more than 40 years, is a volunteer minister at All Saints Church, where he leads Bible studies and heads up pastoral care for those who can't get to church.

"He is very outgoing, very much a people person," his wife, Jeline Hickson, said Wednesday. "He makes friend with everyone he meets. He's a big personality."

Family, friends and church members have spent the last several days handing out missing-person fliers and searching for Hinkson and any information about his whereabouts. Church members will be out from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at the Woodcroft Shopping Center to hand out more fliers. 

Hinkson is white, has blue eyes, gray hair and a gray mustache and goatee and is about 5 feet 8 inches tall. He wears prescription glasses and may also be wearing a black leather hat, Durham police said.

Anyone with information about his disappearance or whereabouts is asked to call Durham the Durham Police Department at 919-560-4440, extension 29335.

"We know prayers are going up for us all over the world. We are just lifted up by that," Jeline Hinkson said. "The Lord is just holding us together, but we want him back."