21 years later, the case of a missing NC teen who disappeared from her home while sleeping is still a mystery

Investigators have been looking for a Lenoir County woman for 21 years now. Her disappearance at age 16 still remains a mystery to this day.

Posted 2:48 p.m. May 13, 2022 — Updated 7:59 p.m. May 13, 2022

Dave Jordan

, WITN reporter

LA GRANGE, N.C. — Investigators have been looking for a Lenoir County woman for 21 years now. Her disappearance at age 16 remains a mystery to this day.

Timeka Pridgen was last seen at her home in La Grange on May 12, 2001.

The cold case resonates with La Grange Mayor Bobby Wooten.

"We're just shocked that a child would go missing with no trace whatsoever," he said. "You hope against hope. We hope she's still alive. You hate to think the worst. You hope for the best. And we hope that somewhere, she is still out there."

Family, friends and investigators are asking themselves the same question they were in 2001 — what happened to Timeka?

"Just to completely disappear off the face of the earth is very, very unusual," said Lenoir County Sheriff Ronnie Ingram.

Timeka's mother, Cosandra Best, talked with WITN reporter Dave Jordan several times over the past 20 years.

"Everyday, I miss her. I want so badly to know where she is and what happened," Best said. "People don't just disappear into thin air, but this is what this feels like. No trace, no trace at all."

Best maintains the belief that Timeka was snatched from her home and abducted while napping. She doesn't believe her teen daughter left home on her own.

"She left her shoes, her purse, and had money in her purse," Best said. "It rained and was cool, and I know she wouldn't have walked out of the house without her shoes on."

Investigators with the sheriff's office have returned back to the home several times in the past few years, but have never found any evidence.

"We went out and met with a group ... walked all through the wooded area, down there with cadaver dogs," Ingram said. "Dogs still didn't hit nothing. We did a couple of fields there, just past the house — nothing."

2014: 2001 disappearance of Lenoir teen still unsolved

Best feels as if the investigation into her daughter's disappearance was slow to start because of a missing person's case weeks earlier. A classmate of Timeka's was reported missing, but that turned out to be a hoax, Best said.

"There just wasn't enough attention on it when it first happened," she said. "People say those first 48 hours are so crucial. That is true."

Best first suspected that her boyfriend at the time knew what happened, and that suspicion has only grown over the past 21 years.

He's been convicted of multiple sex offenses, kidnapping and has served time in prison. But he has consistently said he wasn't at the home in La Grange on May 12, 2001.

Timeka Pridgen age progession from 10 years ago

Timeka would be 37 years old today. About 10 years ago, investigators released an age progression composite image of what she may look like now.

Best said while the case remains cold, she knows there are answers.

"Someone knows something," she said, "And they're just refusing to come forward. It's very difficult."

"I think about her every day," Best added. "I guess I have no other choice, because I wake up to her picture staring at me every morning."

Investigators with the sheriff's office hope that someone will come forward. Anyone with information connected to the case is encouraged by the sheriff's office to call 252-559-6100. Tipsters can remain anonymous and may qualify for an award.

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