Durham minister still missing two days after disappearance

Family members and friends spent Wednesday searching for clues in the disappearance of Kent Torrey Hinkson, who was last seen mid-afternoon Monday when he went to run errands.

Posted 9:19 p.m. Aug 6, 2014 — Updated 8:21 p.m. Aug 8, 2014

DURHAM, N.C. — Family members and friends spent Wednesday in Durham searching for clues in the disappearance of an Anglican priest who was last seen mid-afternoon Monday when he went to run errands.

Jeline Hinkson said Wednesday that her husband, Kent Torrey Hinkson, 71, left their Fox Chase Lane home in the Woodcroft Community in the family's red 2011 Hyundai Sonata (North Carolina license plate XZA-4259). She started to worry when he didn't return home several hours later.

By 6:30 p.m., she called police and the family had traced his cellphone near Hillsborough Road.

"There's been much searching there, and the car hasn't been found there," Jeline Hinkson said.

Police, who are concerned about Kent Hinkson's disappearance, urged his family to organize Tuesday's search, which covered a 2-mile radius from his home as well as areas where he was known to be Monday.

Among his errands Monday was a trip to a bank about a half-mile from his home, where he made a deposit.

"We really aren't sure where he went after that," Jeline Hickson said.

She says her husband – a volunteer minister at All Saints Church in Durham – has no history of dementia or cognitive illness and has never disappeared. She and her family can't help but speculate what might have happened to him.

"I hate to think he might have been abducted, but that, of course, is a possibility," she said.

It's one of many possibilities the family has considered – all of which have stolen the joy from what was supposed to be a special time for the family.

"Today is our 48th wedding anniversary. We were going to be with our daughter and family tonight for dinner," Jeline Hickson said. "He would be here today if he could."

Instead, his loved ones are praying for his safe return and trying to remain positive.

"The Lord is just holding us together, but we want him back," Jeline Hinkson said.

Kent 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 on his whereabouts is asked to call Durham police at 919-560-4440, extension 29335.

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