Cumberland sheriff's office to search Hope Mills property for clues 21 years after man's disappearance
The Cumberland County Sheriff's Office is relaunching a search effort to shed light on a homicide case more than two decades after a man disappeared in Hope Mills.
After learning of "actionable information" in the case, a homicide unit will conduct a days-long search at a property on Jackson Street following the issue of a search warrant.
Kent Jacobs was reported missing on March 10, 2002. Jacobs was last seen around the Colonial Heights neighborhood in Hope Mills, including at a home on the 5400 block of Jackson Street.
The last search involving the case was in June 2010, in which NC State University archeologists assisted.
Jacobs was 42 years old when he disappeared from a neighborhood about two miles from his mother's home. With the case having transitioned to a homicide five months into his disappearance, Jacobs was declared dead in 2012 by a Cumberland County judge.
Family members said Jacobs was mentally disabled. His disappearance goes down as the oldest unsolved missing persons case in Cumberland County.
Kent's sister, Jackie Jacobs, talked with WRAL News and said the family was praying for an outcome to give them closure amid a mixture of emotions.
"We're navigating this news as best we can," Jackie said. "At the same time, it's also really gut-wrenching and heartbreaking."
"We’re really grateful they haven’t forgotten about Kent," Jackie said. "And because of that, we won’t ever forget them."
