FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WNCN) — The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office Homicide Unit is expecting to be searching a property for several days in connection to a man who went missing in March 2002.
Kent Jacobs was reported missing on March 10, 2002. On the date of his disappearance, Jacobs was last seen on foot in and around the Colonial Heights neighborhood in Hope Mills. The sheriff’s office said there were two sightings on Jackson Street, one of which was directly in front of the property in the 5400 block of Jackson St.
The sheriff’s office said its homicide unit received actionable information that led to a search warrant for a property in the 5000 block Jackson Street in Hope Mills.
The last underground search involving the sheriff’s office was in June 2010. It yielded no results.
Jacobs family shared that although he was an adult, he had the mental capacity of a child.
“There was a child inside that adult body and we can’t forget that. Somebody destroyed the life of a child and that’s unthinkable and it’s unforgivable,” his sister Jackie Jacobs told CBS 17 affiliate NewsNation.
Retired Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office detective Nan Trodgen said the case still keeps her up at night. She took over the case in December 2009 and stayed on it until she retired in 2014.
She hopes the search will lead to answers.
“It would mean everyting to me for the family,” Trogden said. “Today I’ve been full of emotions. This is, like I said, this is a case that has stayed with me since I got the case.”
The daughter of one of Jacobs’ sisters sent CBS 17 the following statement on behalf of the family.
“Today’s events have been incredibly emotional for our family. We ask that the public looks to CCSO for more information as they go about executing the warrant.”
On September 10, 2012, Jacobs was declared deceased in Cumberland County Superior Court.
In 2021, NewsNation spoke with the case’s lead detective in the early 2000s, Larry Trotter. He believed a stranger could have killed Jacobs since no one close to Kent failed a polygraph test.
“I think the case went pretty cold when at one point we had offered like a $10,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest or finding Kent. In that world of people that hang around there in Hulon Street, $10,000 is a lot of money. And that $10,000 did not stir anybody,” Trotter said.
Jacobs is described as an American Indian man, approximately 5’6″ tall, weighing approximately 170 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. He was 42 years old when he disappeared.
More information will be released as soon as it becomes available.
Jacobs’ disappearance went cold but his memory did not. Since he went missing, a website with a timeline of disappearance and investigation has remained online. A Facebook group discussing his disappearance is still active as well.
Anyone with information about what happened to Jacobs is asked to contact Senior Sergeant R. Westmoreland at (910)677-5596 or CrimeStoppers at (910)483-TIPS (8477). Crimestoppers’ information may also be submitted electronically by completing the anonymous online tip sheet or downloading the “P3 Tips” app.