Timeka Pridgen Vanished Out of Her Living Room in 2001 from North Carolina

16-year-old Timeka Donyale Pridgen was last seen at 10:15 p.m. in the living room at her residence on South Street in La Grange, North Carolina on May 12, 2001.

Her mother, Cosandra Best, was waiting for her boyfriend, Eric Earl Mercer Moore Sr., to come home.

Best spoke to Moore on the phone and he said he would be home in five minutes. She planned to break up with him that night. She fell asleep after their phone conversation and when she woke up at approximately midnight and discovered her daughter was gone and Moore wasn’t at the residence either.

Authorities initially classified Timeka as a runaway and believed she may have traveled to Goldsboro, North Carolina. They now think she may have been forced out of her home by someone after she let the person inside.

Similar: Monica and Michael Bennett Vanished from Georgia in 1989 Under Suspicious Circumstances

She was barefoot at the time of her disappearance and left all her belongings behind. Including her purse, money and shoes.

Moore is considered a person of interest in Timeka’s disappearance. He had prior convictions for kidnapping, assault, theft and a sex crime, something Best didn’t discover until after Timeka vanished. In 2006, he was convicted again of sexually assaulting a minor and sent to prison for a twelve-year sentence.

He has since been released and was last known to live in Greenville, North Carolina. He hasn’t been charged in connection with Timeka’s case. Moore stated he was never at the apartment the night she disappeared.

Timeka’s mother stated her daughter was a typical teenager in 2001 and enjoyed drawing, and that she had no reason to run away from home. Her case remains unsolved.

Investigating Agency: La Grange Police Department 252-527-5117