In the small town of La Grange, North Carolina, a 16-year-old girl named Timeka Donyale Pridgen vanished from her home on May 12, 2001. Known to her loved ones as Meka, she was last seen in the living room of her South Street residence at approximately 10:15 p.m. That evening, her mother, Cosandra Best, was waiting for her boyfriend, Eric Earl Mercer Moore Sr., to arrive, with the intention of ending their relationship.
After a brief phone call with Moore, in which he said he would be there in five minutes, Best fell asleep. When she awoke around midnight, Timeka was gone, and Moore was not at the residence. Initially, law enforcement treated her disappearance as a runaway case, a classification that may have delayed the investigation. However, the circumstances surrounding her disappearance soon suggested a more alarming scenario. Timeka had left behind all of her personal belongings, including her purse, money, and even her shoes, making the idea that she had willingly left seem unlikely to her mother, especially on a cool and rainy night.
As the investigation progressed, suspicion turned towards Cosandra Best's boyfriend, Eric Earl Mercer Moore Sr. Unbeknownst to Best until after her daughter's disappearance, Moore had a significant criminal history, including prior convictions for kidnapping, assault, theft, and a sex crime. Despite his criminal past, Moore consistently denied any involvement in Timeka's disappearance and claimed he was never at their home on the night she went missing. However, cell phone records contradicted his statements, placing his phone near the Pridgen residence that evening. Furthermore, both Best and her mother recalled hearing a car they believed to be his outside the house that night. Adding to the suspicion, two women who were with Moore the following day told investigators that he spoke about Timeka's disappearance, even though Best had not yet informed him she was missing. Moore's own mother also found it unusual that he had his car meticulously cleaned the day after Timeka vanished.
Years have passed without any sign of Timeka, leaving her family with unanswered questions and a void that cannot be filled. In 2006, Eric Earl Mercer Moore Sr. was convicted of another sexual assault on a minor and sentenced to prison. He was released in 2015. Despite being the prime suspect in Timeka's disappearance, he was never charged in connection with her case. Moore passed away from natural causes in October 2023, taking any potential knowledge of Timeka's whereabouts with him. The Lenoir County Sheriff's Office has publicly named Moore as the person they believe is responsible for Timeka's disappearance. Over the years, numerous searches have been conducted, but no clues to her location have ever been found. The case of Timeka Pridgen remains an open investigation, a painful reminder of a young life interrupted and a family's enduring hope for closure.Last Seen: May 11, 2001
