Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office actively investigating 2001 disappearance of Timeka Pridgen

LENOIR COUNTY, N.C. (WITN) -A nearly 22-year-old missing person’s case that WITN reported on last May is back in the news as the Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office says it is actively investigating the case.

Lenoir County Sheriff Jackie Rogers said Monday his office is actively looking into the case of Timeka Pridgen, who was reported missing from her South Street home in La Grange on May 12, 2001. Pridgen was 16 when she went missing.

The sheriff’s office says while a great amount of work has been performed in this case by both the Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, Pridgen has not been located and no arrests have been made in the case.

Rogers says, “We are hoping fresh sets of investigative eyes and the discovery of a potential witness will allow us to advance this case to closure.”

It was just last May as WITN’s Dave Jordan reported on the case that Timeka’s mother Cosandra Best told him, “Someone knows something and they’re just refusing to come forward and it’s very difficult.”

She first suspected her soon-to-be ex-boyfriend at the time knew what happened, and that hasn’t changed. Fueling her concerns is the fact that he’s been convicted of multiple sex offenses and kidnapping and served time in prison. But he had consistently said he wasn’t there that day.

Cosandra told WITN Monday night that she is happy to hear this latest news from the sheriff’s office and hoping and praying that it will bring about some needed information that will lead to finding her daughter.

Today, Timeka would be 38 years old. About ten years ago, an age progression composite image was released of what she may look like.

Anyone with any information on Timeka’s disappearance is urged to contact the LCSO at 252-559-6110 or by ETIPS at https://www.lenoircountysheriff.com/etips.

In 2003, a $5,000 reward was offered by the Governor’s Office for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the disappearance of Pridgen. That reward remains in effect, according to Sheriff Rogers.

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