Ellis Faison Sr., 64, a World War II Navy veteran and longtime county school carpenter, left his home in Kenansville, North Carolina, between 11:30 p.m. and midnight on August 9, 1989, and never returned. In the weeks before his disappearance his family noted increasingly erratic behavior; they reported he was talking to deceased relatives and may have been affected by alcohol and prescription medication. That night he twice called police saying teenagers were in his parked car; officers found nothing. He walked out of his front door barefoot, leaving his shoes behind — notable because his family said he had a strong fear of snakes and would not willingly go barefoot. Searchers found his hat in a neighbor’s yard and a coffee mug filled with whiskey in his carport.

A neighbor said she saw Faison running through her yard, frightened, and moments later saw an unidentified man walking the same way — described as tall, stocky, light-skinned, with slicked-back hair, a limp, and dark overalls. Authorities at one time considered he might have wandered off or left to avoid a detox program his wife had been considering; by the time the case went cold his family believed he may have been murdered. The Kenansville Police Department continues to keep the case open.

Did anyone in Kenansville in August 1989 notice a tall, stocky man in overalls or remember seeing Ellis that night?