Sterling Thomas Porter was last seen on the late afternoon of May 25, 1997, entering his home on Wafco Drive in Greensboro, North Carolina at about 5:00 p.m. He was 36, a Black male, 5 feet 7 inches and about 195 pounds, with close-cut black hair and brown eyes. That day he wore blue jean shorts and a blue sweatshirt with the sleeves cut off. His fiancée reported him missing later that same day.

Investigators uncovered troubling links suggesting his disappearance was not random. A 9-millimeter pistol registered to Porter had been used in a drug-related shootout in Tortola, North Carolina; another gun from that incident was traced to admitted drug dealer and gun smuggler Elton Turnbull. Porter told an ATF agent he knew Turnbull and said his pistol may have been stolen during an unreported February 1996 Jeep burglary, an explanation the agent reportedly found unconvincing. Porter was believed to have planned a meeting with Turnbull on the day he vanished, but whether that meeting occurred is unconfirmed. Authorities suspect foul play and believe he may have been murdered, but the case remains unsolved.

If anyone knew Sterling, his movements that day, or had contact between him and Elton Turnbull, please share information that might help resolve this disappearance.