Friends of missing woman turn to Facebook to help in search

Friends of a missing Kinston woman have turned to prayer — through Facebook and in a nightly vigil — for help in finding the 27-year-old mother who mysteriously disappeared more than a week ago.

Laura Jean Ackerson, the head of a national web design and restaurant marketing firm in Kinston, was reportedly last seen in Raleigh about 9:30 p.m. July 13 driving her 2006 white Ford Focus.

The four-door sedan turned up in Raleigh early Wednesday morning with no evidence available inside to suspect foul play in Ackerson’s disappearance and, more importantly, no sight of the “self-taught designer with roots in the Indy music industry,” as described on an online portfolio.

Katie Northrup, a friend of Ackerson, created a group page on Facebook called “Praying for Laura Jean Ackerson” as a means to communicate how the public can help in the search.

Since the webpage debuted Tuesday, when the news broke Ackerson was missing, membership has nearly tripled with locals joining the group daily to post Bible verses, pleas of mercy and even a picture of Ackerson with her two sons — ages 1 and 3 — in the hopes someone will recognize the young woman and come forward.

“Please pray for her and her children and family,” Northrup wrote on the group’s site.

Jo Jackson attends Grace Fellowship Church with Ackerson and Northrup and joined the group Tuesday shortly after it launched. In response to the site, Jackson organized a prayer vigil to take place every night at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy Heights Road parish until Ackerson is found.

She said as many as 25 people have come to pray for Ackerson in the worship ceremony that started Wednesday and continued Thursday. She welcomed all those who wish to join her.

“We are asking our Father for a miracle, and I believe God heard our prayers,” Jackson said.

The Lenoir Community College instructor met Ackerson in May 2010 when Ackerson enrolled as a student in one of her early childhood education classes.

“God’s responds to faith,” Jackson said before Thursday’s vigil. “It’s our will to bring home this precious young mother.”

With the discovery of Ackerson’s car, the Raleigh Police Department assumed the leading role in the investigation of Ackerson’s disappearance at the request of the Kinston Department of Public Safety, said KDPS spokesman Woody Spencer.

“Any assistance we can offer or are asked to offer, we will be there,” Spencer said.

Raleigh police found Ackerson’s Ford Focus parked near the Camden Crest Apartments complex at 5400 Summit Manor Lane in the state’s capital, Jim Sughrue, director of Public Affairs for the Raleigh Police Department stated in a press release.

At this point, Sughrue said the investigation has not produced evidence that foul play was involved. He urged anyone who thinks they may have seen Ackerson in the past week or may have information of her whereabouts to call the Raleigh Crime Stoppers tip line at 919-834-4357.

A report states Kinston police have indexed Ackerson’s case file in the National Crime Information Center, a federal database of justice information that contains records of convicted criminals, fugitives, stolen properties and missing persons.

Ackerson is described as a white female who stands approximately 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighs about 135 pounds. She has brown hair and hazel eyes.

Kinston detectives started searching for Ackerson Monday morning when Chevon Mathes, 32, filed a missing person report. Mathes, an associate of Ackerson, called police when Ackerson failed to report to work Monday.

The owner of GoFish Graphic Design and co-owner of Fork and Spoon Marketing, Ackerson was in Wilson July 12 to meet with potential clients, Mathes told Kinston police, recounting her last conversation with Ackerson that Tuesday.

“I am trying to hang in there,” said a distraught Mathes.

She told The Free Press Thursday she has not slept in three days.

“It’s pretty difficult not knowing anything,” Mathes said.

From Wilson, investigators believe Ackerson continued her business trip to Raleigh, visiting her children while in the capital city.

Mathes said Ackerson was scheduled to pick up her kids Friday in Wilson, but did not show.

Co-workers, friends and investigators called Ackerson’s disappearance suspicious since the mother of two has a close relationship with her children — described by many as a “mother hen protecting her chicks.” They added as a “highly committed and reliable” person, Ackerson never goes anywhere without letting others know.

 

Wesley Brown can be reached at 252-559-1075 or wbrown@freedomenc.com.

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