Prayer vigil targets missing men

Published 9:09 am Thursday, August 8, 2013

JACKSON – Two Northampton County men who went missing over a stretch of 16 months will be the subject of a prayer vigil here Saturday.

The families of Daniel McCoy Moses and Shawn Cornelius Alston are asking the community to join them at 9:30 a.m. on the steps of the Northampton County Courthouse where they will pray for their missing loved ones.

According to Shelia Moses, the sister of Daniel, both families are asking the community for their support so that together they can pray, bring attention to the cases, and urge the FBI to join the local sheriff’s department and the SBI in their search.  The families are also asking people across the county to stop and pray at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

“Stories involving missing African American men in America are usually not front page news and are typically left unsolved,” said Moses. “The fact that these two men lived within 20 miles of each other and went missing without a trace should not only raise eyebrows but spark a media frenzy and have local, state, as well as federal authorities, working together in solving their disappearance.”

Alston was last seen on Oct. 18, 2012 at 11:30 p.m. He was leaving a neighbor’s house on Berry Scott Trail in Garysburg, walking in the direction of his home. He was wearing a black shirt and khaki cargo shorts. He is 40 years old, 5’7” tall, and weighs between 190-210 lbs. with brown hair and brown eyes. The Robinson/Alston family is offering a $500 reward for any information leading to his whereabouts.

Moses was last seen on June 16, 2011 at his home in the Rehoboth community, located between Rich Square and Jackson. The day he vanished, a fire destroyed his home.   Both of his vehicles and his motorcycle were still on the property.  Moses is 61 years old, 6’0″ tall and 200 lbs.  He has brown eyes and black hair with shades of gray trimmed in a box-style cut.   The Moses family is offering a $10,000 reward for information that will lead to his whereabouts.

Anyone with information can contact the SBI at 1-800-334-3000 regarding Moses or call Northampton County Crime Stoppers at 1-252-534-1110 regarding Alston.

About Cal Bryant

Cal Bryant, a 40-year veteran of the newspaper industry, serves as the Editor at Roanoke-Chowan Publications, publishers of the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald, Gates County Index, and Front Porch Living magazine.

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