By NC WANTED Staff

Posted: Feb 18, 2008
Updated: Jun. 4, 2009

LENOIR COUNTY — Cosandra Best woke up to the sound of a telephone ringing one night in 2001, and her life hasn't been the same since.

It was the night her 17-year-old daugher, Timeka Pridgen, vanished. They had gone shopping earlier that day, and when Cosandra went to bed, Timeka was on the phone with a friend.

Police say they don't think Timeka was taken by force, but as Cosandra searched frantically around the house for any clues to her daughter's disappearance, she couldn't find a single belonging of Timeka's gone from the house.

Searches have been done around the La Grange and Goldsboro areas but investigators have found no sign of Timeka.

Since shortly after Timeka disappeared, Cosandra said, she has suspected a man she was dating.

Eric Mercer Moore is currently serving his second extended prison sentece for sex-related crimes. Cosadra said Moore was planning on coming over to her home the night Timeka vanished, but later told her he never made it over there.

Moore did not respond to NC Wanted's requests for an interview; he is slated for release from prison  in 2015. Investigators would not comment on Moore's status as a suspect.

Despite her misgivings about her former boyfriend, and despite her fears about Timeka's fate, she maintains hope her daughter is alive and out there, somewhere. Still, the days are long and Cosandra wears her daughter's absence like a scar.

"It's hard when you watch TV and everybody celebrating mother's day. And to think that I'm celebrating the anniversary of my daughter being missing. It's hard. Most of the time I do what I shouldn't do, and that is hide," Cosandra said. "I'm not handling it."

Pridgen is described as a black female, 5 foot 7 inches tall, 165 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. She had braces on her teeth when she disappeared. Her ears are double-pierced, and she goes by the nickname 'Meka.'

She was wearing a mint green V-neck shirt, knee-length skirt with white flowers, and a gold dolphin necklace. She was barefoot and left all of her personal belongings behind.

If you have any information on Timeka Pridgen's whereabouts, call NC WANTED toll free at 1.866.43.WANTED (1.866.439.2683) or click on "Report a Tip" Your identity can be kept confidential.