Sterling Thomas Porter

• Missing Since 05/25/1997
• Missing From Greensboro, North Carolina
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Male
• Race Black
• Age 44 years old
• Height and Weight 5'7, 195 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A blue sweatshirt with cut-off sleeves and blue jean shorts.
• Distinguishing Characteristics African-American male. Brown hair, brown eyes. Porter wears eyeglasses or contact lenses.

Details of Disappearance

Porter last seen at 5:00 p.m. on May 25, 1997 as he was entering his residence on Wafco Drive in Greensboro, North Carolina. He has never been heard from again. He was reported missing by his fiancee.

Prior to his disappearance, Porter's 9-millimeter pistol was used in a drug-related shootout in Tortola, North Carolina. One of the other guns used in the shooting belonged to Elton Turnbull, an admitted drug dealer and gun smuggler.

When questioned about this by an agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), Porter admitted he knew Turnbull, but denied being involved in any criminal activity. He claimed it may have stolen when his Jeep was burglarized in February 1996; he had never reported the burglary to the police. The ATF agent did not believe Porter's story about the gun.

Porter disappeared seven weeks after being interviewed by the ATF. He was allegedly planning to meet Turnbull on the day of his disappearance.

Curiously, Sonjah Kingston, who disappeared from Greensboro in 2002 and was never found, also knew Turnbull. He was arrested on drug charges in 2002 and cooperated with authorities, providing evidence against other drug dealers in exchange for a lighter sentence. He has never been charged in connection with Porter or Kingston's cases.

Porter's disappearance remains unsolved. He is believed to have been murdered.