Murder & Magnolias - What happened to Kent Jacobs? | Dateline: Missing in America

Episode Date: May 30, 2023

We’re sharing a special preview of the first episode of an all-new season of Dateline: Missing in America.  Dateline’s Josh Mankiewicz tells the story of Kent Jacobs, a 41-year-old man with a developmental disability who went for a walk near his mother’s home in Hope Mills, North Carolina in 2002 and never returned.   Each of the six episodes will focus on one person’s story, as told by those left behind. Listen carefully to the details, descriptions and clues offered by family, friends and investigators. Something you hear might jog a memory that could help authorities crack a case.   Follow Dateline: Missing in America and listen now: https://link.chtbl.com/mias2_fdlw  

Hi, Josh Manquets here with a preview of Dateline Missing in America. In our podcast second season, we'll share six new, unsolved mysteries, and we hope somebody listening may have a clue that could help crack one of these cases. Could that somebody be you? Here's Dateline Missing in America. It was a little windy that March morning in Hope Mills, North Carolina. Spring was just around the corner, on a crisp, dry day. In a ranch-style house on Macdonald Road, Kent Jacobs pulled on a familiar weekend uniform.

His black Harley Davidson sweatshirt and his black sneakers. Kent and his mom had a Sunday routine. She would head to church. He would take a walk. Usually Kent turned right onto McDonald, and a quarter mile later made a left, passing mobile homes and patches of woods. Along this stretch of country highway, it was common to see Kent walking alone, and people knew him by his dark hair and ready grin.

It was a well-worn path for him. You knew it was always the same, always the same. That is Kent's brother, Keith Jacobs. He says Kent's destination on his weekend walks was a place close to Kent's heart, the neighborhood where Kent grew up, where he could hang out with his childhood friends for a few hours. Kim Beiber is Kent's sister.

I'm just saying Kent is all you had to say. Everybody knew who he was. Most Sundays Kent's mom got on first. She knew Kent would walk through the door by 5 PM and he was never late. Until that Sunday, March 10th, 2002. That was the moment when everything changed. Because that was the day Kent Jacobs didn't come home.

Waltting my mom's house and my mom's, you know, home by herself upset, crying. I knew in my gut then I was like, this is bad. It was a different kind of upset for my mom for the first time that I'd ever experienced when it came to camp. I knew my mom knew something was wrong. Before we go on, here's something important to know about Kent Jacobs.

He was a 41-year-old man with a developmental disability that had left him with the mental capacity of a child. If Kent were in trouble, he might not even know it, or he might not know how to escape it. This is a story about a man everyone liked, and about his family's unrelenting search for answers. I dream about him still quite a bit. I'll be honest with you.

Your life changed a lot as a result of this. You left New York? I did. It's also the story of a mystery that haunts a retired detective. It keeps me up at night. I played though. Should've would've could've game. She found a tantalizing clue buried in a case file.

It might or might not be the key to unlocking this puzzle. You think this is all gonna end with Kent Jacobs being found? I hope so. I pray it does. Thanks for listening. Search for Dateline Missing in America to hear the first two episodes of Season 2 and follow now.