The morning of September 5, 2017, began like any other ordinary Tuesday in Lumberton, North Carolina. Twenty-year-old Abby Lynn Patterson was staying at her mother's home on East 9th Street. She was in good spirits, having recently returned from a drug rehabilitation program in Florida, and was looking forward to rebuilding her future.

At around 11:30 a.m., Abby told her mother, Samantha, that she needed to step out for a brief moment to run a few errands and visit an old high school friend. She promised she would be right back, sending a final text message to reassure her mother: "I will be back in one hour."

Dressed in a white shirt and brown shorts, Abby waved goodbye to her grandmother and walked out the front door. A few moments later, neighbors witnessed her walking down East 9th Street toward Inglewood Avenue, where she voluntarily climbed into the passenger seat of a brown Buick sedan.

The hour passed, but Abby did not return.

By 6:00 p.m., panic set in. Calls to Abby's cell phone, a young woman who normally kept in constant contact with her family, went straight to voicemail. 

Investigators later tracked down the driver of the Buick, an acquaintance of Abby's. While the driver claimed they had merely given her a ride and dropped her off safely at a different location, no further trace of Abby has ever been found. Despite her case dropping into a cold status, her family and federal investigators refuse to stop searching for answers.

If you have any information, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem, please contact Lumberton Police Department  Call Detective David Williford at (910) 671-3845, FBI Charlotte Field Office: Call (704) 672-6100. or Online Tips: Secure and anonymous tips can also be submitted directly through the FBI Tips Official Portal.