Missing
Jeffrey Lynn Combs
Combs, approximately 2008
Date and time person was reported missing : 10/23/2008
Missing location (approx) :
North Wilkesboro, North Carolina
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Male
Ethnicity :
White
DOB : 05/20/1967 (54)
Age at the time of disappearance: 41 years old
Height / Weight : 5'6 - 5'9, 180 - 190 pounds
Medical conditions : Combs suffers from liver disease which is believed to be terminal. He had a stroke about four months before his disappearance; as a result he lost use of his left arm, and can use only three fingers on his right hand.
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Caucasian male. Sandy brown hair, blue eyes. Combs's nickname is Jeff. He has a tattoo of barbed wire around his arm. He had a mustache at the time of his disappearance. He may spell his middle name "Lane."
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Combs was last seen in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina on October 23, 2008. He disappeared while his mother was at work.
Combs used a scooter to get around. He left a note at home, saying someone had broken into the house and stolen his scooter, two helmets and his cellular phone, and he was going to find the thief. He asked his mother to look for him if he wasn't home by dark.
Combs's mother came home from work at 11:30 a.m. and found the note. She spent the next day and night looking for him.
At some point while she was out of the house, Combs apparently came home and changed clothes, taking a camouflAge at the time of disappearance: -print jacket when he left. His mother came home and found his wet, dirty clothes on the floor and pork chops cooking on the stove. She never saw or heard from her son again.
Combs had a troubled past. He dropped out of school in the ninth grade. In 1998, his father shot him in the neck during an argument. His father was allegedly an abusive husband and parent. He was charged with attempted murder, but the case was dropped after Combs refused to cooperate with prosecutors.
His father died of a heart attack on Combs's birthday in 1999. After his body was discovered, Combs, who had been drinking heavily and taking pills, got into an argument with his uncle and wounded him with a sword. He also hurt his mother when she tried to intervene.
Combs pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon in connection with this incident and was sentenced to ten years in prison. After his release from prison in February 2008, he tried to adjust to civilian life and kept all his appointments with his parole officer. He moved in with his mother in June, after he suffered a stroke. He disappeared four months later.
A few days before his disappearance, Combs had invited two homeless individuals, a man and a woman, to his home. His mother kicked them out after she caught the man urinating off her front porch.
The homeless people lived in a tent near the Reddies River, and after his disappearance, Combs's mother confronted them. They told her they saw him get into a car with two women.
Later that week, the police found Combs's scooter, one of the helmets and his jacket off Suncrest Orchard Road beside the Reddies River, near the tents. The scooter had missing parts. Authorities stated they had interviewed the residents of the homeless camp and considered them possible witnesses, but none of them have named as suspects in his disappearance.
Combs's mother believes he is deceased, and police consider his disappearance suspicious. His case remains unsolved.
Other information and links : ncy
Wilkes County Sheriff's Office
336-903-7600
September 2021 updates and sources
The Winston-Salem Journal
The Wilkes County Record
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are not known. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2�5% of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
Several organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and imAge at the time of disappearance: s of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
October 12, 2004. August 30, 2010; middle name, picture and alternate Height / Weight : added, Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : updated.
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