JACKSON – Despite following up on tips, and using specially trained dogs to aid in the search, the disappearance of Daniel McCoy Moses 37 months ago remains as much as a mystery as when first reported on June 16, 2011.

Now, North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory has sweetened the proverbial pot by adding $5,000 in state funds to a reward offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for this crime.

The state funds will be added to a $10,000 reward posted earlier by the Moses family.

“We are very appreciative of the Governor taking this action, which now brings the total amount of the reward to $15,000,” said Shelia Moses, Daniel’s sister. “The Governor shows that he cares about the citizens of the state. We are grateful to him.”

Shelia Moses added that the extra $5,000 may entice someone to step forward with the information needed to break the case.

“Someone out there knows what happens to Daniel,” she stressed. “Hopefully, the added funding to the reward will encourage them to come out and tell the truth. They can tell the sheriff about where our brother is. The Sheriff doesn’t need your name, just your information.”

Shelia Moses also encouraged state law enforcement officials to use every resource available to broaden the search for her brother.

“The Northampton County Sheriff’s Office is doing what they can on this case,” she noted. “Sheriff (Jack) Smith cares about us, just as he does all citizens of Northampton County. They called in the SBI to help and now we’re asking the SBI to contact the FBI for assistance. We think collectively they can solve this, find out what happened on that June day back in 2011.”

Shelia Moses has sent a request to United States Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. in an effort to get the FBI involved.

In a unique twist to the case, the home in which Daniel Moses was residing at that time, one purchased in the 1950’s by his now late grandfather, burned the same day he went missing. However, a State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) arson specialist summoned to scene came to the conclusion that faulty wiring in an air conditioning unit was the cause of the blaze.

Shelia Moses believes otherwise. She and other family members think the fire was a cover-up to Daniel’s disappearance from the family home located on W.J. Duke Service Road near the Rehoboth community.

“Our ultimate goal is peace of mind…right now we go to bed each night wondering where Daniel is,” she said.

According to Sheriff’s investigators back in 23011, Daniel Moses was not found inside of the home or on the property, yet his vehicles were still on the property.

Shelia Moses also noted a pattern of missing black people in Northampton County. She says there are currently six individuals with suspicious circumstances surrounding their disappearance, three last 36 months, to include her brother as well as Shawn Alston and Jamal Briggs, both of whom went missing in Oct. 2012.

“The federal government needs to step in,” she insisted. “Who is snatching these black men? The FBI needs to determine if these cases are related.”

She said the case is emotionally draining on the family, especially her elderly mother.

“My mother still peeps out the window and looks at a blank space where the house once was; there’s nothing left but an old barn that granddaddy built and an old barbecue pit on that lot,” she said. “We have no peace because we don’t know if he’s dead or alive. I’m sad every day.”

However, the fight to find the truth of what took place on June 16, 2011 is what keeps Moses and her family, to include nine other siblings, with the faith and the strength to move forward.

“Whoever did this, they picked the wrong family. We’ll keep looking…after this generation is dead and gone, the next generation will pick up the search if it takes that long,” she stressed. “As for me, I’m not lying down, there’s no give-up in me. I have a cause, I have a fight because somebody came onto my granddaddy’s land and took my mother’s child and then burned my granddaddy’s house.”

Sheila Moses has her own scenario of what occurred just over three years ago.

“Whoever took Daniel knew him,” she noted. “That person knew that our mother was out of town that particular day and was not at home to see or hear something. Plus, our other brother that lives nearby was in another area farming that day. Whoever did this knew Daniel was all alone on that day.

“I want to be able to tell my mama what happened to her first born son. If he’s alive, we’ll rejoice. If he’s deceased, we want to bring him home and lay his head down next to granddaddy,” she closed.

This past March, a five-person team representing North Carolina CERT and an equal number of highly trained cadaver dogs joined Northampton County Sheriff’s officers on a ground search for Daniel Moses in a small wooded area located near his former home. That search revealed no clues.

Moses (age 61 at the time of his disappearance) is 6’0″ tall and 200 lbs.  He has brown eyes and black hair with shades of gray trimmed in a box-style cut.

Anyone with information can contact Captain Chuck Hasty of the Northampton County Sheriff’s Office at 252-534-2611, Northampton County Crime Stoppers at 1-252-534-1110 or the SBI at 1-800-334-3000.