Tip to investigators launches new search effort for Northampton County man missing for 12 years

More than a decade after he disappeared, a tip to investigators is leading to new search efforts for missing Northampton County man Daniel Moses.

Moses vanished from the county in 2011 after a fire at his home. His family is now calling on the community and investigators to finally bring them peace.

Fire and emergency crews, K9 units, and volunteers scoured the grounds of Odom Prison in Northampton County on April 11.

They were searching for the remains of Daniel Moses, who went missing from his Northampton home 12 years ago.

“He was the first person to take me to New York, the first person to take me to the movies,” Shelia Moses told WRAL News.

Daniel Moses always felt larger than life to his younger sister, Shelia.

He was the first to leave home, spending most of his life in New Jersey before moving back to the family’s land in Northampton.

“He started cooking this chicken barbecue,” Shelia Moses said. “And he had all of these clients, all over the county, and it was like his part time business, which he really enjoyed.”

As “the Barbecue Man”, Moses seemed to have found his second act.

Then came June 16, 2011: the worst day of Shelia’s life.

“One of my brothers called me and said we can’t find Daniel, Grandma’s house is on fire, but he’s not in it,” Moses told WRAL News.

Investigators found a damaged home, his cars and barbecue, but no sign of Daniel Moses.

Shelia Moses said her brother’s then-girlfriend told investigators he had left on vacation somewhere, and as a result he wasn’t declared missing until four days later.

Moses said it set back the investigation from the start.

“The last 12 years for me has been a nightmare in the sense that the Northampton County Sheriff’s Department in those first two or three years treated Daniel’s case, they looked for Daniel only if I called, only if we asked for a family meeting,” Shelia Moses said.

Moses said the past two years have brought signs of hope: she felt the new leadership of the Northampton County Sheriff’s Office has been more aggressive in their search.

But she wants a new SBI agent assigned to the investigation, and for the FBI to also be called in.

“The reason they have not found Daniel is because they don’t have enough people looking,” Moses said. “His case should have been turned over to the FBI a long time ago.”

“The search was conducted following information received sufficient to warrant the search,” a spokesperson for the Northampton County Sheriff’s Office told WRAL News.

“The investigation is ongoing and the Northampton County Sheriff’s Department is not prepared to comment on a suspect or direction in the case,” they continued.

For the moment, Shelia Moses said she could only pray the tips would keep coming in, leaving the search for her brother alive.

“I don’t want to die and Daniel’s not found, I don’t want this case to outlive me,” Shelia Moses said. “I want my brother back, I want justice for him.”

WRAL News reached out to the SBI for a response to Moses’s comments.

“The SBI investigation and participation in the search for Daniel Moses has remained active since its inception in 2011,” a spokesperson for the SBI responded. “The investigation was intensively worked last year and is still an ongoing concern for SBI agents.”

WRAL News also reached out to the FBI for comment. They’re working on a response.