Case Details

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This person was missing Missing Since 09/12/1998

Missing Since:

Missing Since 09/12/1998

Missing From:

Missing From Bladensburg, North Carolina

Classification:

Classification Endangered Missing

Gender:

Male

Race:

Race White

Date of Birth:

Date of Birth 07/26/1946 (78)

Age:

Age 52 years old

Height and Weight:

Height and Weight 5’8, 150 – 170 pounds

Clothing/Jewelry Description:

Distinguishing Characteristics:

Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Graying black hair. Akopov is a native of Uzbekistan, a former Soviet republic in central Asia. He speaks limited English.

Details of Disappearance:

In September 1998, a man named Akopov disappeared from his trailer in Bladensburg, North Carolina. He was a good tenant, working at Harriet and Henderson in Clarkton and sending money to his family in Uzbekistan. He often helped other Uzbek immigrants by letting them stay in his trailer until they found work. Two such roommates were with him when he vanished.

On September 12th, his landlady, Wanda Phipps, saw him in Elizabethtown. He was with his roommates, looking for his insurance agent. Phipps helped him, and saw him drive away in his light-colored 1987 Plymouth Caravelle. That was the last time anyone saw him.

Phipps reported him missing when he didn’t go to work – something very unusual for him. His trailer was left messy, which was unlike him, and his Uzbek-English dictionary was gone. Phipps didn’t like his two roommates; they were unemployed and seemed different from his previous guests. They disappeared at the same time as Akopov.

Akopov had around $500-$600 in cash and uncashed paychecks on him. He regularly wrote to his family, but they never heard from him again. Skeletal remains were found near Wilmington, around the same age as Akopov and wearing similar boots, but they haven’t been identified as him.

Since 1998, there’s been no trace of Akopov, his car, or his roommates. The case remains unsolved.

Agency:

Bladen County Sheriff’s Office 910-862-6960

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