On the morning of May 1, 2001, John Kinslow dropped his 14-year-old daughter, Sarah Kinslow, off at her middle school. Hours later, he received a distressing call: Sarah never attended any of her classes.
When Sarah’s mother, Louise, contacted her friends, she discovered that Sarah had planned to skip school and meet them at a cemetery but didn’t show. Panicked, the Kinslows reported their daughter missing.
Sniffer dogs traced Sarah’s scent two blocks down the street from her school where it came to an abrupt end. Detectives were confident that she entered a vehicle and their suspicions were confirmed when a witness reported that she saw Sarah get into a light blue Ford driven by an older Caucasian male with dark brown hair and a mustache at that exact location
That was 21 years ago and Sarah hasn’t been seen since.
During the investigation, detectives searched Sarah’s diary for clues and discovered a disturbing entry written shortly before her disappearance.
Sarah wrote that she was deeply in love with her boyfriend of 2 months, 18-year-old drug dealer Curtis Wayne Bell, that they had been intimate, and that they planned to flee to Mexico and marry because her parents didn’t approve of their relationship. A week later, he was charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child. He was ultimately released on a $50,000 bond.
Sarah left all of her personal belongings behind and was deemed an endangered runaway. Despite the fact that several of Sarah’s friends failed polygraph tests, all denied having any knowledge of her whereabouts.
On December 25, 2001, a woman who lived down the street from the Kinslows reported that she saw Sarah inside a car in Quinlan — the same city where Curtis lived. The woman wrote the license plate number down and the authorities traced it to a local man who denied knowing the teen.
Shortly afterward, a gas station clerk recognized Sarah from her missing flyer and called the police. Surveillance footage confirmed that the girl at the gas station was in fact Sarah and that she wasn’t alone.
She was with Curtis.
When confronted, Curtis said the girl in the footage wasn’t Sarah. He later changed his story, claiming that it wasn’t him in the footage, either. He was uncooperative with the investigation and refused to take a polygraph.
On the 9th anniversary of Sarah’s disappearance, John and Louise opened their mailbox to find an anonymous note claiming that a woman who was both friends with Sarah in high school and the ex-wife of a man who was close friends with Curtis had the answers they were looking for.
Louise said she reached out to the woman, who denied having any knowledge regarding Sarah’s disappearance. The man who wrote the anonymous note later came forward, revealing his identity. He told the Kinslows that Sarah had been mur*dered and thrown into a rock quarry.
The quarry was searched but nothing was found.
In 2009, Curtis pleaded guilty to the sexual assault of a child. The victim was a different teenage girl. He was sentenced to 60 days in prison followed by 10 years of probation. In 2012, Curtis’ probation was revoked after he was caught with drugs. He was subsequently sentenced to 9 years in prison.
Christmas Day 2001 was the last confirmed sighting of Sarah Kinslow. Since then, she has missed several birthdays, holidays, and milestones. Meanwhile, John and Louise continue the harrowing search for their beloved daughter.
At the time of her disappearance, Sarah was last seen wearing a teal-colored jacket, blue jeans, blue and grey sneakers, a Minnie Mouse watch, and a necklace that read “Rock.” Sarah has six ear piercings and the letter “i” tattooed on her ankle. If alive today, she would be 35. If you have any information, contact Greenville Police Department at 903–457–2900.
