Raleigh police are asking the public for help finding Preston Scott Hill, a 35-year-old man who has been missing since Monday and is classified as endangered. Hill was last seen on September 7 driving a 2015 Ford Fusion bearing California license plates, according to a missing person notice, and investigators have not disclosed where in the city he was last spotted.
The Raleigh Police Department describes Hill as 6 feet tall and 220 pounds, born October 25, 1990. The department has not detailed the specific reasons behind Hill's endangered classification, and it has not said which direction he may have been traveling when he was last seen. Anyone with information is asked to contact Raleigh police, and anonymous tips can also be submitted through Raleigh Crime Stoppers, which does not record calls or capture caller identification.
State Bureau Steps In With Statewide Alert
The case has drawn attention beyond Raleigh's city limits. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation issued a statewide missing person alert on Wednesday, amplifying the Raleigh Police Department's request for public assistance in locating Hill, according to a post from the agency's Facebook page. The SBI regularly assists local agencies across North Carolina when missing individuals are classified as endangered.
Under state law, North Carolina law enforcement agencies are required to immediately submit case details to the FBI's National Crime Information Center database and broadcast a statewide alert once a missing person report is received, with no mandatory waiting period before search efforts can begin. That statute also allows spouses, parents, guardians, or others responsible for supervising a missing person to submit reports directly to the state clearinghouse once a local police report has been filed.
New Alert Categories Since Last Year
Hill's case falls under a relatively new framework for how North Carolina classifies and publicizes missing adult cases. Effective July 1 of last year, House Bill 698 transferred the North Carolina Center for Missing Persons to the State Highway Patrol and established official alert categories, including Missing Endangered Alerts for vulnerable missing individuals aged 64 or younger.
That clearinghouse recorded 13,195 total missing person reports statewide in 2025, including 5,292 involving missing adults, a slight decrease from the 5,649 adult cases logged in 2024. Through the end of August this year, the center had already recorded 7,721 total missing person reports statewide, comprising 3,220 missing adult cases and 4,501 juvenile cases. Nationally, an average of 532,727 missing person records were entered annually into the FBI's National Crime Information Center database between 2021 and 2025, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, which notes such files stay open indefinitely until a person is located or an agency cancels the case.
Technology and Cold Case Resources Available
Raleigh investigators have technological tools at their disposal as the search continues. The Raleigh Police Department operates 32 Flock Safety license plate readers across the city, which can generate real-time automated alerts tied to active investigations, according to reporting from WRAL-TV. Those cameras could theoretically help track a vehicle matching the description of Hill's Ford Fusion if it passes through the network.
If Hill's case remains unresolved, the SBI's Cold Case Investigation Team, created in 2020 within its Field Operations Division, offers long-term investigative assistance to local agencies on unresolved missing person cases, collaborating with municipal, county, and federal authorities statewide. It remains unclear what specific circumstances led investigators to classify Hill as endangered, and Raleigh police have not released additional details about his last known location within the city.
This is at least the third missing person case Raleigh-area agencies have publicized in recent weeks. In August, Hoodline reported on an underwater drone search at Millbrook Lake and a separate search for a missing Wake County teenager. Anyone who recognizes Hill or his vehicle is urged to contact the Raleigh Police Department or submit a tip through Raleigh Crime Stoppers.
