Six months after Evonte McNeill vanished in Fayetteville, his mom is haunted by his disappearance

A mother in Fayetteville is opening up about her son who disappeared six months ago.

Fayetteville police said Evonte McNeill was last spotted at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center in November. His mother, Tiana Melvin, doesn't believe that.

Melvin also said she doesn't know what to do for her missing son's upcoming birthday on May 15.

"His dad suggested doing a balloon release, but I felt like that was saying that he's gone," Melvin said. "If nobody's telling me he's not here, I don't want to assume that, and I don't want to act as if he's not here."

He's either not in his right mind or he's not here. I don't sleep at night because I don't know.

Melvin said that in November, McNeill went to the hospital that day for a mental health episode, complaining that someone was following him. Melvin said she then told her son to go to the Fayetteville police, and that she was on the phone with McNeill when he arrived at the headquarters on Hay Street.

"The officer came and told them that they were closed," Melvin recalled.

Melvin said she got off the phone when her son told her he would go back to the hospital. She also said the police later told her their department called an ambulance for McNeill, but then he vanished.

"Why would he leave? If he's the one looking for the help, why would he leave before the ambulance gets there or anybody if he knows that he's in need?" Melvin asked.

The Cumberland County Sheriff's Office was initially on the case before transferring it to Fayetteville police. A sheriff's office investigator tracked McNeill's phone to a spot less than a mile away from Fayetteville Police headquarters.

Cape Fear Valley Medical Center is approximately four miles away.

"He's either not in his right mind or he's not here," Melvin said. "I don't sleep at night because I don't know."

Fayetteville police have yet to officially comment.