A year after Raleigh man went missing, his family still has few answers
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Rakeem Elliott was last seen on I-40 overpass on Jan. 12, 2025; brother last saw him.
- Multiple searches conducted by Rakeem’s father, military-trained relatives found no trace.
- Family held a vigil and urges anyone with information to contact Raleigh police.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect the correct spelling of Rakem Elliott’s name.
The last person who saw Rakem Devo Elliott was his brother, Arsenio Elliott. After an argument between the two, Rakem got out of Arsenio’s car on an exit ramp near the I-40 overpass above Garner Road, Arsenio said.
It was roughly 30 degrees outside around 8:30 to 9 p.m. on Jan. 12, 2025. Altercations like the one that night weren’t uncommon, Arsenio said. Usually, he would go to their parents’ house and tell them to pick up Rakem where he got off.
The off-ramp is roughly a 5-minute drive from the Elliott home. Once Arsenio came home, his and Rakem’s father, Dwight Ray Elliott Sr., drove to the off-ramp to go pick up Rakem.
Rakem was nowhere to be found.
“It’s just like missing your best friend,” Arsenio said. “I don’t really like going out like that [anymore], because I don’t have my brother.”
Family and friends of Rakem Elliott, nicknamed “Rock,” gathered at his parents’ house in Raleigh for a vigil Saturday morning.
Monday, Jan. 12, will mark one year since Elliott, 34, went missing. Surveillance cameras last showed Elliott atop the I-40 overpass above Garner Road around 9:30 p.m., Ray Elliott said. Ray said police told him camera footage from the bridge cut out around 9:30 p.m.
The night Rakem went missing
Rakem Elliott was wearing a beanie, a black long-sleeve Reebok shirt, black pants and yellow, orange and black shoes, according to Arsenio. The brothers were riding together from their aunt’s house.
As they got on the Beltline, Rakem kept turning the music up, to Arsenio’s displeasure, Arsenio said. After telling Rakem several times to turn the music down, Arsenio turned it down himself.
The two then got into an argument heated enough that Arsenio decided to kick Rakem out from the car, Arsenio said. As Arsenio came down the off-ramp, Rakem hit the windshield and cracked it. The last time Arsenio saw Rakem was when Rakem got out of the car and started walking up the ramp.
Arsenio Elliott didn’t see which direction he went, and Ray Elliott couldn’t find him when he went to pick him up.
The family conducted multiple searches over the next few weeks to find Rakem, Ray said. Ray relied on his experience hunting rabbits to traverse the nearby woods, but found nothing. He saw nobody at the overpass. Raleigh police told him they found nothing at a nearby homeless encampment.
Ray’s nephew came home with a few of his military friends who had experience in search parties, Ray said. They looked through the woods once again. Nothing.
“I just sit out and look sometimes,” Ray said, tearing up as he gestured toward the dirt road in front of his house “to see if he’s gonna just ride up or somebody’s gonna pull up and have him.”
A green thumb and a big heart
Chrystal Winston, Rakem’s aunt, can tell he’s missing by looking at the front yard of his parents’ house, where he lived. Some of the trees — anything from apple trees to Japanese maples — were still there, but not nearly as much greenery as when he was around or as many flowers as he would plant.
Winston said Rakem had a green thumb. He got it from his dad. Ray is a landscaper, and Rakem helped him care for the yard. On Saturdays, when Rakem wasn’t working his regular job, he would join Ray on job trips, Ray said. He liked the extra money, but he also loved working with his hands.
“If he was here, he’d be right out here today probably tilling up the rest of [the yard],” Ray Elliott said.
When it came to family, Rakem was never too far away and always had time to spare. Whenever his mother, Bertha Elliott, would leave for the store, Rakem would ask her where she was going.
“I [would say], ‘I’m going to the store,’” Bertha Elliott said. “He [would say], ‘I’m going, too, hold on! Don’t leave me!’”
Rakem’s extended family saw how eager he was to help and spend time with them, too.
Michelle Elliott, Rakem’s aunt, survived a stroke. Every other day, Rakem came to her apartment at 3:30 p.m. to help around the house — be it taking out the trash, sweeping, straightening up the living room or cooking ribs or rice and gravy for Michelle and her wife.
“Just whatever he’d seen when he came in the door that needed to be done,” Michelle Elliott said. “I didn’t have to ask him. He’d automatically just do it.”
The Raleigh Police Department issued a news release Monday to ask the public for help finding Elliott. He is described as 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighing 220 pounds.
Anyone with information on Rakem’s whereabouts can call Detective Fox with the Raleigh Police Department at 919-996-1209.
This story was originally published January 10, 2026 at 6:54 PM.
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