21-year-old Denise Ports enjoyed her work. She was the resident manager for Yorktown

apartments where she and her husband of one year lived. It was a busy job constantly

showing potential renters apartments and trying to make the sale, but she enjoyed the challenge.

However, on the last day of July in 1975, it may have been one of her clients who was responsible for her disappearance.

Last seen in the early afternoon, Denise was reported missing when her husband arrived home that night and found her gone.

Investigators kicked off a massive search but couldn't find anything. No sign of violence, no indications of a crime, nothing.

As one officer wrote in an official report, it was as if she vanished from the face of the earth. Over the next 46 years, investigators would work, first to find Denise, then to find the man who had likely killed her.

The man multiple witnesses saw with her in the minutes before she vanished.

Ten years later, investigators began to wonder if her disappearance was an isolated incident or if it was tied to a series of disappearances and murders believed to be connected to a convicted killer.

This is Trace Evidence Episode 151, the disappearance of Denise Ports.

Welcome to Trace Evidence. I'm your host, Stephen Piceco.

Today, we examine the oldest unsolved missing persons case in North Carolina, the disappearance of Denise Ports.

Before getting into the case, just a few notes about the show.

Trace Evidence is a weekly true crime podcast focused on unsolved murders and disappearances. You can follow the show on social media on Twitter at Trace Ev Pod, Instagram at Trace Evidence Pod, or by searching Facebook for Trace Evidence.

If you're interested in supporting the show and getting some Trace Evidence merch, there's a Patreon at patreon.com slash Trace Evidence, or you can donate directly via PayPal.

Visit Trace-evidence.com for all social media links, donation options, and contact information.

You can submit case suggestions through the website or email me directly at Trace Evidence Pod at gmail.com.

21-year-old Denise Ports had just celebrated her first wedding anniversary and was planning to build a family. Tragically, in a span of less than 15 minutes, she vanished without a trace, creating one of the longest enduring and most haunting mysteries in North Carolina history.

This is Episode 151, the disappearance of Denise Ports.

Lazing summer suns slowly crept towards the horizon, though its impending setting did little to alleviate the sweltering heat, dropping just a few degrees from the low 80s to the high 70s.

For 21-year-old Dean Ports, it had been a long week back to work returning from a previous trip with his wife Denise, where the two had celebrated their first year of marriage.

Pulling into his space, right beside his wife's green Camaro, Dean stepped out of the car and made his way towards apartment number 3.

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