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James had no where else to go. Where else would he go? Where the hell is his only family? You know my sister, she's a Mississippi.

It's just me, my mom. My dad was in the picture. My mom had called me, letting me know that he was not back.

And she was worried. She was worried the first night, but she needed to place work and maybe I was able to do anything about it because he was an adult.

It's hard because each and every day, no matter what you're doing, no matter if you have work, you have your babies over, your grandkids over.

James is in the back of my head all the time. I pray and I keep praying. You know, I know God answers. Prayers when He gets ready. But when is it going to be my turn?

Just days before Christmas of 2002, 21-year-old James Wiggins left his home in Rustin, Louisiana on foot, saying he was going to a nearby grocery store.

James never returned and his mom became concerned. This wasn't like James.

The following morning, the owner of Goose Creek Grocery on Highway 146, several miles outside of Rustin, found a young man sleeping on the doorstep of his store.

When he opened up his shop, the man came in and bought a pack of cigarettes.

The owner checked this man's identification and reported to the police that he was certain it was James Wiggins.

Several weeks later, a woman came forward and claimed that she believed she had spoken to James in another town, about 20 miles from Rustin, and he told her he was living with his aunt.

Over the years, there have been some bizarre leads that have crept up. Some point to James being alive, while others point to him being murdered.

But no one knows for sure. I'm Marissa, and from Wondery, this is Episode 278 of The Vanished. James Wiggins' story.

21-year-old James Wiggins was a quiet guy who spent most of his time by himself.

He wasn't the kind of person who found it easy to make friendships, which caused him to struggle to fit in growing up.

In order to understand James and why he may have disappeared, we have to take a look back at his life and the experiences that shaped him into the person he grew up to be.

For this story, we spoke to James's sister Kelsey, and she told us a little bit about growing up with James.

Our childhood, it wasn't great. I don't really have memories of him as a kid.

It's up with just a very few, but we came from a visa family, and James was just always quiet.

When he just kept himself, he was a good kid. He and I were pretty close, actually. I got married and moved off to California, and James.

When I came home, he just stayed in his room all the time playing his video games and listening to his rock music.

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