Greensboro family still seeks answers in yearlong Burton disappearance

Larry Burton’s family has spent nearly a year waiting for answers after the 74-year-old disappeared from an unlicensed Greensboro care facility, and Greensboro police said there were still no new public updates in the case. The approaching Fourth of July holiday has sharpened the pain for relatives who say the hardest part is not knowing what happened or where he is.

Burton was last seen in July 2025 at HMF Family Home Care on Moody Street, then reported missing shortly after arriving. Police later shut down the facility, and the case quickly moved from a missing-person report into a larger question about how an older adult could vanish from a care setting with so little information left behind.

His daughter, Latonya Swift, and his sister have continued to press for answers while holding onto the hope that Burton will be found. That hope has become harder to sustain as the months pass, especially with no new public update from the Greensboro Police Department. For the family, every unanswered question adds another layer of uncertainty: who last saw Burton, what happened inside the home, and why no clearer trail emerged in the days after he disappeared.

The case also exposed a gap in oversight that extends beyond one family’s loss. State licensing records list HMF Family Care Homes in Guilford County as a family care home with a capacity of six beds, a detail that drew closer scrutiny once Burton’s disappearance became public. North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services says adult care homes are licensed by the Division of Health Service Regulation and monitored by local Department of Social Services adult home specialists, and the state says there are more than 1,200 adult care homes across North Carolina.

Accountability moved slowly. Hazel Mae Forman later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor running an adult home care without a license. She was fined $50 and ordered to pay $183 in court costs, with no jail time and no probation. State officials had earlier indicated the case could lead to criminal prosecution, but the family’s central concern remains unchanged: Burton is still missing, and no public explanation has filled the void left by his disappearance.

Greensboro police continued to urge anyone with information to come forward. For Burton’s relatives, any tip, witness account, or overlooked detail could still be the piece that moves the case out of limbo and into the open.