‘Mr. Noble,’ the missing man known for selling flowers, is found safe outside NC

The homeless man who was a beloved and familiar presence on Raleigh’s Peace Street before disappearing this fall has been found safe.

The man best known as Mr. Noble, who sold flowers from a bucket at the corner of St. Mary’s Street, has left North Carolina and is no longer considered missing.

“I just know he is safe,” said his friend Ashton Owen, who had been spoken with police. “He’s alive and will be fine.”

Mr. Noble, whose legal name is William Bryant Polite, had been the subject of a missing persons report and a community rally after vanishing from his Peace Street corner.



His absence caused a stir on social media channels, drawing thousands of promises to keep an eye out. Friends did not want to publicly disclose his whereabouts for the sake of his privacy.

For the several months before he went missing, he could be spotted on his usual bench, wearing his Marine Corps cap and his scratched glasses, selling roses from a bucket.

The dozens of people who have befriended him describe him as quiet but unfailingly polite, greeting people with a wave or a salute, writing out his messages on paper or silently mouthing the words when he needs something — a Coke or a new pair of socks.

In late October, he left without a word.

But those who searched for him take comfort knowing he has moved on from Raleigh out of his own wishes.