Almost 37 years later, the slaying of a 33-year-old mother of two in this quiet, closely knit town still haunts its residents.

The unsolved murder of Bonnie Neighbors has all the intrigue of a classic novel, yet many say there was a cloak of secrecy combined with a multiple-story aspect. The role of a powerful unknown person of authority, the media frenzy, the mysteries surrounding the case records, and the recent DNA sampling of a person of interest ... some say it just doesn’t add up.

The mystery began on a cold winter’s day December 14,1972 when Bonnie left her Benson home on N.C. 50 with her four-month-old son to pick up her second-grader from school.

According to witnesses, upon pulling out of the driveway, she hastily turned her station wagon in the opposite direction of the school.

Bonnie’s husband, Kenneth Neighbors, was in Carteret County that day, working at his accounting firm when he received the call saying his wife had not come to pick up their son from school.

When he arrived home, pleas were going over the airways for landowners to check their property for Bonnie and her child. A massive search was underway on horseback and foot.

The next day her vehicle was discovered abandoned on Market Street in Benson.

In a quiet rural community about six miles from Benson on what is now Holly Grove Church Road, a farmer’s son heard a baby cry as he approached a vacant migrant camp and ran back to get his father.

Bonnie’s lifeless body was discovered on a cot in the block building on that day, December 17 around 12:30 p.m. She had been bludgeoned and fatally shot twice in the right abdomen with a .25-caliber gun. Her face, feet and hands had been bound with cloth diapers.

Her crying baby was lying next to her dead body.

“The baby’s cheeks were chapped, his diaper was full and he was very hungry when he was found, but he had suffered no ill effects from the cold weather,” Johnston County Sheriff Steve Bizzell said.

Unconfirmed reports state that Bonnie was clutching a long strand of blonde hair in her hand.

The medical examiner said at the time evidence pointed to Bonnie having been dead for at least 24 hours before her body was found, and possibly for three days.

The hunt for a killer

Rumors circulated like wildfire on a scorching summer day as Bonnie’s disappearance and discovery of her body took a fearsome toll on the community.

“The case alarmed the community,” Sheriff Bizzell said. “People thought there was a killer on the loose. Folks were in shock.”

The story has been infused with controversy and speculation since the murder took place.

By some reports, a band of hippies snatched Bonnie and her infant son, eerily comparing some aspects to the Colette MacDonald homicide that occurred in Fayetteville a couple of years prior.

Individuals reported seeing Bonnie in the company of other people the night of the day of her disappearance. Others say that Bonnie planned to meet someone the day she died when she drove off in the opposite direction of her son’s school.

Efforts were in overdrive as the investigation proceeded full force for the days that followed the murder.

The late P.H. (Pete) Denning Jr., who was a family friend of the Neighbors’, headed a local crime committee in hopes of solving the case. Working diligently with law enforcement, Denning made statements to the local media that the case would be solved within six weeks.

The group also consulted with a psychic who gave numerous clues of who the killer was, however, those clues proved of little value.

“The psychic knew that a credit card and rings had been stolen from Bonnie and he also said that an Oriental man had something to do with the crime,” Denning previously stated.

A credit card belonging to Neighbors turned up twice several months later in a store in Florida but it was never used again. The business was reportedly owned by an Oriental man ... was that the connection?

Denning also said the psychic stated there was imminent danger with the murder investigation and that another person may be killed if it continued.

He said several members of the crime committee were threatened by anonymous phone callers telling them to let go of the investigation, casting a shadow of fear over some.

Suspect cleared

Even though the case had long been shelved, some members of the community kept one man right smack in the midst of their radar. Amid finger-pointing, frustration and tears, for over three decades a Benson man who lived nearby the crime scene was labeled as Bonnie’s killer. Adding to the speculation, the migrant hut is down an unfamiliar rocky path and not visible from the roadway.

The man allegedly refused to cooperate, according to authorities, yet to this day, they’ve kept quiet and refused to publicly name him.

In previous reports, Bonnie’s family stated their conversations with investigators over the years led them to think that they knew who killed Bonnie, however, mysteriously, the investigation was brought to an abrupt halt.

Several proclaim that the case was mishandled by authorities, but Rufus Edmisten, who was Attorney General at the time, said that claim is unfounded.

As years went by, there were no new reported developments on the homicide leaving the Neighbors family to deal with their unending grief.

Finally, in April of 2007, Johnston’s top cop set up a cold-case squad of experts to take a fresh look at the case in hopes of bringing Bonnie’s killer to justice.

“This was a brutal crime that rocked the community,” Sheriff Bizzell said. “The Neighbors family and the citizens deserve to see justice done.”

While their combined efforts did not close the books on her murder, it did clear the main suspect.

New DNA evidence discovered on Bonnie’s clothing was sent to the SBI lab for analysis and after years of speculation, the number one person of interest was finally ruled out.

The case is still active, and was back in the news just this month when Neighbors’ family distributed fliers on Sunday, July 5 to local churches asking for prayer that the killer will be brought to justice. They hoped that prayer will weigh upon the conscience of anyone who knows the truth about the murder to come forward so that after 37 years, the family may find some sort of peace.

Anyone with tips is asked to call the sheriff’s department at (919) 989-5010.

Both of Bonnie's boys were raised by their father, Kenneth. He later remarried and his new wife, Mary, completed the family and helped in rearing the children. She has also been very active in the search for Bonnie's killer. Although Kenneth provided DNA, he was not a suspect in his wife's slaying.

Today, the concrete building that was the scene of the murder has changed little except to receive a new coat of green paint. It is still being used to house seasonal migrant workers.

Ask anyone living in the vicinity and they’ll point down the road to the dirt path leading to the migrant hut, willing to share their own ideas and beliefs of what actually happened to Bonnie Neighbors.

In a case that has taken numerous twists and turns, the main question seems to be how had the infant survived the bitter cold that blanketed the area for the days before he was discovered lying next to his murdered mother?

Bonnie Neighbors would have turned 70 years old on July 7.