FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — The disappearance of former North Carolina Green Beret, Clinton “Clint” Bonnell is now a murder investigation.
The individual who is facing charges in this case is Shana Cloud, the wife of the victim, as confirmed by the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office. Cloud was apprehended and charged two months after her husband was reported missing, and several weeks subsequent to the identification of a body, lacking limbs, discovered in a pond, confirmed to be Bonnell’s remains. Cloud has been accused of first-degree murder and concealment of a death.
During her initial court appearance on Monday, distressing details emerged from court records. The district attorney’s office disclosed that not all of Clinton Bonnell’s limbs, including his head, have been recovered.
“It is a gruesome case and an appalling state in which the body was discovered. It was only a torso, devoid of legs, arms, or a head when it was located,” remarked Billy West, the Cumberland County District Attorney.
Investigators say they have video evidence of Cloud in the area where Bonnell’s torso was recovered.
The DA’s office also revealed that Bonnell’s girlfriend is the person who made the second call for a welfare check on Bonnell at his house on Jan. 28. The first call came the morning of at the request of Methodist University when he didn’t show up for class.
According to details from Cloud’s hearing Monday, Bonnell went to a lawyer’s office on Jan. 27 to seek a divorce. He had allegedly told his girlfriend he was preparing to end his marriage and that he had also told his wife.
It is the last time he was seen alive,
Investigators say they believe Cloud shot and killed her husband the next day inside the couple’s house.
‘I want you to know that Mrs. Cloud is innocent and looks forward to her day in court,” Cloud’s attorney, James Macrae Jr., said after her first appearance.
Also revealed in court Monday, Cloud was a Traveling Nurse and had even worked for the Virginia Department of Corrections.
Cloud is being held without bond and does face capital punishment in this case.
From Missing to Murdered
Based on information from the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, here’s a limited timeline of how the case unfolded and led to the arrest and murder charge against Bonnell’s wife, Shana Cloud.
Deputies say a phone call for a welfare check is what started the investigation into a missing person’s case that soon turned into a murder investigation.
Clinton “Clint” Bonnell, 50, was reportedly last seen in the Gray’s Creek area of Cumberland County on Jan. 27. He was a student at Methodist University and enrolled in the Physician Assistant Program. When he failed to show up for morning class on Jan. 28, an employee from the university called the sheriff’s office and requested a well-being check at his Fayetteville home.
Despite seeing his car, book bag, and other personal items at the house, deputies said they talked to Cloud and she allegedly told them she hadn’t seen Bonnell since the day before.
The sheriff’s office says later the same day, they received another call requesting a welfare check on Bonnell. That’s when he was officially reported missing, and the case was assigned to the department’s Major Crimes Unit.
Two days later, on Jan. 30, the case was reassigned to the Homicide Unit. The sheriff’s office didn’t specify why they reassigned it to homicide detectives.
On Feb. 1, detectives developed information that led them to expand the investigation into Virginia, where Cloud owned property. While in Virginia, they executed search warrants on Cloud’s vehicle, rental property, and cell phone. The Virginiat State Police provided assistance in the execution of the warrant and evidence collecting.
Evidence related to the investigation was brought back to Cumberland County. Multiple search warrants were obtained in Cumberland County and executed to extract information from Cloud’s devices, which included digital data, cell phone records, video footage, digital devices and more.
The data collected was analyzed and used to develop a timeline of events not only surrounding Bonnell’s disappearance but his whereabouts before his disappearance.
On Monday, Feb. 10 ABC11 Eyewitness news talked to Bonnell’s sister who said his disappearance was very much out of character for him, especially since he had exams coming up and he was preparing and studying for them.
“I know what he was doing the day that he disappeared and he was making plans for his life, and studying for exams the next day. I mean, all signs point to him vanishing not on his own accord.”
911 Call: ‘Body with no Limbs’ in a Pond
On Feb. 25, the sheriff’s office received a call about human remains in a body of water in the 4200 block of Gainey Road. Because of the condition of the remains, an immediate identification was not possible.
DNA from the remains was sent to the North Carolina State Crime Lab. That DNA profile was then sent to the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System (AFMES) to be compared with the DNA on file for the former Green Beret.
On Friday, Mar. 28, the AFMES confirmed that the DNA collected was that of Bonnell. Cloud was then arrested and charged with murder.
Methodist University issued a statement after learning the news: “We are thankful to our MU community, on-campus police, and the partnership with local law enforcement who are working with the individual’s family. Our thoughts are with them during this difficult time.”
Anyone with further information about this investigation is urged to call Sgt. J. Mcleod at (910) 677-5548 or CrimeStoppers at (910)483-TIPS (8477). You do not have to reveal your identity.
Copyright © 2025 WTVD-TV. All Rights Reserved.
