After 'Countless Hours,' 3 Deaths Still Stump FBI

But offer of $30K reward is bringing new information
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 19, 2018 8:56 AM CST
After 'Countless Hours,' 3 Deaths Still Stump FBI
A poster shows the faces of three women found dead in Lumberton, NC, over several weeks.   (FBI)

Months after three women were found dead in a four-block radius in Lumberton, NC, law enforcement officials have yet to find answers, so they're greasing the wheels. The FBI on Wednesday announced a $30,000 reward for information on the deaths of 32-year-old Christina "Kristin" Bennett, 36-year-old Rhonda Jones, and 28-year-old Megan Oxendine. Bennett was found dead in an abandoned home in the small city of 22,000 on April 18, 2017, the same day Jones' body was discovered outside a home 500 feet away, reports the Fayetteville Observer. Weeks later on June 3, Oxendine—a friend of Jones, per WNCN—was discovered dead behind a home three blocks from where the other women were found. At this point, officials aren't sure how the women died, or if a crime occurred, as their bodies were decomposed, report the Observer and ABC News.

"All three women were mothers. They were daughters, sisters, and aunts. They were loved and they are missed, but they are not forgotten," says Lumberton Police Chief Michael MacNeill, noting the decision to request additional help from the public came after "countless hours following leads, conducting interviews and gathering evidence to determine what happened to these women." On Thursday, a police captain told WNCN that information is already "starting to move after offering the reward." A separate $15,000 reward is offered for tips leading to missing Lumberton resident Abby Patterson, who disappeared Sept. 5, Fox News reported in November. Police previously said it was unlikely Patterson's disappearance was linked to the three women's deaths, which were followed by at least two suspected murders, per WNCN. (More North Carolina stories.)

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