Woman Charged After Allegedly Murdering Ex-Green Beret Husband and Leaving His Body in a Rural Pond

• Shana Cloud, 50, has been charged with first-degree murder and concealment of death after allegedly killing her husband, Clinton Bonnell, 50.
• Bonnell was first reported missing on Jan. 27, and Cloud was arrested on March 28.
• Bonnell’s body was found dismembered in a pond located about three miles away from the couple’s shared home.

A woman has been charged with murder after her husband’s remains were found in a pond in North Carolina — more than two months after he was first reported missing.

According to a press release shared on Facebook by the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, 50-year-old Shana Cloud was arrested for the murder of her husband, Clinton “Clint” Bonnell, also 50, on Friday, March 28.

Bonnell was first reported missing after an employee at Methodist University called to place a wellness check on him on Jan. 28, as he was studying to become a physician assistant at the college and had missed his class that morning — which was unusual for Bonnell, a former Green Beret.

According to the sheriff’s office, Cloud told deputies who visited the couple’s home that she had not seen her husband since Jan. 27.

Deputies found that Bonnell’s car, along with his school bag and other items, were still at the home. Later that evening, another one of Bonnell’s friends called 911 to request a well-being check for him again.

A statement was then released by the sheriff’s office stating that Bonnell had last been seen in Gray’s Creek, a suburb of Fayetteville, on Jan. 27.

Bonnell had been stationed at nearby Fort Bragg before he retired from the military in December, according to The Fayetteville Observer.

Bonnell’s sister Stefanie Firkins later told NBC News that her brother’s disappearance was “out of character” for the veteran and dedicated family man, who was taking his studies seriously.

“He was completely enamored with medicine and excited about his career path,” she said. “He would not walk away from his life and his school and his daughter.”

By Jan. 31, the homicide unit had executed a search warrant on Bonnell’s home, and one day later, detectives, as well as officers from the Virginia State Police, searched Cloud’s home in Troy, Va., per CBS affiliate station WNCN.

Over the course of the following month, investigators also obtained digital data from Bonnell’s phone and other devices to create a timeline of events leading up to his disappearance.

On Feb. 25, a body was found in a pond on Gainey Road in Fayetteville, located about three miles away from the house Bonnell and Cloud shared on Butler Nursery Road, per the sheriff’s office.

In a 911 call obtained by local affiliate station WRAL in Raleigh, a caller could be heard telling the dispatcher: “It looks like there might be part of a body floating out in the water.”

“It looks like it’s been there a while, there’s no legs or arms on it or nothing on it,” the caller continued. “It’s in the middle of nowhere.”

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Because the body had decomposed, deputies collected DNA samples, and the North Carolina State Crime Lab eventually determined on March 28 that the remains belonged to Bonnell, per the sheriff’s office.

Later on March 28, investigators arrested Cloud. She was charged with first-degree murder and concealment of death. Although the sheriff’s office has not released extensive information about the motive, a search warrant obtained by WNCN stated that Bonnell was allegedly planning to divorce his wife.

According to WNCN, a woman identified in court documents as Bonnell’s girlfriend told investigators that he had met with a lawyer on the morning of Jan. 27 to begin the divorce process. She also told detectives that Bonnell had texted her that night, soon after he had allegedly told his wife that he was planning to divorce her.

Cloud is now being held at the Cumberland County Detention Center, and her first court appearance is set for Monday, March 31.