On Friday, March 28, 2025, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office announced an arrest in the January 2025 disappearance of Clinton Bonnell.
Clinton’s case was featured in Dateline’s ‘Missing in America’ series in February 2025, a month after he vanished.
Clinton, 50, was a recently-retired Green Beret and had been enrolled in a Physician Assistant program at Methodist College in Fayetteville, North Carolina. In February, Dateline spoke with his sister, Stefanie Firkins, who said she received an alarming Facebook message from Clinton’s wife, Shana Cloud, on January 29.
According to Stefanie, Clinton’s wife asked her if she had heard from her brother. She told Stefanie that Clinton hadn’t attended class for two days and that the sheriff’s office had visited their house multiple times. “So we got on the phone, and she described what the past 48-plus hours had been like there at their house,” Stefanie told Dateline.
Stefanie said Shana explained that on Monday, January 27, she and Clint had gone to the gym, and afterward, he went to a study group. Stefanie says Shana told her she didn’t see Clinton come home that night and that his car was parked in the driveway with his keys inside the house.
Stefanie told Dateline Shana said the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office showed up at her house on Tuesday, January 28. They had been requested to perform a welfare check by Clinton’s school when he failed to show up for class for two days, something that was out of character for him.
Stefanie told Dateline her brother and Shana had been talking about divorce and that Clinton had been seeing someone else. “Her story was that your brother’s got a girlfriend — I think he’s run off with the girlfriend,” Stefanie said.
Stefanie, who lives in another state, said Clinton’s girlfriend was also highly concerned and was the one who officially reported him missing. Stefanie said her brother would never have disappeared without letting anyone know.
In the days following Clinton’s disappearance, several searches took place, according to a post from the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office. On Friday, January 31, authorities conducted a search of the Bonnell residence. The following day, they searched Shana Cloud’s vehicle, rental property, and cell phone. Relevant evidence was gathered and later transported back to Cumberland County for further investigation, the post stated.
According to the post, “During the month of February, multiple search warrants were obtained and executed for digital data, including, but not limited to, cell phone records, video footage, digital devices, etc. The data collected was analyzed and used to develop a timeline of events, not only surrounding Bonnell’s disappearance but his whereabouts prior to his disappearance.”
Then, on February 25, a lead came in: human remains were found in a body of water at 4321 Gainey Road in Cumberland County. The remains, according to NBC affiliate WRAL, were discovered without legs or arms.
On March 28, the remains were identified as those of Clinton Bonnell. That same day, it was announced that his wife, Shana Cloud, had been charged with his murder. Cloud was arrested at her residence and charged with first-degree murder and concealment of death. According to Cumberland County court records, at her first court appearance on March 31, Cloud waived counsel and was denied bond. She is currently being held at the Cumberland County Detention Center.
Following the news of Clinton’s remains being identified, the ‘Justice for Clinton Bonnell’ Facebook page, run by his sister, Stefanie, posted a heartfelt message: “Clint was an incredible human who sacrificed so much for others and dedicated his life to the betterment of this world. To be taken from us prematurely at the hands of evil will never be understood,” the post stated. “All we can do now is pray for swift and just punishment.”