Rhonda Hinson

A young woman is shot and killed while driving home from a Christmas party
Rhonda Hinson was a funny, happy 19-year-old who, according to her mother, loved everybody and never met a stranger. A recent graduate of East Burke High School in the small town of Valdese, North Carolina, Rhonda was a popular, athletic young woman who played basketball, ran track, and excelled at tennis. Her best friend since the fourth grade, Jill Turner, remembered her as a wholesome and likable person. In the fall of 1981, Rhonda was excited about her first full-time job as a keypunch operator for Hickory Steel Company and had just bought herself a new beige Datsun 210. Her family, including her parents, Judy and Bobby Hinson, and a younger brother, remember her as a ray of sunshine.

On the evening of December 22, 1981, Rhonda attended her company's Christmas party at the American Legion Hut in Hickory. She had been hesitant to go, but a friend from work convinced her. Her mother helped her pick out a new outfit, and her parents watched her drive away, telling her to be careful. That was the last time they saw her alive. Rhonda had planned to stay the night at her friend's house in Hickory to avoid the late drive home. However, her plans changed. After the party, she left around midnight, stopped at her friend's house to pick up her car, and called her boyfriend. She then began the 10-mile drive home to Valdese.

Around 1:00 a.m. on December 23, Rhonda’s mother, Judy, awoke with a terrible feeling that something was wrong, telling her husband she believed their daughter was dead. Her premonition proved tragically true. As Rhonda drove west on Interstate 40 and took the Mineral Springs Mountain Road exit, less than a mile from her home, a single shot was fired from a high-powered rifle. The bullet tore through the trunk of her Datsun, passed through the back seat and the driver's seat, and struck Rhonda in the back, piercing her lung and heart. Her car, still running, rolled backward across the opposite lane and into a ditch.

Rhonda was found lying on her back in the ditch beside the open driver's side door of her car. Her arms appeared to have been deliberately placed at her sides, leading investigators to question if her assailant had pulled her from the vehicle. The Burke County Sheriff's Office launched an investigation that has become the most investigated case in the department's history, spanning more than four decades and involving the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.

The investigation uncovered disturbing clues. Witnesses reported seeing a blue Chevrolet, possibly a '70s model Chevelle with front-end damage, parked near the off-ramp around 12:30 a.m. with two white males inside. Another witness driving by after the shooting saw Rhonda's car and a man standing at her door; assuming it was a couple, the witness drove on. Under hypnosis, this witness described the man as being of medium build, around 5'10" or six feet tall, with dark brown hair. He also recalled seeing a second car, a dark Trans-Am, parked nearby. In the weeks before her death, Rhonda's behavior had changed. She seemed less happy and began asking her father to accompany her on trips. She also asked her mother about the morality of dating a married man, suggesting she was under some personal stress she never explained to her parents.

Over the years, the investigation has been hampered by the mishandling and loss of crucial evidence, including fingerprints and the car's trunk lid, which would have helped determine the bullet's trajectory. No suspects have ever been publicly named, and no arrests have been made. Rhonda's family has never given up hope, hiring private investigators, displaying banners asking "Who Killed Rhonda Hinson?" and keeping her bedroom exactly as she left it. Her funeral was held on Christmas Day, 1981.

As of May 2024, the case remains an active and open investigation. The Burke County Sheriff's Office, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, and Morganton/Burke Crimestoppers have combined their efforts to offer a reward of up to $94,700 for credible information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for Rhonda Hinson's murder. "The Hinson family deserves answers," said Burke County Sheriff Banks Hinceman, "and we believe that someone has information that could lead to the arrest and provide the closure that they deserve." Anyone with information is asked to call the dedicated tip line at 828-764-9549.