SK Active in Lumberton NC

[centinel]

I have long suspected a serial killer operating in the Lumberton area since the deaths of three Lumbee tribe women in 2017. You all might be familiar with the names:

Christina "Kristin" Bennett found 4/18/2017

Rhonda Jones found 4/18/2017

Megan Oxendine found 6/3/2017
Jones' body was found in a trash can outside a house on East 5th Street and Bennett's body was found on Peachtree Street. Then on June 3, 2017, Megan Oxendine was found dead outside a house on East 8th Street. Oxendine had been interviewed by the local news about the deaths of Bennett and Jones previously, leading family members to believe someone was trying to silence her. Presently, all causes of death have been listed as "undetermined", but it doesn't take a genius to see that these three women were murdered under similar circumstances.

Two years later, police still stumped by deaths of 3 women | Robesonian

LUMBERTON — Two years after Lumberton police found the badly decomposed bodies of two women, they continue to look for clues to what happened to them. The bodies of Christina Bennett…

www.robesonian.com

41 year old Cynthia Jacobs went missing from the area in 5/2017

I also believe the case of Abby Patterson who went missing 9/5/2017 to be related. The FBI picked up that case.

https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/kidnap/abby-lynn-patterson

Hania Aguilar, 13, was abducted and murdered from Lumberton in 11/2018, but in this case there was a conviction of Michael McLellan after an FBI investigation

Katina Locklear's body was found in nearby Pembroke in 12/2018 but I suspect this is unrelated. She is older than the other girls at 54, and it was revealed she was gang raped and stabbed multiple times.

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/crime/article233297417.html

There were two arrested for this murder, John Edward Jacobs and Daniel Damien Brooks and according to the news they were awaiting trial, but a search of the public database in NCDPS shows neither man is an active inmate.

So, now we see some more recent activity in the area.

Tara Lynn Barton's body was found 1/2/2024 in a car repair lot in the 400 block of Chippewa St

Megan Locklear went missing from Lumberton 1/19/2024 and her body was found In a used car lot on 404 S Chippewa St in 4/2023

Khelia Lunette Oxendine, 37, is also now missing

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wbtw.com/news/state-regional-news/lumberton/lumberton-police-search-for-missing-37-year-old-woman/amp/

I think the SK had a "cooling off period" after Bennett, Jones, Oxendine, Patterson (?) and Barton, Locklear, and Oxendine 2 are new victims.

5th, 8th, 9th, Peachtree, and Chippewa are all extremely close, walking distance of one another. So I think the 2017 cases and the 2024 cases are the same subject. Also of note, Patterson was last seen on 9th St.

"Lumbee" is the Algonquin word for "Dark Water"

 

[I am not Sherlock H.]

Another online The News & Observer article by Josh Shaffer dated June 6, 2023, entitled ‘FBI increases reward for information about 3 NC women killed within blocks of each other’:

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article276119001.html

Of note in that article. A reward by the FBI has been increased in the case. Quoting from that article:

“The FBI has increased the reward for information on three women found slain in Lumberton over a few months in 2017, offering $75,000 and heightening the awareness of violence toward Native Americans.”
MOO

 

[Snoopster]

I have long suspected a serial killer operating in the Lumberton area since the deaths of three Lumbee tribe women in 2017. You all might be familiar with the names:

Christina "Kristin" Bennett found 4/18/2017

Rhonda Jones found 4/18/2017

Megan Oxendine found 6/3/2017
Jones' body was found in a trash can outside a house on East 5th Street and Bennett's body was found on Peachtree Street. Then on June 3, 2017, Megan Oxendine was found dead outside a house on East 8th Street. Oxendine had been interviewed by the local news about the deaths of Bennett and Jones previously, leading family members to believe someone was trying to silence her. Presently, all causes of death have been listed as "undetermined", but it doesn't take a genius to see that these three women were murdered under similar circumstances.

Two years later, police still stumped by deaths of 3 women | Robesonian

LUMBERTON — Two years after Lumberton police found the badly decomposed bodies of two women, they continue to look for clues to what happened to them. The bodies of Christina Bennett…

www.robesonian.com

41 year old Cynthia Jacobs went missing from the area in 5/2017

I also believe the case of Abby Patterson who went missing 9/5/2017 to be related. The FBI picked up that case.

https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/kidnap/abby-lynn-patterson

Hania Aguilar, 13, was abducted and murdered from Lumberton in 11/2018, but in this case there was a conviction of Michael McLellan after an FBI investigation

Katina Locklear's body was found in nearby Pembroke in 12/2018 but I suspect this is unrelated. She is older than the other girls at 54, and it was revealed she was gang raped and stabbed multiple times.

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/crime/article233297417.html

There were two arrested for this murder, John Edward Jacobs and Daniel Damien Brooks and according to the news they were awaiting trial, but a search of the public database in NCDPS shows neither man is an active inmate.

So, now we see some more recent activity in the area.

Tara Lynn Barton's body was found 1/2/2024 in a car repair lot in the 400 block of Chippewa St

Megan Locklear went missing from Lumberton 1/19/2024 and her body was found In a used car lot on 404 S Chippewa St in 4/2023

Khelia Lunette Oxendine, 37, is also now missing

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wbtw.com/news/state-regional-news/lumberton/lumberton-police-search-for-missing-37-year-old-woman/amp/

I think the SK had a "cooling off period after Bennett, Jones, Oxendine, Patterson (?) and Barton, Locklear, and Oxendine 2 are new victims.

Welcome to Websleuths @centinel

And thank you for providing a thoughtful (but sad) list of potential victims.

Here are some links to support some of the cases you mentioned.

Tara Lynn Barton: 50 years old.
Death investigation underway in Lumberton Last seen the day before she was found. Medical examiner to determine cause of death. (I don't see an update on this case so I'm not sure what the ME found and whether or not foul play is suspected.)

Megan Locklear: Last seen ~Jan 19/24. reported missing Feb 8/24. Body found Apr 7/24.
Body found in vehicle identified as missing Lumberton woman
Found Deceased - NC - Megan Nicole Locklear, 26, Lumberton, 19 Jan 2023
The latest post on the WS thread for Megan's case has a link where LE says she looks like she just fell asleep in the car and never woke up. (I wonder if they ever considered this case foul play or what the ME report came back with.)

Khelia Lunette Oxendine: Robeson County SO reported her found safe. Reported missing in April 2024. Since found safe.
(Sorry, I saw the update notice from Robeson County Sheriff's Office FB page in early May, but can't get the link to reconnect right now. )

So these last few cases from this year aren't (or don't appear to be) foul play. There has been no follow up request for assistance or announcement that the cases are foul play and the investigation is continuing. Of course we've seen some cases before where they appeared accidental or self-harm but turned out to be foul play so I don't intend to write them completely off.

 

[centinel]

Welcome to Websleuths @centinel

And thank you for providing a thoughtful (but sad) list of potential victims.

Here are some links to support some of the cases you mentioned.

Tara Lynn Barton: 50 years old.
Death investigation underway in Lumberton Last seen the day before she was found. Medical examiner to determine cause of death. (I don't see an update on this case so I'm not sure what the ME found and whether or not foul play is suspected.)

Megan Locklear: Last seen ~Jan 19/24. reported missing Feb 8/24. Body found Apr 7/24.
Body found in vehicle identified as missing Lumberton woman
Found Deceased - NC - Megan Nicole Locklear, 26, Lumberton, 19 Jan 2023
The latest post on the WS thread for Megan's case has a link where LE says she looks like she just fell asleep in the car and never woke up. (I wonder if they ever considered this case foul play or what the ME report came back with.)

Khelia Lunette Oxendine: Robeson County SO reported her found safe. Reported missing in April 2024. Since found safe.
(Sorry, I saw the update notice from Robeson County Sheriff's Office FB page in early May, but can't get the link to reconnect right now. )

So these last few cases from this year aren't (or don't appear to be) foul play. There has been no follow up request for assistance or announcement that the cases are foul play and the investigation is continuing. Of course we've seen some cases before where they appeared accidental or self-harm but turned out to be foul play so I don't intend to write them completely off.

Thank you for filling in some of the gaps.

 

[HopeRains]

Robeson County (home to Lumberton and other) has some of the highest crime statistics in the state, and for several recent years, and perhaps even now, the highest. There are 100 counties in the state of NC. Robeson County borders SC with I-95 (major drug and other associated criminal activities) running directly through the middle of the county (South/North). Lumberton is a 20 mile drive to SC and a 35 mile drive North to Fayetteville (in Cumberland County and also home to Ft Bragg/Ft Liberty and the more than 50K soldiers).

Given all of that and known cases in the Lumberton area (primarily drug related with associated drug crimes - ie property crimes, prostitution, etc) and the ease of mobility up/down the I-95 corridor, and a transient population with soldiers assigned to Ft Bragg/Ft Liberty, it most definitely is possible there is/has been a SK in the area, and most definitely people who have been potentially caught up in the drug world and thus victimized. Right now, there are 19 active missing person cases on Namus out of Robeson County - those are the ones we know about - there are most likely many more.

Map below: