On a cold January morning in 1998, five-year-old Brittany Locklear was outside her Hoke County home. She was waiting for the school bus, but never made it to school. Nearly three decades later, her family still waits for the phone call that could solve her murder case.
January 7, 2026, marked 28 years since Brittany was kidnapped from the end of her driveway on Gainey Road, southwest of Raeford, North Carolina. Her body was found the next day in a drainage ditch three miles from home.
Brittany would have turned 34 this year.
Brittany’s younger sister, Brianna Chavis, was 18 months old when Brittany was murdered. While her memories are faint, she told CBS 17 that she remembers standing at the front door, having just learned how to walk. She was waiting for her sister to come inside.
Brittany Locklear was murdered on 07 Jan. 98’ in Wagram NC. Her murder remains unsolved, someone knows something that could help solve this case. #onetip #brittanylocklear @JamesRenner pic.twitter.com/pB7BDPNSxL
— Luciana (@vegananthro_) January 7, 2024
Speaking about the murder, Chavis said,
“I fight demons every day because it’s not fair. She passed, and it left me as the only child, and it’s rough.”
The entire community hasn’t forgotten what happened on January 7, 1998. When she went missing, Brittany was less than 500 feet from her house, so within sight of her home. Her mother, Connie Locklear Chavis, had gone inside to use the bathroom. But when she returned, her daughter was gone.
Neighbors said that they saw a truck slam on its brakes near the bus stop. They also say they saw a man jump out, grab Brittany, and drive off. By the time her mother reached the school to check if Brittany was there, administrators confirmed she never made it to class. Then the police started receiving calls about the murder.
Hundreds of people searched for Brittany, and then her clothes were found on a dirt road just two miles away. The next afternoon, her body was discovered in a drainage ditch. The autopsy revealed that she drowned after being left there, and may have been sexually assaulted.
In 2006, then-Hoke County Sheriff Jim Davis claimed the investigation had been “intentionally misdirected.” He also said there was corruption and interference and asked for help from the U.S. Justice Department. Brittany’s mother, on the other hand, accused Davis of politicizing her daughter’s murder during election cycles. However, former Sheriff Wayne Byrd said he hadn’t mishandled the case.
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Till now, no arrests have been made. Investigators have questioned registered sex offenders within a 50-mile radius and chased numerous leads. One of the leads was a Fort Bragg firefighter whose DNA was later cleared. In 2015, the Hoke County Sheriff’s Office announced investigators had enough DNA to create a generic profile of Brittany’s killer. Still, no match.
Captain Daniel Shipp of the Hoke County Sheriff’s Office now says the case is active and still offers a $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. Tips still come in, and every piece of evidence is re-examined. “Our end goal is still to make the phone call to the family and let them know we completed our job and provided them closure,” Shipp said.
Chavis said: “Before I die, I want [my sister’s murder] solved.”
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