The Murdered
Brittany Lynn Locklear
Hoke County, North Carolina
🕊️ 28 Years Later: Who Knows What Happened to Brittany Lynn Locklear? 🔎⚖️
On the morning of January 7, 1998, five-year-old Brittany Lynn Locklear was getting ready to start her first day back at school after winter break. She stood outside her Hoke County, North Carolina home on Grainey Road, waiting for the school bus with her mother, Connie. Connie had recently given birth and briefly stepped inside to use the restroom. When she returned just moments later, Brittany was gone. At first, Connie believed her daughter had gotten onto the school bus, but Brittany never arrived at school.
A neighbor would make a terrifying 911 call that morning, reporting that a pickup truck had suddenly slammed on its brakes near Brittany. Someone jumped out, grabbed the little girl, and sped away. What followed was a massive search involving hundreds of people desperately looking for Brittany. Within approximately two hours, her clothing was discovered discarded along a nearby dirt road. Sadly, the search ended the following day when Brittany’s body was found in a drainage ditch beside a farm road, approximately three miles from her home.
Brittany was only five years old.
Investigators determined that she had drowned, and she may have also been sexually assaulted. Evidence collected from both the location where Brittany was abducted and the area where her body was recovered was sent to the SBI Laboratory for examination. Investigators interviewed witnesses and sex offenders throughout the area and followed hundreds of leads over the years, but no one has ever been arrested or convicted for Brittany’s murder.
One important focus of the investigation has been the vehicle believed to have been used in her abduction. Investigators believe the suspect was driving a full-size pickup truck, although the color of the vehicle remains unknown. After nearly three decades, that seemingly small detail could still be the key to finally solving this case.
Today, Brittany’s case remains unsolved, but it has never been forgotten. The Hoke County Sheriff’s Office and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation continue working to uncover the truth, revisiting evidence from 1998 as part of the ongoing investigation. The passage of time does not erase what happened to Brittany, and it does not erase the pain her family has carried for decades.
There is currently a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for Brittany’s murder. Someone may remember seeing a pickup truck that morning. Someone may have heard something years ago that didn’t seem important at the time. Someone may have information they once dismissed, or information they have been afraid to share.
Brittany was a little girl who should have had the chance to grow up, go to school, make memories with her family, and experience all the moments life had waiting for her. Instead, her loved ones have spent 28 years living with questions and heartbreak.
Brittany deserves to be remembered. Her family deserves answers. And whoever took her deserves to be held accountable.
If you know anything about Brittany’s abduction or murder, please contact the Hoke County Sheriff’s Office at 910-875-5111, Detective Jessica Tyner at jtyner@hokesheriff.org, or the anonymous tip line at 910-878-1100. You can also contact the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation at 800-334-3000.
Sources:
https://www.cbs17.com/carolina-cold-stories/the-unsolved-murder-of-brittany-locklear
The Lost & The Taken 
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