A longtime postal worker and mother of two was kidnapped and murdered while delivering mail in North Carolina. Brandi Reynolds left her children orphaned just months after their father died in a car accident in December.
The 35-year-old was found dead following a call for help to authorities in Hays, North Carolina, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation said in a statement, according to NBC News.
“I can confirm that Brandi Reynolds was delivering mail on her route when the incident occurred,” U.S. Postal Inspector Michael Martel said.
William Craig Durham, 56, of the community of Roaring River, was charged with first-degree kidnapping and murder by prosecutors in Wilkes County. He was arrested on the day of the murder, and remained in Wilkes County Jail on Tuesday, according to a third-party inmate information service used by the county.
Reynolds was shot dead on Friday just before 4:16 pm in Hayes, North Carolina, according to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. Durham allegedly restrained Reynolds and removed “the victim from one place to another without the consent of the victim, according to an arrest report obtained by the Charlotte Observer.
A warrant filed in district court claimed that Durham committed kidnapping “by unlawfully restraining the victim, removing the victim from one place to another without the consent of the victim.” It added that Durham carried out the alleged kidnapping “for the purpose of terrorizing” Reynolds and “doing serious bodily injury” to her.
District court Judge Robert J. Crumpton has ordered that Durham remain in custody without bond, citing his “significant criminal record.” According to state prison records, Durham has served time for second-degree kidnapping, assault on a female and possession of a gun by a felon, among other offenses.
An investigation into the murder is being conducted jointly by the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Wilkes County Sheriff’s Office and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.
Who was Brandi Reynolds?
Reynolds was a postal delivery driver for the United States Postal Service. She was employed as a rural mail carrier for the USPS, according to The Wilkes Record. Reynolds’ husband, Brent Reynolds, tragically died in a car accident in December. The couple shared two children.
In a February Facebook post, Reynolds wrote in a caption of a picture with her two children, “The reason I get up every morning. Love these babies. They are what makes life worth living.”
An obituary for Reynolds said she was born May 19, 1991, in Wilkes County to Alvin Boyd and Kathy Castevens Byrd. She was a member of Roaring River Baptist Church, and her daughters, Bayla and Addy, “were her whole world.”
“She is survived by two daughters: Bayla Faith Reynolds and Adalyn “Addy” Hope Reynolds of the home, her mother; Kathy Byrd of Roaring River, two sisters; Tesca Byrd McNeil of Newburn and Jessica Byrd Bauguess (Anthony) of North Wilkesboro and several nieces and nephews,” said the obituary.
