The family of Clint Bonnell, a recently retired Green Beret studying at Methodist University who disappeared in early January, is asking the public for help finding any clues that could lead to his whereabouts.
Bonnell was last seen on January 27. Law enforcement authorities in Cumberland County, NC, where he lives, is currently investigating his disappearance, but has not publicly shared any details and has requested that anyone with information potentially leading to finding him contact local police.
Sister Stefanie Firkins told Breitbart News on Tuesday that Bonnell was “literally making life plans – to go through a divorce, to move back to Austin after he finished PA school” – and no indication exists that he in any way voluntarily disappeared. She expressed concern that the case could receive less attention due to his veteran status and resolve that “someone out there knows something” that can help find him.
The family is offering a $25,000 reward for information on the case, backed by a crowdfunding effort organized by Firkins.
Reward poster to find missing NC Green Beret Clint Bonnell
“We as a society have to stop being dismissive to these soilders who have given so much and assuming they’ve just given up on themselves,” Firkins wrote in her description of the GoFundMe project to help find Bonnell. “Clint did not give up on himself! And I’m not giving up on looking for him!”
Bonnell, 50 years old and originally from Austin, Texas – joined the Army after the September 11 attacks and served as a Green Beret medic, last stationed at Fort Bragg. During his time in the military he also served as a spokesman for Gold Star Families. He formally retired at the end of December and had begun a physician assistant (PA) program at Methodist University of Fayetteville, beginning his second semester a month ago. In his short time in the program, he had already been elected class president and was reportedly active in student life.
Bonnell had an exam the day after his disappearance was recorded and left no indication that he had any intent to abruptly abandon his education or his life. The university performed a welfare check after Bonnell failed to show for several days of class; authorities found his car in his home driveway and his belongings save for his mobile phone.
Bonnell lives with his wife Shana Cloud, who did not file a missing persons report and has claimed not to have any information about her husband, according to local reports. She has also not spoken to media.
Sister Firkins described Bonnell in conversation with Breitbart News as a “20-year Green Beret medic who had just newly retired at the end of the year and started PA school in the fall” and was excited about his future – “literally making life plans to go through a divorce, to move back to Austin after he finished PA school – “and he goes home and does not show up to class and the person who was at home with him claims that she never saw him.”
“He’s a veteran who some people think he might have run off and done himself in – or the fact that he’s a Green Beret and these people are 100 percent capable of disappearing whenever they want to and living a whole new life somewhere else – but I can tell you and reassure you that my brother was not either one of those things,” Firkins asserted.
Firkins expressed concern that, as the case involves an accomplished soldier, it may receive less media than cases involving others considered more vulnerable, such as missing young women, and as a result critical information may be lost in the process.
“Whenever Gabby Petito goes missing, Laci Peterson, these women, these moms, there’s an immediate public interest and outcry and desire to go find out where these women are, what has happened to them,” Firkins explained. “I think him being a man and his position of being able to care for himself,” she added, may elicit a different public response.
“I don’t want to hinder the investigation but I do want to draw as much public attention as I can so that the public is starting to ask question and the more pressure I feel like is put on the entire situation somebody may talk,” she added. “I feel like somebody out there knows something, that’s why we’ve offered a $25,000 reward. I think pressure on the investigation will keep it from being pushed to the side or going cold.”
“We cannot just sit there and assume that this guy walked away from his life or did himself in when nothing, nothing points to that. Nothing,” Bonnell’s sister asserted.
The Cumberland County, NC, sheriff’s office published a call for information on social media shortly after his disappearance and is still encouraging anyone who believes to have helpful knowledge to contact them.
“Clint is described as a 50-year-old white male, standing 6 feet tall and weighing 195 pounds,” the sheriff’s office detailed. “He has short brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a plaid button-up shirt, a black hoodie, and brown pants. Mr. Bonnell is a student at Methodist University and is also known to work out at Fit for Life on Owen Drive.”
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