When the girlfriend of a slain Green Beret whose torso was found in a pond weeks after he went missing last spoke to him, she could tell he had a lot on his mind.
Clinton “Clint” Bonnell, 50, allegedly told his girlfriend, Kelli Edwards, that he had met with a divorce attorney to start the process to end his marriage, and that he had even told his wife.
The next day, he was gone.
“The last text was that he was going to bed and ‘good night,’ basically,” Kelli Edwards told ABC News, recalling their last interaction on January 27. “And that was it.”
The “next morning I texted an early morning text and there was no delivery,” she recounted.
Bonnell, who retired last December after 20 years in the military and was studying at Methodist University to become a physician’s assistant, was reported missing on January 28 after both Edwards and the university called for a welfare check when he failed to show up for class.
“I knew that something was wrong because we were [typically] in communication a lot during the day — mostly text messaging because he was in school — and I didn’t hear from him” that day, she said.
A month later, Bonnell’s mutilated body was found in a pond near the Fayetteville, North Carolina home he shared with his estranged wife, Shana Cloud. He had been shot twice in the back, investigators said.
Cloud, 50, was arrested on charges of first-degree murder and concealment of death in Bonnell’s murder on Monday – the same day that DNA testing matched Bonnell’s DNA to dismembered remains.
“It’s a horrific case, and just a terrible condition that the body was found in,” Cumberland County District Attorney Billy West told WTVD. “It was just a torso. It did not have legs or arms or a head when it was found.”
New court documents revealed this week that Bonnell and Cloud had met up at the Fit4Life Health Club on January 27 – the day before he was reported missing — and Cloud confronted him about a note she found that she believed was from a romantic partner. The two then left the gym in separate vehicles, with Cloud reportedly going to a Food Lion.
Bonnell then went to see his girlfriend to give her the news before going to the university for a study session.
“Mr. Bonnell told his girlfriend that he had let the defendant know about the divorce and his plans,” said Cumberland County District Attorney William West. “We believe he was killed the following morning.”
Edwards, who said she met Bonnell when he started taking classes at her yoga studio last year, was devastated by his murder and shocked to learn that his wife was arrested.
“This is a Green Beret who was a patriot, who served our country, who helped his fellow teammates with all their injuries, who deployed, who went all around the world, and he comes home and retires in three weeks and this is what happens? This is not okay,” she said.
From missing to murdered
Before Bonnell met with his wife at their gym on January 27 he talked to an attorney about filing for divorce, according to search warrants obtained by the Fayetteville Observer.
Following the confrontation with his wife later, Bonnell reportedly headed to his study session — but he first stopped to see Edwards around 5 p.m. The visit lasted only about five minutes, according to court records.
At 5:43 p.m. Bonnell’s badge was used to enter Methodist University and his last email was sent through a university IP address at 7:14 p.m.
The last anyone heard from Bonnell was at 7:53 p.m. when he texted Edwards that “he was home and was going to bed.”
When Edwards texted him the next morning, the call didn’t go through.
Later that day, the university called the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office and asked that a welfare check be conducted after he missed classes, according to the warrant.
A second welfare request was made that day, this one at 9:19 p.m., by Edwards, who then also filed a missing persons report.
Deputies reportedly contacted Bonnell’s wife at her home, where his vehicle was parked, the warrant states. She told them she didn’t recall Bonnell being there, according to officials.
On January 29, a search of the couple’s 14-acre property uncovered Bonnell’s bookbag, which was damaged.
“The bookbag and laptop both had damage consistent with being struck by a projectile,” the warrant states. “Metal fragments, consistent with a fragmented projectile, were located inside the bookbag.”
Authorities also searched Cloud’s vehicle, an apartment Cloud was renting in Virginia where she worked as a travel nurse, and their phones. Deputies also seized a .22-caliber pistol from the home.
Torso found in pond
On February 25, the sheriff’s office received a call from a man who reported that he had found a body in a pond about three miles from the family’s property. DNA analysis revealed that the remains were Bonnell’s.
Prosecutors are alleging that Cloud was seen on video near the location where Bonnell’s body was found, WTVD reported.
Cloud was booked into the Cumberland County Detention Center and appeared Monday in court, where she denied the allegations through her attorney. She was not granted bail and remains behind bars.
Bonnell’s family released a statement confirming the devastating news of his death.
“It is with deep sadness that we are posting today to inform you that the remains found on February 25 in Gray’s Creek were those of our beloved Clint. The Bonnell family is beyond devastated,” it stated.
“Clint was an incredible human who sacrificed so much for others and dedicated his life to the betterment of this world. To be taken from us prematurely at the hands of evil will never be understood. All we can do now is pray for swift and just punishment.”
The statement concluded: “Our family will continue to fight for justice in Clint’s name. We appreciate all the support from each of you up to this point and would be honored to have your continued prayers and support throughout the justice process.”
He was a ‘happy human’
Kelli Edwards said she wants people to remember Bonnell as a happy human who had an impact on others.
“He was … just a jovial, happy human, and he was looking forward to the next part of his life, closing a chapter, coming out of the Army after 20 years, being in school. He was looking forward to the next chapter,” Edwards said.
She noticed that his complicated marriage had put a strain on him, but that he was committed to their new relationship while also trying to be there for the daughter he shares with Cloud.
“He didn’t really talk much about his wife in the beginning. I just knew more about his daughter, how much he loved his daughter and all the things that you know she’d brought to his life,” Edwards said.
“After trying to make a marriage work for a long time, he decided it was best to cut cords and move on. And so when I met him, he was already at that stage,” she recounted.
“He was very intelligent, highly intelligent. [He also] really tried to see the best in everybody he was around … which is a great trait to have, and sometimes it can be a flaw.”
Bonnell, who was deployed to Iraq twice, served as special forces medical sergeant from September 2004 to December 2024, retiring at the rank of sergeant first-class, according to Army spokesperson Lt. Col. Ruth Castro.
“Our hearts go out to the Bonnell family, the Special Forces community, and the Methodist University Physician’s Assistant Program during this difficult time,” the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement, adding that no additional details would be released in the case “out of respect” for Bonnell and the integrity of the investigation.
