Bones identified as long missing victim in 2021 homicide case, NC detectives say

Scattered bones found in eastern North Carolina have been identified as the long missing victim in a 2021 homicide case, according to the detectives.

Brandon Carl Wayne McDonald vanished after leaving his home in the Clarkton area of Bladen County, the Scotland County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

His remains were discovered this month at an undisclosed location.

“During the two-day search, several items of evidentiary value were located, examined and collected for further forensic testing. Several items of that included human bone remains,” lead Investigator Lt. Earl Haywood reported in a news release.

“During the medical testing of the human bone remains, it was discovered that the remains were that of Brandon Carl Wayne McDonald.”

Arrest warrants report McDonald was killed “with malice and aforethought” by three people who tried to conceal his death by dismembering and disposing of the body.

A motive has not been revealed.

The suspects have been identified as Michael Anthony Bethea Jr., 32; LaKeithan JuJuan Tyson, 25, and Shelena Lynn Clark, 37, the sheriff’s office said. They were arrested in 2024 and charged with first degree murder, felony conspiracy to commit murder and concealment of a death, officials say.

Investigators have not said how the suspects were linked to the case, but they were identified with the help of N.C. State Bureau of Investigations Special Agents C. Tyner, M. Tart and L. Bennett, officials said.

The Charley Project reports 35-year-old McDonald left home at 3 a.m. on March 25, 2021, then called his father just after 7 a.m. “and they were supposed to meet at home within an hour.”

“McDonald never arrived,” the site reports. “His black 2003 Ford F-150 pickup truck was found wrecked and abandoned in Hope Mills, North Carolina.”

Clarkton, where McDonald lived, is about a 110-mile drive south from Raleigh.

This story was originally published November 28, 2025 at 12:25 PM.