Justice for Donna Barnhardt, Concord NC

Video crews from American's Most Wanted visited Concord today and filmed interviews with police and Sun Drop personnel, plus they staged re-enactment videos on the actual site of the murders.  The footage taken today will be taken back and edited and is slated for broadcast on AMW's Saturday May 23, 2009 show on Fox TV channels nationwide (9M, 8PM/central).

The families of Donna Barnhardt and Darrell Noles would like to express our sincere appreciation to John Walsh and the AMW production teams who visited Concord today and covered this tragedy with great care, sincerety and dedication.  We know what it must have been like for families to seek justice before there was an America's Most Wanted program, and believe that this show has single-handedly given many hundreds of families hope for justice who might never have felt that anybody out there really cared.

As for us, we know that many people out there still care, and that the police, the local media, govenment leaders, community members, and employees of the Sun Drop facility have remained steadfast in their support of the efforts to find the killer who so tragically took our loved ones from us.  We hope that the upcoming profile on AMW will broaden the reach of law enforcement and help bring the killer to justice.

Several local news crews joined America's Most Wanted and you can view their stories by clicking on their links below, or by visiting the links in the sidebar to the right.

Also: WCNC News

Below are photos that were snapped of the America's Most Wanted crew working with witnesses, the police, and members of the community filming the re-enactment.  Click on a photo above to enlarge it or view as a slide show.

North Carolina Governor Mike Easley announced today that the state is increasing the reward fund by $10,000 for the capture and conviction of the killer of Donna Barnhardt and Darrell Noles.

In a press release, Easley said he was issuing the reward "to preserve law and order the person or persons who committed such an infamous crime must be brought to justice."

The Governor's contribution comes just a few days after police publicly released a sketch of a "person of interest" in the case.

The total reward offered from a number of different sources is now up to $85,000, the largest reward fund in North Carolina.

Today, information about the Sundrop Murders was posted as the TOP STORY on the America's Most Wanted website (www.amw.com).   With the help of John Walsh's team, we are now hoping to reach out to a nationwide audience to help us find the murderer who is still on the run.

To view the complete AMW online case profile, click on the image to the left.

Today, the police released a sketch of a "person of interest" in the murders of Donna Barnhardt and Darrell Noles on June 13th. The person pictured to the right was seen at the Sun Drop facility at around 9:00 am before the front door was unlocked.  When he realized the door was locked, he left.  He matches the description of the person seen fleeing the scene immediately following the murders.  He may be the person responsible for the murders or he may have information valuable to the investigation. The person pictured is described as:

• Race: Black Male
• Height: 5'7" to 5'9"
• Weight: 160-170 lbs, Slender Build
  
• Hair: Black
• Eyes: Dark
• Age: 24-27 years old
  
• Complexion: Medium Brown

At the same time, we have increased the reward to $75,000. If you have any information, please call the Concord police crime tip line at 704-920-5801, or you can visit www.ci.concord.nc.us and give an anonymous tip.

Attention Members of the Media: Click on the sketch to download a high resolution version.

A multi-page article in this morning's Concord Standard, a local weekly newspaper, featured an article dedicated to the lives and memories of the victims of the Sun-Drop murders. We cannot thank the writer, Beth Feeback, enough for her sensitive and thorough effort to summarize Donna and Darrell in this beautiful tribute to their lives.

Below are a few of the highlights about Donna from the article:

• She grew up near Hollywood, and babysat the children of celebrities like Bob Hope and Jim Backus (Thurston Howell the Third on Gilligan’s Island’). She went to church with Red Skelton, and met John F. Kennedy before he was president.
• While in high school, she won a Teen Angel Pageant, and Tony Dow (Wally from “Leave it to Beaver”) crowned her and kissed her, and he later showed up at a pool party at Donna’s house.
• After high school, she answered the call of “Join the Navy; see the world,” where she graduated at the top of class in radioman school.
• The family would travel for weeks at a time exploring the country during the summers, and Donna would talk on the CB radio, known by truckers as "Carolina Chuck" or "Silver Bullet."
• Donna loved going to Dollywood, and the family went every Halloween to the “Ghost Town at Tweetsie” events.
• Donna snapped pictures of everything, had as many as 50 photo albums, plus two big crates full of thousands and thousands of loose pictures.
• All three of Donna's children live close together because she wanted to give her children roots in one place, unlike her upbringing as the daughter of a Marine.
• She regularly gave to CVAN, Paralyzed Veterans, St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, and others, and she always adopted families at Christmas.
• Donna’s e-mail signature phrase, with a bright yellow smiley face, was “Don’t cry because it’s over. SMILE because it happened.”
• Donna had just marked her 18-year anniversary with Sun Drop the day before her death.

UPDATE: This award has been increased twice since orginally offered, and is now $85,000.

As of June 24th, A $50,000 reward fund has now been established to assist police with the arrest and conviction of the killer or killers of Donna Barnhardt and Darrell Noles. This fund was put together by members the beverage industry, members of the business community, plus a group of other concerned citizens and family.

The police said that this is the largest reward fund that anybody recalls in Concord, which goes to the urgency that our community feels about having a killer on the loose among us.

If you have any information, please call the Concord police crime tip line at 704-920-5801, or you can visit www.ci.concord.nc.us and give an anonymous tip.

Nearly a hundred members of the local community joined the families of Donna Barnhardt and Darrell Noles for a prayer vigil last night outside the Sun Drop bottling plant where they lost their lives last Friday. For many, this was a very emotional night, and hopefully a time for healing. Pastor Donnie Tomlin of Wil-Mar Park Baptist Church lead the hour-long cermony which included songs, a Bible reading, prayer and a balloon release orchestrated by the Mothers of Murdered Offspring.

The Barnhardt family would like to thank all of those who attended Donna's funeral services in Concord. Your warm wishes and comforting thoughts and prayers have truly touched our hearts. We were especially grateful to meet so many in the local Concord community and from the Sun Drop business family who have befriended and worked with Donna for many years.

This Friday, there will be a prayer vigil held at the Sun Drop plant at 6:00 PM. Everyone is invited to attend. The Sun Drop Bottling facility is located at 360 Old Salisbury Concord Rd, Concord, NC 28025 (click for map).

A portion of the Speed's ticket proceeds from its June 21 game will be given to families. The next home game June 21 is against the Florence Phantoms at 7 p.m. at the Cabarrus County Arena and Events Center. For ticket information, please call 704-786-0280 or visit www.carolinaspeedprofootball.com.

The Barnhardt family is planning a memorial service this Wednesday, June 18th in Concord, North Carolina. Visitation will be on Tuesday June 17th from 5:00 to 8:00 PM at Wilkinson's Funeral Home in Concord, NC. Memorial services will be held at Wilmar Baptist Church in Concord, NC on Wednesday June 18th at 2:00 PM.

Donna Klinesmith Barnhardt is survived by three children and five grandchildren, all whom live in the area. Our family will always remember her as our loving and kind Mom and "Nana", the one who kept the family together with her infectious smile.

Most tragically, Donna's loss will be felt by her grandchildren, whom she doted over every chance she could. On the day she died, she was scheduled to take two granddaughters to their dance recital.

Click on the links below for maps to services:

• Tue 6/17 - Visitation at Wilkinson's Funeral Home - 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM

• Wed 6/18 - Memorial Service at Wilmar Baptist Church - 2:00 PM

If you are out of the area or would like to publicly offer condolences to the family or tell us of your experiences with Donna, please feel free to add your thoughts to our online guest book.

We can't express strongly enough our gratefulness for the condolences we have received and remembrances that have been shared in the past week since all of our worlds were shaken. I know that some of Donna's friends, neighbors and co-workers have had to answer questions from the media, and we appreciate the many kind words that you have expressed about Donna and our family.

On that fateful Friday, Donna was taken from us just two hours before she was to leave work for a two-week vacation to Myrtle Beach with her grandkids. Therefore, as we remember her, we see here through the eyes of the grandchildren that adore her and miss her so terribly.

(click on a photo above to enlarge it)

Our family faced a terrible tragedy on Friday June 13th, 2008 when we were informed that our beloved mother and grandmother, Donna Klinesmith Barnhardt, was brutally shot at work in the late morning, apparently by someone who attempted to burlarize the Sun Drop bottling company where she has worked as a secretary for more than 18 years.

By noon, news and police helicopters were flying in search of the gunman who had apparently run off into the woods after killing Donna Barnhardt and Darrell Noles who was in the office to apply for a job.

With her killer still at large, and with so many people offering to help or asking for information, the Barnhardt family has decided to create this website to assist and support the police and the judicial system in bringing her killer to justice.

Below is a description of a man seen leaving the scene with what some people have reported may have been a cash box:

• Black male with dark skin
• Approximately 5 foot 3 inches tall
• Dread locks
• White shirt and blue jeans

If you have any information, please call the Concord police crime tip line at 704-920-5801, or Cabarrus Area Crime Stoppers at 704-932-7463.

You can also go to www.ci.concord.nc.us and give an anonymous tip.