Brittany Locklear | 1/7/1998 | MURDERED
Unsolved Homicide
Date: 1/7/1998
City: Raeford
County: Hoke
State: North Carolina
On January 7, 1998, five-year-old Brittany Locklear was abducted while waiting for her school bus in Raeford, North Carolina. Her mother, Connie Locklear, had only turned her back for a moment when an unknown assailant snatched Brittany in broad daylight. Less than 24 hours later, her small body was found in a drainage ditch. She had been brutally assaulted and drowned.
Brittany was a bright and loving child, a member of the Indigenous Lumbee tribe. Her tragic death devastated her community and ignited a desperate search for justice. Despite extensive investigations, her case remains unsolved over 25 years later, leaving a painful wound in the hearts of her loved ones and a haunting reminder of the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and children (MMIW).
The lack of resolution in Brittany’s case underscores the systemic failures that allow so many Indigenous cases to go unanswered. Her family, like so many others, continues to fight for accountability and recognition, ensuring that Brittany’s name is never forgotten.
Brittany Locklear should have grown up surrounded by the love of her family and the support of her community. Instead, her story joins the countless others of Indigenous women and girls taken too soon.
If you have any information about Brittany’s case, please contact the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. Justice for Brittany is justice for all missing and murdered Indigenous women and children.
