A postal employee and mom of two was murdered on the job in rural North Carolina — leaving her youngsters orphaned simply months after her husband died in a automotive crash.
United States Postal Service worker Brandi Reynolds was working her route on Friday in Hays — about 160 miles west of Raleigh — when she was allegedly kidnapped and shot useless by William Craig Durham, in accordance with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.
Officers mentioned the Wilkes County Sheriff’s Workplace responded to the scene round 4:16 p.m. after receiving a name for regulation enforcement help when a witness noticed an armed man in a grey Nissan Altima threatening Reynolds, adopted by “a number of gunshots,” the Wilkes Document reported.
Reynolds was discovered useless when deputies arrived on the scene, officers mentioned.
Durham, 56, was taken into custody in reference to the homicide and is accused of “eradicating the sufferer from one place to a different with out the consent of the sufferer,” in accordance with a warrant obtained by the Charlotte Observer.
Police additionally mentioned Reynolds was restrained earlier than she was killed, in accordance with the warrant.
Durham has been charged with first-degree homicide and first-degree kidnapping and was booked into the Wilkes County Jail.
Durham appeared earlier than a decide on Monday, the place a member of the family of Reynolds advised the courtroom he had allegedly threatened her and damaged into her residence up to now, Fox 8 reported.
The member of the family additionally requested the decide to disclaim Durham’s bond, citing concern for Reynolds’ two daughters — a request the decide granted.
Reynolds and her two daughters had already been suffering from tragedy within the months main as much as her homicide when her husband, Brent, was killed in a single-vehicle crash two days earlier than Christmas.
Investigators mentioned the 35-year-old dad was not sporting his seatbelt whereas driving a 2014 Ram truck in Wilkes County on Dec. 23, 2025, when his truck veered off the highway, struck a tree, and overturned, in accordance with Fox 8.
The North Carolina State Freeway Patrol pronounced him useless on the scene.
Following his dying, the devoted mom had shared pictures of her two daughters on Fb in February, writing that they’re “what makes life value residing” for her.
“The rationale I stand up each morning. Love these infants,” Reynolds wrote.
Residents within the rural North Carolina neighborhood the place Reynolds labored as a mail provider expressed shock over her dying.
“I simply stored saying, ‘No, that’s not my Brandi. That’s not my mail provider,’” Julie Smith, a resident alongside Reynolds’ route, advised ABC 45 Information.
“My coronary heart broke for her household and for her youngsters.”
Smith described the hardworking mother as “outgoing, pleasant, normally by no means missed a beat.”
“We might depend on her. Like I mentioned, punctuality. I feel in the event you ask anyone in the neighborhood, they might most likely inform you an identical factor,” Smith mentioned.
“I all the time appeared ahead to her automobile come up round our driveway, and now I do know that’s not gonna occur.”
Reynolds homicide is being investigated by america Postal Inspection Service, the Wilkes County Sheriff’s Workplace and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.
