‘He disappeared off the face of the earth,’ Search continues for missing man in Pender County

PENDERLEA, N.C. (WECT) An investigation is still underway into the disappearance of Robert Bonham.

The 55-year-old was reported missing nearly five months ago, after he was last seen in Wallace on June 29.

Deputies in Pender and Duplin counties are both on the case because he was last seen at House of Raeford, but his car was found in the Penderlea area two weeks after the search began. Investigators scoured the area after finding the car, but never found any sign of Bonham.

Investigators are unsure whether Robert is still alive or if someone played a part in his disappearance.

Robert’s father has been walking through fields and wooded areas near where his car was found, looking for his son. When Bonham went missing, the corn stalks were growing tall and green. Over the past few months, they’ve since been harvested and mowed down, revealing miles of flat terrain.

“It’s on your mind at night and day I mean it comes to your mind every time you lie down and when you wake up but it hits your mind and it’s just not a good feeling,” said father Bob Bonham. “We just don’t know. It’s just like I say…he just disappeared off the face of the earth.”

Family says Robert was funny, loved the outdoors and had never failed to contact them before.

“I still have my hopes my son is living because I don’t want to think of him as being dead. but if he is, I want to know that too. The not knowing is eating away at us,” said Robert’s mother, Sarah Bonham. “He is our son, he’s our child, he’s a grown man, but he’s our child and it’s a nightmare.”

“It’s going on five months now and every day it’s gonna be a little bit harder to get information to find out where Robert is, what’s going on. Did someone hurt him? Did someone kill him? If so, the family needs to know. There needs to be some kind of closure,” said family friend Dianne Crews.

The family is pleading for anyone with any information at all to come forward. Anyone with information on his disappearance is asked to call deputies in Pender or Duplin counties.

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