Questions still linger regarding 1985 death of Marine wife

Editor’s note: This is part an ongoing series looking at unsolved homicides in Onslow County.

A Marine wife who frequented Court Street night clubs in 1985 went missing for a week and was found dead half a mile from the main gate of Camp Johnson.

The body of Bernice Cleo Naughton, 32, was found Feb. 17, 1985, in the woods just off Montford Landing Road.

She was reported missing on Feb. 9, 1985, to the Onslow County Sheriff’s Department by her husband, then-27-year-old Staff Sgt. Kevin Naughton.

She had been dead for 24 hours when she was discovered by a group of Marines jogging down the road. She had no wounds, and her personal possessions were found with the body, according to autopsy reports.

She was fully dressed except for her underwear, which was found a short distance from her body. Grass and leaves were matted to her cloths as if she had rolled around on the ground, according to archived news reports.

Witnesses last saw Naughton at a night club on Court Street, and she was believed to have a large sum of money with her. Only a small amount of cash was found with her body, according to police reports of the time.

Originally the manner of her death was listed as an accident and the cause of death given as hypothermia with intoxication. However in April 1985, the N.C. State Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Naughton’s death a homicide. The medical examiner ruled that if someone assaulted Naughton then left her in the woods to freeze to death, her death would be a homicide.

The temperature dropped as low as 25 degrees Fahrenheit the night Naughton died, according to the National Weather Service.

Naughton, who had three small children, left home in the family car on Feb. 8. The car, a rental, was returned to the dealership a few days later, investigators said.

Someone dropped her driver’s license into the mail, but it is unclear whether authorities ever determined which mailbox was used.

Naughton’s death was probed originally by the Naval Investigative Service in 1985 and again by the agency as a cold case after the agency’s name changed to Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

Crime Stoppers of Onslow County is offering a reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to an arrest or apprehension in Naughton’s death.

Anyone with information can contact Onslow Crime Stoppers at 910-938-3273, the NCIS Carolinas Field Office at 910-451-8071 or the FBI Wilmington Resident Agency at 910-342-2999. Callers do not have to reveal their identities.

Contact Lindell Kay at 910-219-8456. Read his blog at http://onslowcrime.encblogs.com.