Rhonda Hinson was last seen alive at a friend’s house on Dec. 23, 1981. The two had left Hickory Steel’s employee Christmas party, and Hinson left her car at the house when she went to the party.
Investigators say after leaving the friend's residence, Rhonda drove her beige Datsun 210 west on Interstate 40 and exited onto the Mineral Springs Mountain/Highway 350 off-ramp.
She turned right and began traveling up a steep hill toward her home when a high-powered rifle projectile was fired into the vehicle. The bullet entered the Datsun through the trunk and continued through the back seat and driver's side seat, entering Rhonda's back and piercing her lung and heart. Hinson was found lying dead in a ditch beside the open driver's side door of her Datsun that was still running. She was less than a mile from her home. Investigators believe someone pulled her from the car after she died. They do not know if that person was the gunman.
Rhonda Hinson
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