On the evening of the 22nd of December, 1981, Bobby and Judy Hinson of Valdese, North Carolina, kissed their 19-year-old daughter, Rhonda Annette Hinson, goodbye as she left their home to attend an office party at the American Legion Hall. “She looked the most beautiful I had ever seen her on that night,” recalled her mother, Judy. Unbeknownst to them, this was the last time they would ever see their daughter alive.

Several hours later, Rhonda’s lifeless body would be discovered less than a mile from her family home. Her body was found in a ditch beside her beige Datsun 210. A high-powered bullet had passed through the rear of her car and struck in her the back, killing her. Rhonda’s last steps were retraced in an attempt to turn up some clues as to who could have committed such an act on Rhonda, who was said to have absolutely no enemies.

After leaving her family home, she drove to a female friend’s house. Leaving her car there, the two friends then drove together in another car to the party at the American Legion Hall. “She was torn about whether to go to the party, but never told us why,” Judy recalled. “Her boyfriend, who was in college at home at the time, didn’t want her to go.” Rhonda had intended on staying overnight at her friend’s home that night but changed her mind for reasons that still remain unknown today. At around midnight, she left her friend’s home and headed towards her own house.

Rhonda was extremely close to her own home when she was shot through her car. The bullet pierced her heart and lung. Her body was found in a ditch beside her car. The pathologist determined that due to her injury, it would have been impossible for her to open the door and exit the car herself. So how did she end up in the ditch and who fired the shot that killed her? The focus has always been on two theories: Was she targeted by somebody she knew or was she the victim of a random - or accidental - shooting? Judy thinks she was targeted while her father believes she was shot accidentally by people messing around with a gun.

As of today, Rhonda’s murder still remains unsolved.