US postal worker kidnapped and killed in rural North Carolina, state agents say

A U.S. postal worker was kidnapped and killed while delivering mail to homes in rural North Carolina, according to the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation.

It happened Friday in rural Wilkes County, and a suspect has been arrested, officials said.

“At approximately 4:16 p.m., the Wilkes County Sheriff’s Office responded to a request for law enforcement assistance at 304 Monteith Acres (in) Hays, North Carolina. Upon arrival, deputies discovered United States Postal Service employee, Brandi Reynolds, deceased at the scene,” the SBI said in a June 27 news release.

William Craig Durham, 56, was arrested and has been charged with first degree murder and first degree kidnapping, according to an arrest warrant.

He is accused of restraining Reynolds and “removing the victim from one place to another without the consent of the victim,” the warrant reports.

The confrontation occurred after “a U.S. Postal Service vehicle was involved” in an incident with another driver, The Wilkes Record says. “The initial reports indicated that a man in a gray Nissan Altima had fired a shot and was threatening a woman with a firearm,” the news site said.

Durham is unemployed and lives in Roaring River, about 9 miles southeast from where the shooting occurred, officials said.

Hays is about a 90-mile drive northwest from uptown Charlotte.