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UPDATE: APRIL 23,2018: Roger Carroll’s son, Nathan, testified at Carroll’s preliminary hearing this morning that he witnessed his father kill Bonnie Woodward on June 25, 2010, and helped Carroll burn her body. Nathan also testified that Carroll used Heather Woodward as bait to lure Bonnie away from Eunice Smith Nursing Home’s parking lot where she was last seen. Nathan has been given full immunity because he was a juvenile at the time of the murder. Moreover, law enforcement officials believe Roger Carroll forced his son into helping him dispose of the body.
UPDATE: APRIL 12, 2018: Bonnie Woodward’s body has been found in a wooded area in Jersey County, Illinois. Roger Carroll was charged in Jersey County on April 12, 2018, with two counts of first-degree murder and concealment of a homicidal death. He was also charged with kidnapping in neighboring Madison County. He will be tried in Jersey County first.
Carroll is accused of luring Woodward to his property, where he allegedly shot her multiple times with a Stoeger Cougar 9 mm Luger on or about the day she disappeared, then placed her body in a fire and burned it (St. LouisPost-Dispatch)
Bonnie Woodward, 47, a grandmother of five, worked her regular shift at Eunice C. Smith Nursing Home in Alton, Illinois, on June 25, 2010. She had worked there for 27 years.
When her shift ended at 3:00 pm, Bonnie walked out to her red Chevy Avalanche sitting in the nursing home parking lot. She got into her truck and rolled down the windows.
Coworkers saw a man in the parking lot about 30 minutes before Bonnie came out of the building. They described him as Caucasian, in his 40s, with brown hair gray at the temples. He was driving what appeared to be a silver or gray 2000 to 2005 Chevy Malibu and was smoking a cigarette.
According to one coworker, the unidentified male walked over to Bonnie in her truck and began an intense conversation with her.
The coworker saw Bonnie Woodward get into the man’s car with him, and they drove off together. One witness reported seeing a silver or gray Malibu going into Rock Spring Par, across the nursing home.
Bonnie’s truck was left unlocked and abandoned in the nurse parking lot. None of Bonnie’s items, such as a purse or cell phone, were found in the truck. She has not used any of her accounts either.
Bonnie was a mother to two sons, one a special needs child who she was in contact with at all times. It was unlike her to go very long without speaking to him. Bonnie also had a 17-year-old stepdaughter, Heather Woodward. Heather’s father passed away in 2000, and Bonnie adopted Heather and her sibling shortly after.
On June 17, 2010, Heather ran away from home and went to stay with teacher Christine M. Scheffel. Bonnie Woodward called the police when Heather did not return home. Police searched Scheffel’s house but were unable to locate the teenager. Scheffel denied knowing the teen’s whereabouts.
On July 3rd, after Bonnie vanished and on Heather’s 18th birthday, Heather turned herself into the East Alton Public Library and identified herself. She had been staying with Roger and Monica Carroll of Jersey County, who were both in their 40s at the time and friends of Heather and Scheffel.
Scheffel was charged with obstruction of justice and lying to police about Heather’s disappearance. The Carrolls were charged with harboring a runaway.
Police discovered that Roger Carroll, 44, drove a silver Malibu and resembled the man seen with Bonnie in the parking lot.
Carroll was re-arrested for obstructing justice. According to the charge, Carroll gave false information to an Alton detective on July 5 when he claimed to not know about Bonnie’s disappearance.
A search warrant was issued on Carroll’s property, and officers aided by cadaver dogs searched the 40 to 50 acres of land but found no sign of Bonnie. Some evidence was discovered, but no details have been released.
The Illinois State Police Crime Lab determined that latent fingerprints on Bonnie’s truck belonged to Roger Carroll. Regardless, Roger has never been charged with Bonnie’s disappearance.
Despite a massive search for Bonnie, she has not been found. The case remains unsolved five years later.
True Crime Diva’s Thoughts
I don’t know how more OBVIOUS it could be as to who abducted Bonnie. I mean, REALLY? Roger Carroll fit the description of the man speaking with Bonnie. He drove a silver Malibu, AND his fingerprints were on Bonnie’s truck. Yet no arrest was made? Because no body has been found? There have been several cases tried without a body found. Need more evidence? What about Carroll’s car? Was it processed? No mention of that in any reports I read. What about a police lineup with Roger in it and have the coworkers come in to see if that is the man who Bonnie was speaking with on the day she disappeared? I didn’t read anything about whether or not the coworkers identified Roger Carroll as the man speaking to Bonnie. Odd, to say the least.
I realize to have a solid case against Carroll, LE and the prosecution need more evidence than what they have to convince a jury of his guilt. That’s what sucks about cases like this one.
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I think Carroll lured Bonnie into his truck by saying that Heather wanted to speak with her or come home. He then drove her to God knows where, and they’re waiting for her was Heather and Monica Carroll, possibly Scheffel, too. Once Bonnie was in their hands, did they murder her?
Update: April 13, 2018: So far there has been no mention of Heather, Monica, or Christina Scheffel as being accomplices in Bonnie’s murder.
So what was the motive? Well, Heather reported abuse by Bonnie to her school. She also told members of the church she attended, which happens to be the same church the Carrolls attended. The “abuse” is supposedly one reason Heather ran away and stayed at first with the teacher and then later the Carrolls. It is believed that Heather had dated the Carrolls’ son at one time. I did not read anything that confirmed the abuse did, in fact, occur.
Maybe Heather didn’t like having rules in the house and being told when she could come and go. Many teens feel this way at some point, yes, but some actually kill their parents for it. I think that is what happened here.
But, let’s say we buy that bullshit that Heather was abused. How about going to the police? How about just leaving and never going back? Why did Bonnie DISAPPEAR? Coincidence? The two cases NOT related? Of course not. All part of a big plan.
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I wonder if perhaps the Carrolls knew someone in the police department who attended church with them. It makes sense to me because there is a minimal effort on LE’s part to solve this case. To me, this feels like an open and shut case. I feel that LE is holding back for some reason. And I know I’m not the only one who feels this way. People talk. I listen. The rumor mill speaks of incompetent police work and protecting those involved. Nothing would surprise me.
And speaking of people talking…
Forums are great for many things, and sometimes you can find interesting comments there. Like this one, for example:
A neighbor of Roger Carroll Junior told Rocky [sic] Madden yesterday that 2 days after Bonnie went missing, they heard a gun shot out in the woods by their house and thought it to be very strange. Not soon after that, Heather moves locations and goes to stay at Roger Carroll’s house before MYSTERIOUSLY, ya right, turning up at the East Alton-Wood River library ON HER 18TH BIRTHDAY.
Police actually did confirm the gun shot. The neighbor reported it to police. Roche Madden is a broadcast journalist for Fox News in St. Louis. How odd that two days after Roger Carroll was seen talking to a woman who went missing, a gunshot is heard by his house. Makes you wonder what else happened in those two days.
April 13, 2018: So, if the gunshot was heard TWO days after Bonnie’s disappearance, did Roger keep her alive that long? If so, why?
Then there’s this comment:
Do the Police in that area know that Rodger Carrol took his boat on vacation right after that woman disappeared? Further more do they know where he went with it and that he sold it right after he came back? I haven’t heard or seen anything about it but thought since you all were following the story that you might want to check it out. He took his boat to Lake KinKaid in Murphysboro Illinois for a week right after this woman went missing. And when I say right after I mean his vacation was the weekend of June 26th [sic].
If this latter comment is true, then the gunshot heard did not come from Carroll himself because he would have been at the lake. It is possible that whoever shot the gun was not anyone related to this case.
April 13, 2018: Now we know Bonnie’s body was not in the lake.
It would have been effortless for police to confirm whether or not Carroll was at Kinkaid Lake. There would have been records of his stay. If the poster knew he was there right after Bonnie’s disappearance, why didn’t he or she go to the police? Kinkaid Lake is a state fish and wildlife area about 3 hours southeast of Carroll’s home and a perfect dumping ground. The lake itself encompasses 2,750 acres, and the surrounding land makes up over 9,000 acres.
At one time, Carroll and his wife, Monica, lived in Carbondale, IL. Carbondale is only about 14 miles southeast of Kinkaid Lake. That means they were probably very familiar with the entire area. Still, this comment could just be a rumor, albeit a good one. 😉
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I’d like to know why Scheffel wasn’t charged with harboring a runaway in addition to obstruction of justice and lying to police. Did she get special privileges for being an educator? 😉 Actually, if, in fact, Heather told Scheffel about the “abuse,” isn’t Scheffel, as a teacher, MANDATED by law to report the abuse? Instead, Heather went to live with her. WHY? Why didn’t Scheffel call the police?
Scheffel turned herself in on July 4 at around 1:30 p.m., the day after Heather did the same. Scheffel’s lawyer claimed she would have turned herself in earlier, but she was on vacation. So she was out of town? What was the reason for Scheffel to be OUT OF TOWN when Heather turned herself in? Bonnie’s missing. Heather turns herself in. Scheffel goes out of town. Roger Carroll may have gone out of town. Interesting, to say the least. And was Scheffel with the Carrolls at this time? 😉
Heather ran away eight days before Bonnie disappeared. If, in fact, she had nothing to do with Bonnie’s disappearance, why didn’t she come forward when Bonnie went missing? Wouldn’t she have wanted to help in the search? To be there for Bonnie’s family? Why did she wait until her 18th birthday to turn herself in?
And let’s be totally honest here. If you wanted to run away and you lived near a metropolitan area like St. Louis, wouldn’t you have LEFT the town you lived in and headed there? Why would you have stuck around? Most runaways leave and even go out of state. They don’t hide out in the same town they live in. They want out, and they get out. In fact, they want as far away from their home as possible. Not the case here, apparently.
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The Carrolls did not turn themselves in until July 27, 2010, a little over three weeks after Heather. Why did they wait so long? If they had nothing to do with Bonnie’s disappearance, why didn’t they come forward before the 27th?
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The fact that Roger Carroll’s fingerprints were on Bonnie’s truck says to me that he is the one who was seen AT her truck talking with her before she got into his car (DUH!). What other reason could there have been for his fingerprints to be on her truck? From what I have read, Bonnie did not know him.
And speaking of Bonnie’s truck. She left it unlocked with the windows rolled down, which tells me she had every intention of returning to her vehicle. Whoever she got in the car with, she assumed wherever they were going would be brief.
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The Carrolls had a Chevy Malibu, and reports say the car’s year was anywhere from 2000 to 2005. Well, in 2004, the look of the Malibu changed. That should give a more accurate year of the car because the new design made the car seem completely different. From 1997 – 2003, the car stayed basically the same in looks.
Not that the year of the car is a big issue, but it could be. If Carroll drove a 2004 or 2005 Malibu, and the person seen at the nursing home had an earlier model, then there is a SLIGHT chance it wasn’t the Carroll’s Malibu. You can see from the pics above that the two cars look different. The rear of each car is different, too.
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In a June 30, 2010 article, I saw that family members KNEW where Heather was when she “disappeared,” but they refused to give her location. WTF? What family members? I’m assuming on her dad’s side or her biological mom’s, but why would they refuse to say where she was when Bonnie disappeared? Is there anything else they refuse to talk about? Like what happened to Bonnie? Did police question them?
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As stated above, I think Scheffel knows exactly what happened to Bonnie as well. She was friends with the Carrolls and Heather. In fact, Heather is on Scheffel’s Facebook friends list.
I think if Scheffel was willing to hide Heather, then she was probably more than willing to keep a few other secrets, too. The fact that three adults harbored a teen runaway is very strange to me, and that is why I think Heather running away was just part of the whole plan to murder Bonnie. I mean, if she was, in fact, telling the truth about being abused, the adults or Heather should have gone to the police, not partake in a crime. That isn’t NORMAL. Not only that, but why didn’t Heather WAIT until her 18th birthday on July 3, 2010, to MOVE out of the home she shared with Bonnie, instead of running away less than a month before? Legally, she would have been an adult, and the cops could not force her back home, AND she could get completely away from Bonnie and any “abuse” that may have occurred.
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I could not find anything about the outcome of the charges filed against the Carrolls and Scheffel. But I did find out that the trial was postponed numerous times for Roger Carroll. And from what I gather, people were pretty upset about that for obvious reasons and accused LE and others of not wanting to solve this case. I think Roger Carroll is being protected by LE (as in a COVER-UP) for whatever reason. I have no idea what this man does for a living or why he would be protected from prosecution. There is LITTLE info on this case and hardly anything on the Carrolls.
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Is it possible that Heather, Scheffel, and the Carrolls had nothing to do with Bonnie’s disappearance? Yes, of course. But what are the odds of that, considering Roger Carroll fits the description of the man talking to Bonnie at her truck, his fingerprints were on her truck, AND he drives a silver or gray Malibu? Slim to none. I don’t think it’s a coincidence at all. All of their actions after Bonnie disappeared raised suspicion, too.
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I could have gone on and on with this one. Originally, my “thoughts” were super long, so I cut out a lot of what I wanted to say. It pained me to do so, but it was just too long.
I hope there is justice for Bonnie one day. She deserves it and whoever harmed her deserves prison time. at the very least. 😉 April 13, 2018: JUSTICE HAS PREVAILED! RIP, BONNIE!
