‘There was nowhere for her to go;’ Cynthia Hansen friend revisits site of deadly assault
WHITEVILLE, NC (WWAY-TV) — Whiteville police are continuing to search for the suspect who murdered local business owner Cynthia Hansen. WWAY went inside the business on Thursday where the deadly assault occurred in March.
The deadly assault happened Mar. 11 inside Hansen’s Stronger Body Fitness.
Wendy Case, a close friend of Hansen, returned to the gym where the two used to work out together.
“I miss it, I miss her, I haven’t even worked out since her,” Case said.
Case said being back inside the gym brings a sense of connection, even as the grief remains.
“When I come in I feel like she’s with me, I feel like, I don’t know, I feel like I can feel her, her presence because she lived and breathed this gym,” she said.
Case also described the room where the attack occurred, saying Hansen would often rest there.
“She was cornered in here, there is no where for her to go, once this person got her in this room, there was nothing that she could do,” Case said.
Authorities say she was attacked with a “weapon of opportunity,” meaning the object used was found inside the business.
Before her death, Hansen told authorities the suspect’s first name was Daniel, according to police.
During a Thursday press conference, Whiteville Police Chief Paul Rockenbach shared a surveillance image of the suspect, described as a man seen walking with a limp. Investigators say the suspect left the scene on foot, heading south on North Thompson Street.
“Now more than ever there is an opportunity to come forward,” Rockenbach said.
The gym has since been cleaned including blood-soaked floors, but Case said the emotional impact lingers.
“While this stuff is getting back to normal, I don’t know that I will ever be normal nor do I think her family, her husband Joe will ever recover from this,” she said.
Police say the reward for information leading to an arrest has increased to $27,000. Investigators are asking anyone with information to come forward.
