Raleigh Police Seek Clues In Weekend Murder Mystery

All they have are a body, a car and no suspects. So detectives are turning to the public for information.

Investigators said Shaudria Barfield was shot. She was found dead inside her car at 7 a.m. Saturday. That is about all they know for sure, and detectives hope someone can answer some of the many questions in this case.

Barfield last was seen alive at 11:30 p.m. Friday. That is when a neighbor said he saw her leave her apartment and get in her black 2002 Mitsubishi Galante.

It's critical that if somebody saw something, saw her, saw her vehicle, anything like that, that would benefit us immensely," said Capt. Ken Mathias, of the Raleigh Police Department.

Detectives do not know what happened after Barfield left her apartment. What they know is what a witness reported.

A jogger found Barfield slumped over her steering wheel in the parking lot of a credit union just off Falls of Neuse Road. Detectives said her car still was running. The windows were down, and the lights were on.

Two of Barfield's neighbors said detectives searched her apartment and questioned several people in the complex. They said Barfield had a troubled relationship with her boyfriend.

A police spokesman said they are not naming any suspects.

"Doors are open," Mathias said. "We are conducting background investigations on anybody and everybody who may have had knowledge of her."

Mathias is not ruling out anyone, or anything. That is why he's asking potential witnesses to come forward, even with information that may seem insignificant.

"It's a big puzzle," he said. "If we get a little piece here, a piece there, and a piece over there, and put them together, we'll be able to better determine what happened and who's responsible."