Friends, Family To Pay Final Respects To Lee County Preacher's Wife

SANFORD, N.C. — Funeral arrangements are set for a murdered preacher's wife, but authorities have not made any arrests in the case.

Marnita Bynum's funeral is scheduled for 4 p.m. Sunday at the Dennis Wicker Civic Center. Her burial will follow at the Lee Memory Garden.

Officials decided to have the funeral service at the civic center because of the large amount of people expected to attend.

"It's a very difficult decision. Ultimately, we decided to do it because we are here to serve the community," said civic center worker Jim Felton said.

Bynum was found dead inside the trunk of her car Monday along a rural road in Richmond County. Authorities believe she was strangled to death.

Her husband, Melvin Bynum, is pastor of Cry Out Loud Ministry in Sanford. He told church members Sunday that his wife was sick at home with a toothache. Authorities have questioned him, but they have not named him as a suspect.

Authorities are hoping someone spotted Bynum's car in the hours before she was killed. It is a 2003 Chrysler Sebring convertible with plates that say "NJOY GOD."

Investigators hope to make an arrest in the next couple of days. Bynum is survived by her husband and three children.