Just under two weeks after Ricky Lam was charged with murder in the death and disappearance of a Forsyth County woman, Lexington police have charged him with murder in the disappearance of a Davidson County woman.
The new charges of first degree murder and concealment of a body came on Tuesday and are in relation to the disappearance and assumed death of 31-year-old mother Nancy Bunly, a Lexington resident. Lam, who is 41 and listed as a resident of Salisbury, was in a relationship with and lived with Bunly at the time of her disappearance, according to a release from the Lexington Police Department.
“Detectives quickly began developing evidence and reason to believe that Nancy may have been harmed,” the department wrote in the release.
At the same time as Lam was being charged, Lexington detectives were searching a family member’s home in the 400 block of Shore Acres Drive in Rowan County with the assistance of the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office, the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation and the Cabarrus County bomb squad.
Several members of Lam’s family have also been charged in connection with the disappearance of Bunly:
- Van Ly Lam, 51, was charged with three counts of felony obstruction of justice in December of 2024 and felony accessory after the fact to first degree murder and concealment of a body on Tuesday.
- Viencham Lam, 49, was charged with five counts of felony obstruction of justice in December of 2024 and felony accessory after the fact to first degree murder and concealment of a body on Tuesday.
- Jonathan Lam, 30, was charged with two counts of felony obstruction of justice in December of 2024 and felony accessory after the fact to first degree murder and concealment of a body on Tuesday.
“Despite these initial criminal charges of family members, investigators continued to tirelessly work this investigation with the goal being to hold anyone involved in the disappearance of Nancy accountable, and to help bring some semblance of closure to her family and loved ones,” the department wrote in the release.
All three are being held in the Davidson County Jail under $1 million bonds, according to the release.
Ricky Lam was already in custody in the Guilford County courthouse after being charged with murder in a similar case, the disappearance of 36-year-old Amber Marie Schimmelpfenning, a Winston-Salem resident.
Bunly was reported missing on Sept. 23, 2024, while Schimmelpfenning was reported missing on Sept. 9, 2025.
The Guilford County charges came after the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office responded to the 1200 block of Blackberry Ridge in High Point on Tuesday, Sept. 9, for “suspicious activity,” according to the release. Following multiple interviews and a search of the area, deputies reportedly located a crime scene and collected evidence.
Schimmelpfenning’s remains have since been located, according to the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office. The Lexington Police Department’s release did not indicate that Bunly had been found, but did state that the search on Shore Acres Drive was still ongoing as of 4:45 p.m. on Tuesday.
