Bonnie Jenks was born in Oxford, Mississippi, on December 12, 1968. Her parents were model citizens in Oxford. They owned Jenks Clothing, a successful clothing store on the Oxford Square, and her father served on the board of aldermen for many years. Bonnie has one sister, Annelle, who lives in New Hampshire.

After graduating from Oxford High School in 1986, Bonnie married her high school sweetheart, Rodney Smalls. The two enjoyed a free-spirited marriage for a year and a half until Smalls experienced a "spiritual calling" and abandoned his marriage for an excursion to India. The two have never spoken again.

In 1986, while attending Ole Miss, Bonnie met Bart Daniels, a hard-working law student from Jackson. The two quickly fell in love and were married in the spring of 1990. Their first daughter, Laurie, was born in 1994. The following year, a second daughter, Melanie, was born.

As her daughters grew up, Bonnie Daniels stayed home to care for them and became increasingly active in local social clubs and fund-raisers. Most notably, she headed the University Confederate Grays Society and the regional committee of the Mississippi Arts Commission. She helped organize the Oxford Homes and Gardens Club and the local chapter of the Episcopal Men's and Women's Club.

Bonnie's mother died in 1999, and in 2002, her father passed away, leaving Jenks Clothing to both daughters. They sold the store and split the proceeds.

Things became tough for Bonnie when her younger daughter Melanie left home in 2012. The same year, her husband was diagnosed with lung cancer. In 2013, Laurie left home as well.

After seven years on the road, Laurie was found murdered in Oxford. Bonnie had only spoken to her daughter once in the seven years since Laurie left home, and she has yet to hear from Melanie since she left town.