Remains found in North Carolina in 1970s identified as 15-year-old girl

Advanced DNA testing reveals skeletal remains belong to Cindy Marcell Blizzard, who had run away from home

Skeletal remains discovered nearly 50 years ago in North Carolina have been identified as those of a 15-year-old girl who had run away from home.

On 29 December 1977, skeletal remains and clothing were discovered in a wooded area near a tire manufacturing plant in Wilson, a city approximately 40 miles east of Raleigh. After decades of DNA testing, including advances in technology, investigators identified the remains as belonging to Cindy Marcell Blizzard, a 15-year-old girl who had run away from her home in Monkton, Maryland, in the spring of 1977, the North Carolina state bureau of investigation said .

“Her death remains unsolved, investigators are still looking for answers,” the NCSBI said on Tuesday.

When Blizzard’s remains were discovered in 1977, a medical examiner determined they belonged to a white female between approximately 16 and 23 years old who had probably been in the area for six months to two years, according to the NCSBI.

Although the medical examiner’s office classified the manner of death as undetermined, circumstances surrounding the location and recovery of the remains raised the possibility of foul play, the NCSBI said, adding that investigators were treating the case as a homicide.

Following the discovery of the remains, investigators compared dental records with missing persons cases but were unable to find a match. The case eventually went cold due to limitations in forensic technology.

In 2010, a state anthropologist reopened the case and submitted the victim’s teeth for DNA testing but no positive match was found.

Fourteen years later, the NCSBI’s cold case investigative team, led by special investigator Andy Murr, reviewed the case again, this time using more advanced forensic tools.

Working with the medical examiner’s office, Murr determined the case was eligible for advanced DNA testing. A forensic lab tested a bone sample and created a DNA profile that allowed investigators to search for potential relatives. With help from the Maryland state police homicide unit and the Raleigh police department’s intelligence unit, the search ultimately led investigators to identify the victim as Blizzard.

Investigators are urging anyone with information about Blizzard to contact the SBI cold case tip line at 919-582-TIPS, email coldcases@ncsbi.gov, or contact the Wilson county sheriff’s office at 252-237-2118.