Cold-Case Breakthrough: 1977 Maryland Runaway Identified as Cindy Marcell Blizzard in North Carolina Homicide

Investigators have identified skeletal remains discovered in North Carolina in 1977 as Cindy Marcell Blizzard, a 15-year-old who ran away from Monkton, Maryland, in the spring of that year. The identification follows modern DNA analysis and genealogy work that resolved a case cold for nearly five decades.

Case Background

On Dec. 29, 1977, skeletal remains and clothing were found in a wooded area near the former Firestone plant in Wilson, N.C., roughly 320 miles from Monkton. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined the remains belonged to a white female between 16 and 23 years old and estimated the remains had been in the woods approximately six months to two years. Although the manner of death was originally listed as undetermined, investigators said the circumstances of the recovery "raised the probability of foul play," and the case has been treated as a homicide.

Prior Investigations

For decades, investigators searched for matches to missing-person reports. Dental comparisons and searches of the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) produced no leads. In 2010 a state anthropologist submitted the victim's teeth for DNA testing and entered that profile into CODIS and NamUs, but the case remained unresolved.

Forensic Advances Lead to ID

In 2024 the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) Cold Case Investigative Team assigned Special Investigator Andy Murr to reexamine the evidence using forensic tools unavailable in 1977. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner sent a bone sample to a forensic DNA laboratory, where technicians successfully extracted DNA and generated a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) profile — a genetic profile used to link remains to living relatives, according to the National Institutes of Health.

A commercial genealogy service used the SNP profile to trace potential relatives, enabling investigators to confirm the remains were those of Cindy Marcell Blizzard. Blizzard had run away from Monkton, Maryland, in spring 1977 and had been missing for more than 49 years.

Investigation Continues

Blizzard's death remains unsolved. Authorities are continuing to investigate and are asking anyone with information to contact the N.C. SBI Cold Case Tip Line at 919-582-TIPS, email [email protected], or call the Wilson County Sheriff's Office at 252-237-2118. Tips may help investigators establish circumstances surrounding her death and identify those responsible.

Why this matters: This case illustrates how modern DNA techniques and investigative genealogy can solve long-cold cases and bring names to unidentified victims, providing renewed leads for homicide investigations and closure for families.