Remains found in a North Carolina wooded area nearly 50 years ago have been identified as those of a runaway teen girl.
Cindy Marcell Blizzard, 15 years old at the time, ran away from northern Maryland during the spring of 1977, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) said in a news release Sept. 8. The remains were found that winter over 300 miles away in North Carolina.
Most recently, investigators used advanced DNA testing to identify the girl, and while her cause of death was previously ruled undetermined, it is now being investigated as a homicide.
“Her death remains unsolved,” the North Carolina SBI wrote in the release. “Investigators are still looking for answers.”
Here’s what we know about Cindy Marcell Blizzard and how investigators
identified her.
Where were the remains found?
Someone found the girl’s remains on Dec. 29, 1977, in a wooded area in Wilson County, North Carolina, about 60 miles east of Raleigh.
Both the Wilson County Sheriff's Office and the North Carolina SBI joined the investigation. At the time, a medical examiner was able to determine the remains belonged to a white female between 16 and 23 years old. According to the medical examiner, her remains had likely been in the area for six months to two years.
“Circumstances surrounding the location and recovery of the remains raised the probability of foul play and the investigators are treating the case as a homicide,” the North Carolina SBI said in the release.
How did investigators try to identify her before?
Investigators spent years trying to identify the victim by comparing her dental records to missing persons cases, but there was no match.
“The forensic tools of the time weren't enough, and the case went cold,” the North Carolina SBI said.
In 2010, a state anthropologist reopened the case and submitted the victim’s teeth for DNA testing.
The anthropologist took the DNA profile and submitted that to:
- Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) – A Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) national database that allows law enforcement labs to share DNA profiles electronically.
- National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) – A central database and support program law enforcement, medical examiners, coroners, investigators and families can use to resolve missing, unclaimed and unidentified persons cases.
Neither database returned a match, the North Carolina SBI said.
Bone sample, DNA comparison to relatives helped identify girl
While the case was considered a Wilson County Sheriff's Office case for nearly five decades, the North Carolina SBI renewed efforts to identify her in 2024. That’s when the SBI's Cold Case Investigative Team assigned Special Investigator Andy Murr to review the case using forensic tools that were unheard of in 1977.
Murr worked with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and found that the case was a good candidate for advanced DNA testing.
The medical examiner sent a bone sample to Othram, a Texas-based DNA lab, which pulled genetic material and built a SNP profile, or places where a genome varies from other genome sequences.
Investigators compared the SNP profile to hundreds of thousands of genetic markers. Othram then used that SNP profile to find potential relatives of the girl. After testing reference samples from relatives, the girl was positively identified.
Investigators confirmed that the remains belonged to Cindy Marcell Blizzard. The community she ran away from, Monkton, Maryland, is about 18 miles north of Towson.
Investigators ask that anyone with information about Blizzard’s case call the North Carolina SBI Cold Case Tip Line at 919-582-8477, email coldcases@ncsbi.gov or contact the Wilson County Sheriff's Office at 252-237-2118.
Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY’s trending team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Email her at sdmartin@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: A teen ran away from home in 1977. Her remains were just identified
