Investigators continue homicide inquiry into Blizzard’s unsolved death
The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation said Tuesday that skeletal remains found near Wilson nearly fifty years ago have been identified as those of Cindy Marcell Blizzard. Blizzard was 15 when she ran away from her home in Monkton, Maryland, in the spring of 1977.
The identification followed renewed DNA work on the case. In 2010, a state anthropologist reopened the investigation and submitted the victim’s teeth for DNA testing, but the testing produced no positive match.
Fourteen years later, an NCSBI cold case investigative team led by special investigator Andy Murr reviewed the case using more advanced forensic tools. Murr worked with the medical examiner’s office to determine that the case was eligible for advanced DNA testing.
A forensic lab then 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 remains as Blizzard’s.
Skeletal remains and clothing had been discovered on December 29, 1977, in a wooded area near a tire manufacturing plant in Wilson, about 40 miles east of Raleigh. A medical examiner determined at the time that the remains 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.
Investigators compared dental records with missing-person cases after the discovery but could not find a match. The investigation eventually went cold because of limitations in forensic technology.
The medical examiner’s office classified the manner of death as undetermined. The NCSBI said circumstances surrounding the location and recovery of the remains raised the possibility of foul play, and investigators are treating the case as a homicide.
“Her death remains unsolved, investigators are still looking for answers,” the NCSBI said Tuesday.
Investigators are asking anyone with information about Blizzard to call the SBI cold case tip line at 919-582-TIPS, email [email protected] or contact the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office at 252-237-2118.