DNA Gives Name To Teen Found Dead In Wilson County In 1977

WILSON, N.C. – Nearly five decades after skeletal remains were discovered in a wooded area in Wilson County, investigators finally know her name.

She was Cindy Marcell Blizzard, a 15-year-old Maryland girl who disappeared in the spring of 1977.

Her death remains unsolved.

Blizzard’s remains were discovered Dec. 29, 1977, in woods near the Firestone plant at 3001 Firestone Parkway in Wilson. Clothing was also recovered at the scene.

The Wilson County Sheriff’s Office and N.C. State Bureau of Investigation responded.

At the time, a medical examiner determined the remains belonged to a white female believed to be approximately 16 to 23 years old and estimated she had been there between six months and two years.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner classified the manner of death as undetermined.

However, investigators said the circumstances surrounding where and how the remains were found raised the possibility of foul play. The case is now being investigated as a homicide.

Decades Without A Name

For years, investigators compared the unidentified woman’s dental records with missing-person cases but were unable to find a match.

The forensic technology available at the time offered few other options, and eventually the investigation went cold.

In 2010, a state anthropologist reopened the case.

Teeth from the unidentified remains were submitted for DNA testing, and the resulting profile was entered into the Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, known as NamUs.

There was still no match.

The Wilson County Sheriff’s Office maintained jurisdiction over the case as the unidentified victim waited decades for a name.

New Technology Provides Break

The case received another look in 2024 when the SBI Cold Case Investigative Team assigned Special Investigator Andy Murr to review it.

This time, investigators had access to forensic technology that did not exist when the remains were discovered.

Working with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Murr determined the case qualified for advanced DNA testing.

A bone sample was sent to a forensic laboratory, where technicians were able to extract genetic material and develop a single nucleotide polymorphism, or SNP, profile.

Unlike traditional DNA comparisons, an SNP profile examines hundreds of thousands of genetic markers and can be used for forensic genetic genealogy — a process that allows investigators to identify possible biological relatives and build family connections.

A genealogy service analyzing the profile eventually pointed investigators toward a 15-year-old girl who had run away from Monkton, Maryland, during the spring of 1977.

Investigators then worked with the FBI’s NCIC Investigation and Operational Assistance Group, the Maryland Department of State Police Homicide Unit and the Raleigh Police Department’s intelligence unit.

Those efforts confirmed the remains belonged to Blizzard.

Investigation Now Turns To Her Death

The identification answers a question investigators had been asking since 1977 — but leaves another unanswered.

What happened to Cindy Blizzard?

Authorities have not determined how she died or how the Maryland teenager came to be in Wilson County.

Investigators are continuing to treat the case as a homicide and are seeking anyone who may remember Blizzard, her disappearance or circumstances surrounding her death.

Anyone with information is asked to call 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.