Mystery Solved: 1977 Missing Teen Identified from Decades‑Old Bones

On a cold December day in 1977, workers at the Firestone plant in Wilson, North Carolina, stumbled upon a set of clothes and a few bone fragments hidden in the woods behind the facility. At the time, the skeletal remains were cataloged as an unsolved mystery, their origin unknown.

Fast forward almost half a century, and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (NC SBI) announced a breakthrough: the bones belong to Cindy Marcell Blizzard, a 15‑year‑old from Monkton, Maryland, who disappeared in the spring of 1977 after reportedly running away from home.

Blizzard’s case had gone cold long before DNA testing was even a thought. Early examinations suggested the remains had been exposed for anywhere between six months and two years, but dental records and other conventional methods yielded no match. In 2010, an anthropologist re‑examined the teeth, creating a DNA profile that was entered into the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons database—still, nothing.

It wasn’t until 2024, when cold‑case investigator Andy Murr revisited the file, that the tide turned. Working with a medical examiner, Murr secured a bone sample for advanced DNA sequencing. The resulting genetic profile was run through a commercial genealogy service, which flagged a possible family line leading back to a teenage runaway from Monkton in 1977.

Cross‑checking that lead with historical records confirmed the identity beyond doubt: the remains were Cindy Blizzard’s. While the medical examiner could not definitively state how she died, the circumstances of the find—bones tucked away near a tire plant, the presence of clothing, and the length of time the remains had been hidden—strongly suggest foul play.

“Her death remains unsolved,” the NC SBI said in a press release, urging anyone with information to contact their Cold Case Tip Line at 919‑582‑TIPS, email coldcases@ncsbi.gov, or reach out to the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office.

Blizzard’s story is a stark reminder of how advances in forensic science can breathe new life into decades‑old investigations, offering closure to families who have waited far too long.