Teen Missing Since 1977 Finally Identified from Decades‑Old Skeletal Remains

On a cold December day in 1977, workers at the Firestone tire plant in Wilson, North Carolina, stumbled upon something they could never have imagined – a set of human remains tangled in the underbrush near the facility. The discovery was logged on December 29, and investigators recovered the bones along with a few articles of clothing.

At the time, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (NCSBI) could only guess at the victim’s identity. A medical examiner estimated that the body had been there anywhere from six months to two years, but dental records and other conventional methods turned up nothing. The case slipped into the dusty shelves of cold‑case files, a sad reminder of the limits of 1970s forensic science.

Fast forward to 2010, when a forensic anthropologist gave the case another glance. Teeth were examined, a DNA profile was built, and the results were uploaded to the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons database. Still, the profile sat there, unanswered, like a lonely puzzle piece waiting for its match.

It wasn’t until 2024 that the NCSBI’s cold‑case unit, led by investigator Andy Murr, decided to pull the file out of obscurity once more. By then, DNA technology had leapt forward—particularly the use of genetic genealogy, a tool that has solved countless decades‑old mysteries.

With the help of a medical examiner, a tiny bone sample was sent to a specialized lab. Technicians extracted whatever genetic material they could and generated a full DNA profile. That profile was then run through a commercial genealogy database, which flagged several distant relatives. After cross‑checking family trees, the trail led straight to a name: Cindy Marcell Blizzard, a 15‑year‑old from Monkton, Maryland, who was reported missing in the spring of 1977 after allegedly running away from home.

When investigators showed a faded photograph of Blizzard—a teen with light, wavy hair and striking blue eyes—to those who knew her, the identification was confirmed beyond doubt. The NCSBI announced the breakthrough on September 8, 2026, closing the identity chapter of a case that had haunted families for nearly half a century.

Even with the identity now known, the cause of death remains a mystery. The medical examiner could not determine how Blizzard died, but the circumstances of the find—bones concealed in a remote wooded area, clothing left behind—prompted officials to treat the case as a homicide. “Her death remains unsolved,” the agency said in a press release.

Authorities are now urging anyone with information, however small, to come forward. Tips can be sent to the NCSBI Cold Case Tip Line at 919‑582‑TIPS, via email at coldcases@ncsbi.gov, or directly to the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office at 252‑237‑2118. Wilson sits about 50 miles east of Raleigh, a reminder that sometimes the answers lie just a short drive away.