North Carolina cold case murder breakthrough finally identifies teen after nearly 50 years

49-year-old remains have been identified with the help of modern-day technology.

In December 1977, human remains were discovered in a wooded area of Wilson, North Carolina.

An investigation then ensued as police collected the skeletal remains and clothing from the scene. Because of the condition of the body, the person (said to have been a girl) could not be immediately identified.

Reportedly the body had been there for anywhere between six months to two years.

It was also unclear how the girl, who was thought to have been between the age of 16 to 23, died – but due to where the remains had been discovered investigators suspected that it was a homicide.

Investigators tried to compare dental records against missing persons to no avail and ultimately the case went cold.

A cold case in North Carolina could be on its way to being solved any nearly five decades (Getty Stock)

It wasn't until 2010 that the case as reopened by a state anthropologist, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (NCSBI) detailed in a new Facebook post.

"He submitted the victim's teeth for DNA testing and entered the resulting profile into CODIS and NamUs. No match came back," it wrote.

"The Wilson County Sheriff's Office held jurisdiction on the case for nearly five decades. In 2024, the SBI's Cold Case Investigative Team assigned Special Investigator Andy Murr to review it again, this time with forensic tools that didn't exist in 1977."

Through modern-day technology, investigators were pointed toward a 15-year-old girl who had run away from Monkton, Maryland, in the spring of 1977.

Her identity has since been confirmed as Cindy Marcell Blizzard, and it was her body that was found 49 years ago.

While police have worked out that the body was that of Blizzard's, they are yet to confirm the manner of her death and are continuing to look for answers.

"Anyone with information about the 1977 case involving Cindy Marcell Blizzard is asked 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," NCSBI says.

Cindy Marcell Blizzard's body has been identified 49 years later (North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation)

It's not uncommon for cold cases to be solved after several decades; last November another 50-year-old case was solved, this time in New Hampshire.

This case involved that of Judith Lord who was found deceased inside her Concord apartment at the age of 20 in 1975.

She'd been found by her building manager who entered her property looking to get Lord's unpaid rent from her.

An autopsy found Lord died as a result of homicidal strangulation, but the person who killed her long remained a mystery.

Lord’s neighbor, Ernest Theodore Gable, was a person initially highlighted as a suspect but botched lab results couldn't link Gable to the crime.

Fast forward to last year and subsequent DNA testing found seminal fluids found on towels were a match for Gable.

Advanced forensic testing also identified the hairs as belonging to him, thus solving the case.

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