Nearly half a century after a set of skeletal remains were found in a wooded part of North Carolina, they have been identified as those of a 15-year-old runaway who vanished in 1977. 

The remains were found on Dec. 29, 1977, in a wooded area near a manufacturing plant in Wilson County, North Carolina. Investigators determined that the remains had likely been there for between six months and two years, according to a news release from the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. They were determined to likely belong to a White female between 16 and 23. 

Investigators have treated the case as a homicide because of the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the remains. But no suspects were ever determined, and the identity of the remains could not be confirmed. Police used dental records but were unable to find a match, the bureau said. Eventually, the case went cold. 

In 2010, a state anthropologist reopened the case and submitted the teeth for DNA testing. The resulting DNA profiles were entered into national databases, but no matches were found, according to investigators. 

In 2024, the case was reviewed by a special investigator from the bureau’s Cold Case Investigative Team. The investigator, Andy Murr, sent a bone sample to a forensic DNA lab that extracted genetic material to build a complex profile. That profile was used to trace potential relatives. 

That pointed Murr and other investigators to the case of Cindy Marcell Blizzard, a 15-year-old girl who ran away from her home in Monkton, Maryland, in the spring of 1977.

The genetic information and efforts from local, state and federal agencies allowed investigators to confirm the remains as belonging to Blizzard. A photo of Blizzard shared by investigators shows a young woman with light hair and blue eyes. Other information about her life and family was not shared by the bureau. 

The investigation into Blizzard’s death remains ongoing. Anyone with information about Blizzard is asked to call the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation’s Cold Case Tip Line, email the agency or contact the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office.