In the US, 15-year-old Cindy Blizzard—who had gone missing after running away from home—has been identified 49 years later, People reports. Her skeletal remains were originally discovered in 1977 in a wooded area near the Firestone plant in Wilson County, North Carolina.
At the time, forensic experts determined that the deceased was between 16 and 23 years old and had likely been in the woods for a period ranging from six months to two years. Investigators were unable to immediately establish her identity or the circumstances of her death, though they strongly suspected she had been the victim of a violent crime.
In 2010, specialists generated a DNA profile of the deceased and entered it into relevant databases, but no matches were found. A breakthrough in the investigation occurred in 2024, when Andy Marru of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation took up the case.
The investigator sought assistance from a laboratory specializing in advanced DNA analysis. On September 8, 2026, police announced that the remains had been successfully identified as belonging to 15-year-old Cindy Blizzard.
Previously, the identity of 19-year-old Ronald Joseph Cole, who had mysteriously vanished in 1965, was also established in the US. The young man had traveled from San Diego to the city of Fillmore, California, in search of work and disappeared after visiting relatives.
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