A teen ran away from home in 1977. Her remains were just identified

Remains found in a North Carolina wooded area nearly 50 years ago have been identified as those of a runaway teen girl.

Cindy Marcell Blizzard, 15 years old at the time, ran away from northern Maryland during the spring of 1977, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) said in a news release Sept. 8. The remains were found that winter over 300 miles away in North Carolina.

Most recently, investigators used advanced DNA testing to identify the girl, and while her cause of death was previously ruled undetermined, it is now being investigated as a homicide.

“Her death remains unsolved,” the North Carolina SBI wrote in the release. “Investigators are still looking for answers.”

Here’s what we know about Cindy Marcell Blizzard and how investigators identified her.

Someone found the girl’s remains on Dec. 29, 1977, in a wooded area in Wilson County, North Carolina, about 60 miles east of Raleigh.

Both the Wilson County Sheriff's Office and the North Carolina SBI joined the investigation. At the time, a medical examiner was able to determine the remains belonged to a white female between 16 and 23 years old. According to the medical examiner, her remains had likely been…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/