CYNTHIA RODGERS

1989 Rape, Murder Case Closed in Prince George's

By Paul Wagner, News4 Reporter • Published March 14, 2022 • Updated on March 14, 2022 at 7:23 pm

Thirty-three years after a woman was raped and murdered on a foot path in Prince George’s County, Maryland, police say they have closed the case.

Cynthia Rodgers, 27, was a biologist working on Parkinson’s disease research at the National Institutes of Health when she was killed on Super Bowl Sunday in 1989.

Her family believes she was taking the path to the store to buy some ingredients for soup when she was grabbed and dragged into a wooded area, where she was beaten, raped and strangled. She was missing for five days before her body was found.

Police say recently re-examined DNA evidence from the crime scene was entered into an FBI database and matched James Clinton Cole. ... “This makes us feel better. My heart is feeling lighter,” said Rosia Rodgers, the victim’s mother. ... Cole is already in prison; he was convicted of raping a child in Charles County in 1996{.}

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