THE MYSTERY of an Army private who went missing in 1982 while on the way to her barracks has been solved.
A convicted murderer who was already serving a life sentence for an unrelated homicide was indicted for the death of René Dawn Blackmore, who was found dead on the side of the road from a gunshot blast three decades ago.
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Marcellus McCluster, 64, was at a correctional facility near Augusta when he was served with an arrest warrant for the death of then 20-year-old René, Fox News reported.
Officials said the convict is now being charged with one count of malice murder and four counts of felony murder.
Blackmore was stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia, when she vanished on April 29, 1982, on the way to her back to her barracks from the town outside the military installation.
Officials found the Arizona native’s wallet and sweater a few miles from the Army post a month later.
Blackmore’s remains were eventually found on June 28, 1982, off a logging road.
During a news conference on Thursday, Director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Vic Reynolds said it was determined she died from a shotgun blast.
Reynolds started a cold-case unit in 2020 comprised of retired GBI investigators after Blackmore’s investigation stalled about a year after her death.
Reynolds said that Blackmore’s death was an initial focus of the unit.
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He did not reveal the information that led them to believe McCluster was responsible for the murder.
Assistant district attorney Kimberley Schwartz spoke on the ruling saying, “We don’t know what René Blackmore’s life would have looked like. We know she didn’t get to celebrate her 21st birthday,” Azcentral reported.
“But we can’t know what accomplishments she would have celebrated … Who she might have loved. What dreams she might have realized.”
“All of those things got extinguished by the blast of a cheap shotgun.”
Blackmore’s mother Donna Reitman released a statement thanking officials for not giving up on the case.
“I have lived these 40 years always feeling the pain her absence causes,” Reitman said. “And believing no one outside of her family and friends even care.”
“It is with a grateful heart that on March 28, 2022, this belief was shown to be untrue.”
McCluster is scheduled for an arraignment hearing on April 25.
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