Nona Stamey Cobb, a 29-year-old white female, was tragically murdered on July 7, 1992. Her body was discovered on the northbound side of Interstate 77 in Surry County, North Carolina. Cobb had been last seen on the night of July 6, 1992, at the Welcome Center on Interstate 85 in Cleveland County, where she got into a truck driven by an unidentified male.
Her body was found the next morning, and an autopsy revealed that she had been strangled to death.
The investigation into Cobb's murder initially led to a suspect, Asheboro trucker Sean Patrick Goble, who was questioned by deputies with the Surry County Sheriff's Office approximately three years after her death. Goble denied any involvement in Cobb's murder, although he was later convicted of murdering three other women and sentenced to two life sentences plus 14 years in prison. However, DNA obtained from semen found on Cobb's body ruled Goble out as a suspect in her murder, leaving investigators without a person of interest for decades.
In April 2021, special agents with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation's Cold Case Investigation Unit and investigators with the Surry County Sheriff's Office re-examined the physical evidence collected from the crime scene, including the DNA found on Cobb's body. With the help of Dr. Colleen Fitzpatrick, the founder of Identifiers International LLC, investigators were able to identify Warren Luther Alexander as a possible suspect by matching his DNA profile to the DNA left on Cobb's body. Alexander, a 71-year-old man, was arrested in Diamondhead, Mississippi, on March 15, 2022, and charged with Cobb's murder. He is currently being held in the Hancock County Jail as he awaits extradition back to North Carolina to face the murder charge.
Cobb's sister, Vickie S. Gregory, revealed that Cobb had been struggling with a drug problem at the time of her death but was deeply loved by her family, especially her then-3-year-old son, Josh. Cobb, a widow, had lost custody of her son approximately seven months before her death, and the boy was staying with Gregory. Despite her struggles, Cobb called to ask about her son nearly every day, showing her love and pride for him.
The investigation into Cobb's murder is ongoing, and authorities are looking into whether there may be other victims connected to Alexander. The case highlights the advancements in DNA technology and forensic genealogy that have allowed investigators to solve cold cases and bring justice to victims and their families, even decades after the crime occurred.
