Julie Ferguson

Julie Lynn Ferguson was a bright and ambitious 17-year-old girl, remembered by those who loved her as a light that could brighten any room. A junior at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, Maryland, she was a B student with an interest in learning German and playing the flute. Friends described the female teenager as light-hearted and recalled her sense of humor. To help her mother, with whom she lived in a townhouse not far from her school, Julie worked a part-time job as a cashier at the Linens 'N Things in the Greenway Center. Her father had passed away when she was just a year old.

On the evening of Monday, March 20, 1995, Julie finished her shift around 9:30 p.m. and went outside to wait for friends to pick her up. Though she lived only a quarter-mile away, her mother preferred she get a ride rather than walk home. When her friends arrived around 10:00 p.m., they found only her purse and a can of Coca-Cola left on the curb where she had been sitting. After checking with Julie's mother and a neighboring store manager, her worried friends called the police. A search involving Greenbelt police and U.S. Park Police helicopters began, but there was no sign of Julie.

The next morning, March 21, a motorist discovered Julie's body on the side of Daisy Lane in Glenn Dale, about four miles from the shopping center. An autopsy determined she had been strangled and her throat had been viciously slit. There was no evidence of sexual assault, and robbery did not appear to be a motive. Police believe she was likely killed elsewhere, as there was little blood at the scene where she was found.

The Prince George's County Police investigation learned that witnesses had seen Julie speaking with the occupants of a red or burgundy four-door sedan, possibly a Volkswagen Jetta, parked near the store. She did not appear to be in distress and seemed to know the people in the car. One witness saw her leaning into the car's window before she vanished. The car was reportedly occupied by two Black men and one Black woman. One man was described as meticulously groomed and wearing a multicolored silk shirt, while another was a light-skinned Black man in a hoodie. These individuals had allegedly been seen in the shopping center parking lot for about two hours before Julie disappeared.

Over the decades, several individuals have been considered persons of interest. One was a man named Noel Smith, who had reportedly been romantically rejected by Julie and was later incarcerated for a different murder. Another, Doug DeSilva, was also questioned by police after an arrest in another state. However, police have stated that these theories had multiple inconsistencies. A local content creator, Jenny Meetre, has researched the case and believes the occupants of the red car were known drug dealers in the area. She has been critical of the police investigation, stating that DNA evidence has not been properly pursued and that important information was not shared with the public early on.

The murder shocked the tight-knit community of Greenbelt, where violent crime was uncommon. In the days following her death, students at Eleanor Roosevelt High School sought counseling, and a candlelight vigil was held on the school's football field. Years later, a play area and shelter at a park near where her body was found were named in her memory. Her friends and family have held vigils on anniversaries of her death, hoping to keep her case in the public eye and generate new leads. "It's very frightening to think that I could die and not know who did it," her mother, Pat Ferguson, said in 2015.

As of March 2025, Julie Ferguson's homicide remains an active and open cold case with the Prince George's County Police. No one has ever been indicted for her murder. A $25,000 reward is offered for information that leads to an arrest and conviction. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS.