The New Castle County Division of Police has issued a new appeal for information in the unsolved homicide of Jane Marie Prichard, who was killed in Blackbird Forest State Park in 1986.
Jane, just 28 years old, was a bright and dedicated graduate student in botany at the University of Maryland. She lived in Clarksburg, Maryland, but frequently made the trip to Delaware to conduct field research for her studies.
On September 20, 1986, her research ended when she was killed in the woods near Smyrna. That morning, Jane drove her blue and white 1980 Chevrolet Blazer to Blackbird Forest Road, where she began setting up her equipment to study native plant life.
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Although she is believed to have died that morning, her lifeless body wasn’t discovered until later that evening by two campers. Detectives determined that she had been shot with a shotgun, according to news reporting at the time. Police released a composite sketch of a man seen near the victim that morning. He was described as white, about 5 feet 9 to 5 feet 10 inches tall, medium build, with a beard, wearing a brown jacket and blue jeans.
Investigators interviewed more than 300 people during the original investigation. At one stage, charges were filed against the hunter who had first reported seeing Prichard, but those charges were dropped when DNA evidence cleared him. No other suspect has been publicly charged.
Forensic science in 1986 could not fully analyze the available evidence. When the New Castle County Cold Case Homicide Squad was created in 2014, detectives selected the Prichard case as one of their first priorities. Physical evidence was resubmitted for modern testing, and detectives renewed appeals for public assistance.
The official case number is 32-86-065977, and the listed address is 502 Blackbird Forest Road, Smyrna. Police continue to ask anyone with information to contact the New Castle County Division of Police Criminal Investigations Unit at 302-395-8110 or email [email protected]. Anonymous tips may be provided through Delaware Crime Stoppers, which offers a reward of up to $5,000.
