25 Years Later, Who Murdered Colleeen Blackburn?
By Robert A. Waters
At 8:30 P.M., on June 17, 2000, the Wake County Sheriff's Office received a 9-1-1 call from the community of Garner, North Carolina.
Caller: We just pulled into a convenience store. This lady's been shot. We're at Ray's Grocery on White Oak Road.
Dispatcher: On White Oak Road? She's been shot?
Caller: Yes, she's bleeding everywhere.
Dispatcher: Did you see the person that shot her?
Caller: Yes. Well, I didn't see the person shooting, but he sped off.
Dispatcher: Okay. Can you tell me where she's been shot?
Caller: It looks like she's got a hole coming through the back of her right shoulder blade...I'm afraid she's gone.
Dispatcher: Okay. Are you still by her?
Caller: Yes, I'm right here looking at her back, looking for breathing.
Dispatcher: Okay.
Caller: I don't feel anything.
From my research, it appears that Ray's Grocery did not have surveillance video. Cops never developed any solid leads, except the vague description given by the caller.
Captain T. S. Matthews of the Wake County Sheriff's Office spoke to reporters. "I'm sure somebody has seen something and not realized it," he said. "Hopefully, as much as this in in the news, it's going to jog their memory. And that's all we can count on at the moment. Everything else is coming to a dead end that we've been working on."
Except for the fact that she was murdered, Colleen Blackburn would likely have never made the news. At age 37, she had lived with her mother in a house trailer near Ray's Grocery. Her mother, after battling a long-term chronic disease, had passed away four years before Colleen was murdered. In addition to her job at Ray's, she worked two other jobs.
Colleen never complained about the long, dangerous hours she worked. But it was obvious she hoped to improve her standard of living. She had recently graduated from Wake Technical College, gaining a medical transcriptionist degree. She was friendly and liked country music. She sometimes attended local square dances.
So for two and a half decades, a killer has gone free. The 50 bucks he got in the robbery are long gone, but he may still be lurking around, unless he's in prison for another crime or dead. Meanwhile, Colleen has long since been forgotten, except maybe by family or friends.
The suspect (or possibly two suspects) drove away in a mid-1980s light-blue Oldsmobile. The car was missing part of its back bumper and was last seen heading east on Highway 70 toward Clayton.
It is galling to think this woman's murder may never be solved.
If you know someone who may have committed this killing, contact the Wake County sheriff's office at 919-768-5100.
