A 30-year-old District woman was found gagged and stabbed in her Northwest apartment 30 years ago, and police hope that DNA evidence will help them find her killer.
Awanda Roberts was last seen leaving work at the Bureau of National Affairs building on 35th Street NW, near Georgetown, on March 11, 1982. When she didn’t show up for work or answer repeated calls to her home two days later, her boss went to her apartment at 3060 16th St. NW and knocked on her door. When no one answered, he called the police.
Roberts’ body was found bound, gagged and blindfolded. She had suffered a stab wound to the abdomen and a blow to the head. There was no sign of forced entry.
Roberts, whose family lived in Port Orchard, Wash., had graduated cum laude at Howard University three years earlier. She was described as nice, quiet and dependable.
Roberts’ case has been selected for the D.C. police department’s DNA project. Police hope to find DNA on samples taken from Roberts’ body or on the bindings. Often when a intruder ties somebody up, he or she ends up leaving skins cells on the bindings
Anyone with information on the case can contact police through a call to the tip line at 888-919-2776 or through a text to 50-411. The D.C. police department is offering a reward of up to $25,000 to anyone who provides information that leads to a conviction.
