A cold case investigator is hoping this year the graduates of Bowie High School’s Class of 1973 can help him solve the savage death of their classmate 34 years ago.
Chief investigator David Cordle, of the Anne Arundel State’s Attorney’s Office, is expected to meet with the nearly 200 classmates individually today after a general meeting with them at their reunion Saturday about Donna Lee Dustin and her death on Nov. 17, 1973, just months after their graduation.
“These cases have no less significance than cases that occurred yesterday or today,” said Cordle, who has been speaking at the 1973 class reunions since he took on the case 11 years ago.
“It’s still a murder. Someone lost a love one. It’s unsolved, and it’s solvable.”
On Nov. 16, the 17-year-old girl came home from work as a secretary at the Ironworkers International Union in Washington, D.C., to prepare for her second date with a young man and another couple.
The four ate at Muhlmeister’s Ice Cream Parlor and then went to a nearby party.
Around 1:30 a.m., she returned to Bowie to drop off her date at his house and attended another party in town with about 100 people.
Witnesses said she was last seen drinking with two men she recently met.
At 10:30 a.m., two hunters discovered Dustin’s nude body in an abandoned quarry at the Anne Arundel County line behind the Bowie Race Track.
Dustin died from multiple blunt trauma to the head, and there was evidence of sexual assault. Authorities said they found two sets of footprints at the scene, indicating more than one person was involved, according to court documents.
Anyone with information is asked to call 410-222-1740, Ext. 3863.
