On March 20, 1995, Julie Ferguson, a bright, smart, ambitious junior at Eleanor Roosevelt High School, was kidnapped, killed and found on the side of the road in Glenn Dale. Many assumed the killer would be found and justice would be done for this tragic, sorrowful crime. But after 30 years, no one has been indicted.
Ferguson’s close friend Julie Epstein described her as light-hearted and recalled a comical misadventure, now a treasured memory. While trying to protect their must-have pristine Reebok Classics by covering their feet with shopping bags, the two Julies slid down a muddy hill and fell on their faces.
Remembered as a light that brightened shadowed rooms, Ferguson was full of promise, with avid interests including learning German and playing the flute. She worked part-time at Linens ‘N Things in Greenway Center, only a quarter mile from her home, but her mother preferred that she ride home with a family member or friend. On the day she disappeared, she was waiting outside the store at around 9:30 p.m., but when her friends arrived around 10, Julie was nowhere to be found; only her purse and a Coke remained. Her urgently worried friends checked with Ferguson’s mother, who had not heard from her. They asked the manager of a neighboring liquor store and then called the police. In the following hours, Greenbelt police and U.S. Park Police with helicopters searched the area and Ferguson was confirmed missing.
Her body was found the next morning in Glenn Dale by a motorist, around four miles away from Greenway Center. An autopsy revealed that her throat had been slit and there was no sign of sexual assault. Detectives speculate that she might have been abducted near the parking lot, based on observations of several eyewitnesses. A red four-door sedan was seen parked near where Julie was sitting and witnesses saw her speak to someone in the car. She reportedly seemed acquainted, and no one saw indications of a struggle. One witness, returning to the location, observed that Ferguson had disappeared.
Advocates continue to keep the story alive and keep in touch with local authorities. Local content creator Jenny Meetre, who had several friends in common with Ferguson, started publishing podcasts about the case a year ago under the name Crime Crashers on YouTube. Additionally, The Raider Review and News Review covered the case from the start. Epstein collected articles and information about her case and created a website justiceforjulie.wordpress.com.
Details have accumulated over time. Three individuals seen in the red car had been in the parking lot about two hours before the estimated time of the abduction. Meetre reports that the occupants were drug dealers in the area, already known to Julie. One was a man known for his “meticulous grooming” and multicolored silk shirts, another was a light-skinned Black man wearing a hoodie and the last was a Black woman. The two men were known associates, and the car may have been stolen.
Meetre’s research led to further investigation and DNA testing of the suspects. Meetre believes that more details publicized earlier would have helped with the case, but police did not adequately push the information out. “They have DNA evidence that hasn’t been moved forward the way it should, they have multiple people still on their list that they should be bringing in for questioning that they haven’t,” she said. “They didn’t provide this really important information from day one about people seen with her, they never revisited the witness who saw them, … they didn’t do a composite sketch, they took five years to listen to our story and they’re still taking a long long long time to get it done.”
Two other theories about this case have multiple inconsistencies and insufficient connection to the crime. Two suspects, Noel Smith and Doug DeSilva, are both now incarcerated for other separate crimes. Smith, incarcerated for murder, had known Julie before her death; she had reportedly rejected his romantic advances. Doug DeSilva was also questioned by Greenbelt police about this case after being arrested for a crime in another state.
The murder was a shock to the community, because violent crime was uncommon in Greenbelt. Many students sought counseling afterward and a vigil was held on the Roosevelt football field. The police on the case were struggling to find clues, as no cameras had been in place and a complete autopsy had not yet been revealed. Several of her friends began seeking answers.
“We were kids when it happened in high school and I knew that when I became an adult and I had some resources or some sense of authority that I would want to do something,” said Epstein. “So I made a promise to her after she died that I would do something and whoever did it would not get away with it.”
Ferguson’s friends are still looking for answers in this still open and active case. A $25,000 reward is offered for information leading to the arrest of the killers. Any information, no matter how small, may help solve this crime. Contact Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS.
Yadira Reyes and Masoma Ngupkam are students at ERHS, writing for the Raider Review, where this article first appeared.
