CASE SUMMARY: Victim: Julie Lynn Ferguson Perp: Unknown Main Suspect: Doug DeSilva Date of Murder: March 20, 1995 Location: Prince Georges County- Greenbelt, MD Agency: Prince George's County Police NO TRIAL-NO PERP-UNSOLVED Summary On March 20th, 1995, 17-year-old Julie Lynn Ferguson got off work around 930pm at the Linens N Things at the Greenway Shopping Center in Greenbelt, MD. She called her mother and confirmed with her friends were coming to pick her up. She then purchased a bottle of soda at the liquor store next door sat outside her store drinking the soda as she waited for her friends to arrive. Her friends arrived late, pulling into the plaza at 10 PM. Julie’s bag and open soda were in the location Julie had been sitting, but she was nowhere to be found. Her soda was still cold to the touch. Her friends knew something was wrong. She was reported missing right away, and a frantic search began. 5:15 AM the following morning, two men walking along a path next to Daisy Field in Glenn Dale, MD, made a horrifying discovery, Julie Ferguson’s body. Glenn Dale is within Prince George’s County and 3 miles away from Julie’s job. An autopsy determined that Julie Ferguson died from strangulation. Her throat was slashed from ear to ear, almost like a happy face. She was not sexually assaulted. Bruised on her hand told investigators she struggled with her killer, fighting for her life. A tip came into police that Julie Ferguson’s ID was discovered discarded on a median strip along Greenbelt Rd near the intersection of Lanham-Severn Road. This location is halfway between Julie’s workplace and where her body was found. Some of her personal effects were still missing. But none of these items were of significant value, so robbery did not appear to be a motive in this crime. Julie Ferguson was a popular high school student with a large circle of friends. She was described as funny, a great friend, and someone who did not have a “mean bone” in her body. As the homicide investigation detectives believed Julie Ferguson was abducted from her place of work. Prince George’s County Police attempted to find witnesses who might have seen something suspicious at the shopping plaza where Julie worked. Julie was last seen at approximately 9:50 PM, leaning into a vehicle and speaking to the occupants inside. This vehicle had pulled up to where Julie had been standing, waiting for her friends. That vehicle was described as a late 1980s Volkswagen, red or burgundy in color, possibly a Jetta. It was occupied by three people. Witnesses described them as two black males and one black female. A bolo was released for the vehicle. That car and the people inside it were never located. Soon another strong potential suspect emerged. Doug DeSilva was a local auto mechanic in his mid-30s who had been arrested for raping a woman near the area where Julie’s body was found. He was subsequently interviewed multiple times but always maintained that he had nothing to do with the murder. DeSilva did not have an alibi for the night of the murder and made several suspicious statements to law enforcement. In terms of the current investigation, law enforcement would like to speak with Doug DeSilva, but he is nowhere to be found. Investigators were forced to look into other leads and began with a young man named Noel David Smith. The 20-year old had met Julie through one of her co-workers. He was a high school drop-out who hung out with teenagers who all seemed to worship him. Noel was lanky, with spider webs tattooed on his head. Friends told investigators that about 1-2 weeks before Julie’s murder, he took her out on a date, made a sexual advance, and she turned him down. Several teens told police the spurned admirer was known to be violent and obsessive with girlfriends. But detectives were unable to find any evidence connecting him to the crime. As of the cold case investigation, he is in prison serving a life sentence for a separate homicide that occurred about two years after Julie’s murder. Detectives still consider him a suspect and went to speak with him as recently as early 2015. Julie’s mother, Pat, passed away in 2018, but Julie’s most prominent advocates are her classmates, who still hold vigils and speak with the media to pressure the police to continue working on the case. They created a website and Facebook page where they continue to ask the public for leads

WUSA-TV Washington D.C.

WUSA