FORESTVILLE, Md. — For more than three decades Rosia Rodgers has had to live not knowing who killed her daughter, 27-year-old Cynthia Rodgers.
Prince George's police believe they've found the man who killed and sexually assaulted Rodgers 33 years ago in Forestville, Maryland.
James Clinton Cole, 64, was arrested and charged with the crimes against Rodgers, who lived in Forestville.
Rodgers was a research biologist at the National Institute of Health and studying to become a doctor, her mother said.
“I don’t feel completely healed, never will," Rosia Rodgers, Cynthia Rodgers' mother said. "But it’s a relief to know this person is in jail and hopefully he won’t be able to hurt anyone else. I hope he stays in jail. I hope he dies in jail.”
Cole is already serving a life sentence from an unrelated first-degree rape conviction.
Police said that on Jan. 27, 1989, Rodgers was found dead in a wooded area in the 6000 block of Surrey Square Lane Service Road in Forestville. Rosia said Cynthia had gone out for groceries when she was attacked and murdered along the path she was walking to the store.
Investigators said that she was found suffering from trauma and had been sexually assaulted. The medical examiner determined the cause of death as strangulation with blunt force trauma to her head and neck and the manner was ruled a homicide.
“No one deserves to be treated that way. It was horrific and I am ever so thankful about the hard work and the persistence of Dawn and checking back and staying on top of technology and talking to the detectives frequently,” Bernadette Catalan, Cynthia Rodgers' childhood friend said.
Dawn Page is Cynthia Rodgers' first cousin. She spent years probing detectives and inquiring about new technologies and DNA advancements. The family attributes her persistence to the case being solved.
“Over the years I have just been making any effort that I could to keep this case in the forefront of Prince George’s County’s cold case unit,” Page said. “It’s a glimmer of hope in general that my efforts were not in vain."
On Jan. 24, 2022, police said detectives had evidence in the case retested, and thanks to advancements in DNA technology, produced a "complete unidentified male profile."
A search of the State of Maryland DNA database resulted in a positive match to Cole, police have announced. Detectives have since found no evidence that Cole and Rodgers knew one another.
"There are a lot of things and goals in life and sometimes things don’t necessarily happen within the time frame you want them to happen, but this reminded me to have faith, keep hope, keep making efforts and in God’s time things will happen," Page said.
Rosia Rodgers said she will be in the courtroom when Cole has his day in court, able to see her daughter’s killer at long last.
“I don’t want to sound bitter but I am. I really to be there for the trial, I’m going to be there. I want to look him in the face and let him know he took something away that was precious to us,” Rosia Rodgers said. “I want to say something to him. But I’m going to wait to say it just to him.”