Cynthia Cindy D. Elrod, a 20-year-old white woman, was found dead in the bathroom of her Kodzoff Trailer Park home in Juneau’s Mendenhall Valley on the afternoon of August 23, 1983. Alaska State Troopers were called about 1:30 p.m.; the cause of death was determined to be strangulation, and local accounts recorded the case the next day as a murder that would trouble the community for decades.

Troopers canvassed leads and collected physical evidence, and the FBI provided laboratory assistance. In the days before her death she was reportedly seen at the Landing Strip bar with a man; a police artist produced a composite of a young man with long, sandy-blond hair, but that image and other descriptions never led to an identification that withstood evidentiary scrutiny. Multiple persons of interest were examined over time, reward funds were raised to encourage tips, and no arrests have been reported. The case remains unsolved and investigators continue to seek information that could identify her killer.

If anyone knew Cindy, saw her in August 1983, or recognizes the composite description, please share what might help the investigation.