A convicted murderer serving a life sentence for an unrelated murder has been indicted by a Georgia court in connection with the death of a soldier who was found dead on the side of a road by a gunshot wound decades ago. Marcellus McCluster, 64, was arrested on a warrant for the death of René Dawn Blackmore at a penitentiary near Augusta, where he was sentenced to death in Stewart County in 1983. The indictment charges him with a murder and four alternatives. felony charges, officials said. IT IS NOT AN ACCIDENT The fatal crash of the ARMY helicopter IN FORT STEWART, Georgia: REPORT This undated photo provided by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation shows Rene Blackmore. Blackmore, 20, was an Army soldier stationed in Fort Benning when she disappeared in April 1982. (AP) Blackmore, 20, a native of Arizona, was in Fort Benning, Georgia when she disappeared on April 29, 1982. She disappeared while returning to her barracks from Columbus, the city outside the military base. One month later, her purse and sweater were found on the side of the road in nearby Cusseta, a few miles from the camp. On June 28, 1982, Blackmore’s remains were found in a logger a few miles south of Chattanooga County, Vick Reynolds, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, told a news conference Thursday. He was found to have died from a shotgun explosion. Kimberly Schwartz, assistant prosecutor for the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit, noted that there are no statute of limitations for murder. Marcelus McClaster. (Department of Correctional Services of Georgia) “Of all the crimes in all the books, this is the only crime that deprives the victim of this fundamental right we all have, which is the right to live the rest of our lives given to us.” he said. The U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the GBI have identified McCluster as a possible suspect within a year of the murder. However, the investigation eventually stopped. In 2020, Reynolds started a Cold Case unit made up of retired GBI researchers. Blackmore’s death was the unit’s initial focus, he said. Officials did not disclose what led them to McCluster. Fort Benning, Georgia, trains Army recruits and hosts Army infantry and armor schools. (US Army) In a statement, Blackmore’s mother, Donna Reitman, thanked investigators for never abandoning the search for her daughter’s killer. “I have lived these 40 years always feeling the pain of her absence,” she said. “And believing that no one but her family and friends even cared. She is grateful that on March 28, 2022, this belief turned out to be untrue.” CLICK HERE TO RECEIVE THE FOX NEWS APPLICATION McCluster is expected to stand trial in Chattahoochee County on April 25. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
