Cold Case Solved Thirty Years Later

Raleigh -- March 20, 2022 The SBI’s Cold Case Investigation Unit and the Surry County Sheriff’s Office

Solve 30-Year-Old Murder  

March 16, 2022

The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) and the Surry County Sheriff's Office collaborated on a joint investigation that resulted in the arrest of a Mississippi man for the murder of a North Carolina lady in 1992. The body of a woman ultimately identified as Nona Stamey Cobb was discovered on the northbound side of Interstate 77 in Surry County on July 7, 1992.
The SBI cooperated with the investigation at the request of the Surry County Sheriff's Office.
The physical evidence in the case was re-examined to include DNA in April of 2021 by special agents from the SBI's Cold Case Investigation Unit and investigators from the Surry County Sheriff's Office. Agents used DNA to identify Warren Luther Alexander (WM DOB: 1/12/51) as a likely suspect in Cobb's murder while collaborating with Dr. Colleen Fitzpatrick, founder of Identifiers International LLC.
Alexander was arrested in Diamondhead, Mississippi on March 15, 2022. He is being held in the Hancock County Jail awaiting extradition to North Carolina on murder charges. The inquiry is still underway, and police are looking into whether there are any other victims.
We appreciate the SBI's Hickory District Office, NC State Crime Laboratory, Surry County Sheriff's Office, Indiana State Police, Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, Hancock County Sheriff's Office, Diamondhead Police Department, and FBI Gulfport Office, in addition to the Cold Case Investigation Unit agents.

When Alexander is extradited back to North Carolina, a news conference will be conducted. At this time, no additional information is available.

*Editor's Note: A criminal charge is an accusation, by law, a person accused of a crime is innocent until proven in a court of law.

Wnctimes by Marjorie Farrington