Basic Needs Ministry - Who Killed Colleen
Colleen T. Blackburn, age 37, was shot in the head with a .22-caliber handgun and killed at Ray's Grocery, 7940 White Oak Road, Garner, North Carolina, between 8 and 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 17, 2000. One or two male suspects in their mid-20s drove away in a mid-1980s light-blue Oldsmobile. One was wearing a button-up Hawaiian shirt and brown baggy pants. He was average height and weight, but sported a rubber banded pig tail style of hair (not corn rows). The car was missing part of its back bumper or a spoke-type hubcap on the left front. It was reported as last seen heading east on Highway 70 towards Clayton. It is suspected that the murder was a botched robbery, because nothing was missing, except Colleen's life. If you have information regarding this crime, call the Wake County Sheriff's office at 919-856-6911.
A customer came in to pay for gas, found her, and called 911. It is reported that she died during the call. Not alone. Now in peace.
Colleen's marriage lasted a little over ten years, but oh, did she get to see and experience parts of the world not many country girls ever will. Colleen liked country music and I've been known to coax her onto the local dance floor. She also worked the front service desk at Duty Tire on Tryon Road, near the former Silver Saddle. She worked hard to take care of her mother, who died in 1998 and then pay off her mom's lingering medical bills. She was an excellent and hard working student at Wake Technical College. She finally reached her goal of being a "medical transcriptionist" about two weeks before she died and had already given notice on her other jobs. Best of all, she was our friend, everybody's friend.
A memorial fund was established at BB&T, (physical address 301 Vandora Springs Road), P.O. Box 301, Garner, NC 27529-0301. Checks can be written to the Colleen Blackburn Memorial Fund. Please call the bank directly at 919-779-6705 (Monday-Friday, 9-5 Eastern Time Zone), if you have any questions regarding how to make a donation.
Funeral service was held at Bryan-Lee Funeral Home, 1200 Benson Road (Route 50), Garner, NC 27529, at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 24, 2000.
Reward information: A reward was set up and is being coordinated by business owners Steve Duty, Duty Tire & Service Center, 405 Tryon Road, Garner, NC 27529; 919-772-6100, and Ray Saums, Ray's Grocery No. 5, 7940 White Oak Road, Garner, NC 27529; 919-772-3210.
Information provided here was written by Ron Still from information provided by various sources, which had conflicting information.
Media sources:
Garner News, Garner, NC, Wednesday, June 21, 2000
Garner Times, Garner, NC, Wednesday, June 21, 2000
The News and Observer, Raleigh, NC, various dates
WRAL-TV, various dates