Despite rumors, no arrests made in case of Lexington woman found dead in woods

Kyrstin Blackburn and Rachel Vinson shared a birthday — an outward symbol of their close bond to Vinson. For 37 years, Vinson has been Kyrstin's mother best friend. Kyrstin was like a daughter to her.

"I helped raise her," Vinson says. "We are completely devastated. It's so hard to try and wrap our head around this right now."

On Friday, Blackburn was found dead in a wooded area off Platt's Spring Road in Lexington. She was 20 years old.

To Vinson and others, Kyrstin was known by the nickname Star. Now Vinson is mourning that she's lost the light that was her Star.

Here's what we know about Blackburn's case.

• Blackburn hadn't been seen or heard from since 9 a.m. on May 28 according to a social media post by her mother. Blackburn's phone was cut off her mother said, posting, "This is very out of character for [Kyrstin] and the last 2 people she was with stories are not very credible." Her mother reported Blackburn missing and the Lexington County Sheriff's department opened a missing person case on Blackburn on May 29.
• Friends and family members put together search parties for Blackburn and handed out missing person flier. The flier said she was last seen at 923 Windy Wood Rd. which is between the towns of Pelion and Gilbert in unincorporated Lexington County. Authorities have not confirmed that this is where Blackburn was last seen alive.
• Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher identified a body found in the woods near the 7100 block of Platt Springs Road in Lexington County as Kyrstin Blackburn on June 1.
• Two people rumored to be connected with Blackburn being missing were arrested. But they were arrested on charges unrelated to Blackburn's death or missing person case. Lexington County Sheriff Department says no arrest have been made in connection with Blackburn's missing person case.
• The Sheriff's department announced on Friday, "We're looking into the circumstances surrounding [Blackburn's] death to determine if it was related to a criminal act or natural causes."
• An autopsy of Blackburn's body is being conducted June 2 and the Sheriff's department says much of their work depends on the results of the postmortem report. **Update. The preliminary autopsy findings have been released and more testing is being done.**
• Blackburn had the nickname Star because she was "a lively and bright young lady," family friend Rachel Vinson says. "She just lit up the room everywhere she went with [her] goofy little dances and smile ... "
• Blackburn had a tattoo on her forearm that said "It’s your paradise. It’s our war zone," possibly a reference to the song "Pillowtalk," by Zayn, a former member of the boy band One Direction.
• A crowd sourcing fund was started by a friend of Blackburn to "help [Kyrstin's family] as much as possible." $770 dollar has been raised.
  
  

This story was originally published June 2, 2018 at 1:56 PM with the headline "Despite rumors, no arrests made in case of Lexington woman found dead in woods."