Police in Stafford and Fairfax counties say they arrested a suspect in the slayings of 18-year-old Amy Baker and 4032-year-old Jaqueline Lord in 1989 and 1986, respectively.

Stafford County Sheriff’s Major Shawn Kimmitz credits the excellent work of detectives from both agencies, who used DNA evidence to identify a suspect.

On November 14, 1986, Lord, was working at Mount Vernon Realty in the 300 block of Garrisonville Road. She was last seen that evening at 9 p.m. as the business closed. Lord never made it home.

The next morning, employees of other businesses in the area prepared to open for the day and discovered a crime scene at the realty office, which indicated a struggle. Lord and her vehicle were both missing. Stafford County detectives, assisted by the Virginia State Police Crime Scene Unit and the FBI processed the scene and collected blood and other evidence.

The following day, two teenagers played in a wooded area off Route 1 at Railroad Avenue in Woodbridge, about 20 miles north of the realty office. They discovered a body beneath a pile of discarded carpet. Stafford detectives joined Prince William detectives and the FBI to process the scene and identified the deceased as Lord.

Lord’s missing vehicle was located abandoned in Fairfax County on December 18, 1986, leading to the recovery of additional evidence. Over the years, detectives from multiple federal and state agencies followed up on countless leads and conducted interviews, eliminating numerous suspects and persons of interest.

The FBI created a task force combining the efforts of the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office, Prince William County Police Department, the FBI, and the DEA. DNA was extracted from the evidence, but repeated searches of the Virginia and National DNA Databanks via CODIS, in addition to direct comparisons against submitted persons of interest and familial searches, failed to identify the killer. The leads were exhausted, and the investigation was moved to cold case status.

At the order of Stafford County Sheriff David Decatur, D.K. Wood explored a new technology, forensic investigative genetic genealogy, to help identify the killer.

Wood worked with Parabon NanoLabs, a company providing DNA phenotyping. The analysis of the DNA linked the Lord’s murder to the unsolved 1989 murder of Amy Baker in Fairfax County. A Stafford resident, Baker, ran out of gas while traveling on Interstate 95 and pulled off the highway at Backlick Road in Fairfax County.

Baker met her killer while walking toward a gas station. She was raped, assaulted, and left for dead in the woods.

On December 14, 2023, identified their suspect. Detectives followed up on the leads this technology created and ultimately obtained a search warrant for DNA from Stafford County residents. In February, the Department of Forensic Science reported that the DNA matched.

On March 4, Elroy Harrison, 65, was indicted by a Stafford County Grand Jury for first-degree murder, abduction with the intent to defile, aggravated malicious wounding of Lord, as well as breaking with the intent to commit murder.

He was arrested at his Stafford County home on March 5 and placed in the Rappahannock Regional Jail without bond. Cold Case detectives from the Fairfax County Police Department are working alongside the Fairfax County Office of the Commonwealth Attorney to seek charges against Harrison for the murder of Baker’s murder.

More as we have it.

The FBI Washington Field Office and Prince William County Police Department are renewing their efforts to gather information regarding the murder of G. Marisol Coca-Romero, who was fatally shot a decade ago at a convenience store in Woodbridge.

On this day in 2014, three unidentified men entered the store where Coca-Romero and her co-worker were working and opened fire, resulting in her death. Her co-worker was also injured in the incident and was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.

The incident occurred at Platanillos Grocery and Jewelry, located at 14342 Jefferson Davis Highway, around 9 p.m. Both victims, employees of the store, were shot during a robbery attempt. Despite the violence, nothing was reported stolen from the store.

Security camera footage from inside the store captured the moments leading up to the shooting, but the identities of the perpetrators remain unknown. Witnesses reported seeing three males entering the store before the gunshots rang out. The suspects, possibly on foot, fled the scene and have evaded capture since then.

In commemoration of the 10-year anniversary of Coca-Romero’s murder, authorities are urging anyone with information about the incident to come forward. Individuals can provide tips anonymously by calling 703-792-7000.

Prince William police: “July 2, 2007, 25-year-old RAHSAAN GREGORY MACK was found on the ground in front of 18140 Kilmer Ln., Triangle. He was reportedly on his way to the building to visit relatives. An autopsy revealed he died from gunshot wounds. Case # 07-114336 PWCPD Tipline: 703-792-7000”