Victim Amy Baker. Credit: FCPD
After more than three decades, the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office has arrested Elroy Neal Harrison, 65, of Stafford and charged him with the 1986 murder of Jacqueline Lard, 40 of Stafford. Forensic evidence has linked the same suspect to a homicide that occurred in Fairfax County in 1989.
On March 29, 1989, 18-year-old Amy Baker, of Stafford was visiting family in Falls Church. Amy started her commute back to Stafford County at 8:30 p.m. but never made it home.
Around 9:55 p.m. that same night, a Virginia State Trooper discovered Baker’s vehicle unoccupied by the roadside. The next morning, seeing the vehicle in the same spot, the trooper, presuming it abandoned, had it towed. Following Baker’s failure to return home, her family reported her missing.
Upon learning of her daughter’s car being towed, Baker’s mother located and searched it, finding her belongings still inside. On March 31, the family searched the area where the car had broken down and discovered Baker’s body in a wooded area near the exit ramp from I-95 to Backlick Road in Springfield. Detectives initiated an investigation, determining that Baker’s car had run out of gas on the exit ramp.
They believe she left her vehicle to seek help at the nearest gas station, encountering the suspect who subsequently fatally strangled her. Forensic evidence was recovered from the scene.
In 2021, Fairfax County Police Department’s Cold Case detectives submitted their evidence to DNA Labs International, resulting in the development of a DNA profile. Uploading this profile to the Virginia state database revealed a link between Baker’s death and the ongoing homicide investigation of Jacqueline Lard in Stafford County.
Utilizing Parabon NanoLabs and the Virginia State Police’s Unsolved Violent Crimes and Cold Cases Analytical Support Team, funded by a National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative grant, detectives analyzed genetic genealogy, leading to the identification of Elroy Neal Harrison, 65, of Stafford as the suspect.
For further details on Stafford County’s case and their updates, please refer to the provided link here.
Further updates regarding the Amy Baker case are expected in the future.
Anyone with additional information regarding this case is encouraged to call our Major Crimes Bureau at 703-246-7800, option 2. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Solvers by phone – (703)246-4676, and by web HERE. Download the ‘P3 Tips’ App “Fairfax Co Crime Solvers”. Anonymous tipsters are eligible for cash rewards. Please leave contact information if you wish for a detective to follow up with you.
Republished courtesy of Fairfax County Police Department.