Investigators in Stafford County, Virginia, on Tuesday arrested a suspect in connection with two cold case murders from 1986 and 1989 after advances in DNA forensics led to his identification. .
The Stafford County Sheriff’s Office announced Monday that Elroy Harrison, 65, was charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping with intent to corrupt and aggravated serious bodily injury in the death of Jacqueline Lard, 32. did.
The sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post that Lard was last seen on Nov. 14, 1986, working at Mount Vernon Realty in the 300 block of Garrison Road.
That night, the office closed at 9pm, but Lard did not go home.
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Jacqueline Lard was murdered on November 14, 1986, and advances in DNA forensics allowed investigators to link 65-year-old Elroy Harrison to the crime. (Stafford County Sheriff’s Office)
The next morning, employees from other businesses in the area were preparing to open for the day when they discovered scenes at the real estate office that indicated some type of horrific struggle had taken place, the sheriff’s office said. .
Ms. Lard and her vehicle were missing from the scene, and sheriff’s office detectives, with assistance from the Virginia State Police Crime Scene Division and the FBI, processed the scene and collected blood and other evidence.
On November 16, 1986, two boys playing in the woods in Woodbridge, Virginia, discovered a body under a pile of discarded carpet. Stafford detectives also processed the scene, along with FBI and Prince William detectives, and the body was identified as Jacqueline Lard.
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On Tuesday, Elroy Harrison of Stafford County, Virginia, was arrested in connection with the cold case of Jacqueline Lard, who was murdered in 1986.
Her missing vehicle was found in Fairfax County on December 18, 1986, and investigators were also presented with additional evidence to process.
Investigators from various agencies involved investigated all clues, but were unable to identify the suspect, and the case remained unsolved.
As forensic genetic genealogy improved, Stafford County Sheriff’s Detectives Decatur Jr. and DK Wood jumped at the chance to use this advancement to potentially identify the killer.
Working with DNA phenotyping provider Parabon Nanolabs, Wood analyzed DNA found at the crime scene and found a link between the Lard murder and the unsolved 1989 Fairfax County murder of Amy Baker. It was found that there was a connection with the murder.
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Elroy Harrison of Stafford County was also implicated in the murder of Amy Baker, whose body was found on the side of Interstate 95 in March 1989. (Fairfax County Police Department)
Investigators from Stafford County and Fairfax County worked together to bring the murder suspect to justice and were able to release his name on December 14, 2023.
Following up on leads created by modern technology, investigators obtained a search warrant to obtain DNA from Harrison, and in February the Department of Forensic Sciences reported a DNA match.
Mr. Harrison was indicted by a Stafford County grand jury on Monday and arrested on Tuesday.
He has since been booked into the Rappahannock Regional Jail and is being held without bail.
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Fairfax County police are working with prosecutors to also establish charges against Harrison for Baker’s murder.
According to the Fairfax Police Department, Baker, 18, was last seen leaving a relative’s home in Falls Church on the night of March 29, 1989.
Her car was found on the side of Interstate 95 later that night. Amy’s body was discovered on March 31, 1989 in the woods off the same interstate.
