Jacqueline Lard; Detective D.K. Wood escorting Elroy Harrison after his arrest.Photo:Office of Stafford County Sheriff Facebook (2)
Office of Stafford County Sheriff Facebook (2)
A Virginia man has been arrested in connection to a 1986 cold case murder, and DNA has also linked him to another murder from the ’80s, police revealed on Tuesday.
The Stafford County Sheriff’s Officeshared this weekthat a suspect has been arrested in the murder of Jacqueline Lard — a 40-year-old woman who was discovered underneath a discarded carpet in a wooded area in Woodbridge on Nov. 16, 1986. Using DNA evidence, the same suspect has also been linked to the 1989 murder of Amy Baker — another local woman who was discovered dead in a wooded area, police announced. Harrison has not been charged in relation to Baker’s murder.
He was arrested the following day and is being held in Rappahannock Regional Jail without bond.
According tobooking informationfrom the jail, Harrison was booked shortly after 2 p.m. local time on Tuesday and the “offense date” on all charges matches with the date of Lard’s killing. It is unclear if Harrison has acquired legal representation.
Jacqueline Lard.Office of Stafford County Sheriff Facebook
Office of Stafford County Sheriff Facebook
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jacqueline’s and Amy’s family and friends and we hope this arrest can bring them some peace,” the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office shared in a statement.
“Thank you to Detective [D.K.] Wood and all the law enforcement and laboratory efforts that made this arrest possible.”
Baker was 18 at the time of her death, per local ABC affiliateWJLA.
“This meticulous collection of evidence would ultimately provide the suspect’s identification 37 years later,” the sheriff’s office wrote.
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Detective D.K. Wood escorting Elroy Harrison after his arrest.Office of Stafford County Sheriff Facebook
According to the sheriff’s office, Detective D.K. Wood later worked with Parabon NanoLabs as they used forensic investigative genetic genealogy to link DNA from the Lard murder to DNA connected to the murder of Baker.
The DNA phenotyping brought detectives to a family name on Dec. 14, 2023, and after a search warrant to obtain DNA from Harrison, the Department of Forensic Science determined it to be a match, per the office.
Harrison has since been arrested in connection with the Lard murder, as Fairfax County Police Department cold case detectives are working with the Fairfax County Office of the Commonwealth Attorney to charge him with the Baker murder.
source: people.com
