{"id":183818,"date":"2024-03-07T03:12:51","date_gmt":"2024-03-06T21:42:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/dna-links-virginia-man-to-two-cold-case-murders-arrested-after-decades\/"},"modified":"2024-03-07T03:12:51","modified_gmt":"2024-03-06T21:42:51","slug":"dna-links-virginia-man-to-two-cold-case-murders-arrested-after-decades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/dna-links-virginia-man-to-two-cold-case-murders-arrested-after-decades\/","title":{"rendered":"DNA Links Virginia Man to Two Cold Case Murders – Arrested After Decades"},"content":{"rendered":"

DNA Evidence Leads to Arrest of Virginia Man in Connection with 1980s Cold Case Murders<\/strong><\/p>\n

Virginia Man Arrested After DNA Links Him to Cold Case Murders<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Virginia Man’s Arrest for Cold Case Murders<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Virginia man has been arrested after DNA has linked him with the cold case murders of two women who were killed in the 1980s, reports say.<\/p>\n

Arrest Made in Connection with Cold Case Murders in Northern Virginia<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Cold Cases in Stafford County from the 1980s<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Stafford County Sheriff\u2019s Office announced Tuesday that a man named Elroy Harrison, 65, has been arrested after DNA linked him with the cold case murders in the county.<\/p>\n

Stafford County Murders Linked to Elroy Harrison<\/strong><\/p>\n

DNA Links Elroy Harrison to Cold Case Murders<\/strong><\/p>\n

The victims of the two cold cases were from Stafford County and the murders occurred three years apart.<\/p>\n

The 1986 Murder of Jacqueline Lard<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cops said the first murder occurred in 1986 when 32-year-old Jacqueline Lard of Stafford County was last seen on Nov. 15, 1986, at the real estate office where she worked. The next morning, Lard’s coworkers found a crime scene at the office that the Stafford Police Department says indicated a “horrific struggle.”<\/p>\n

The 1989 Murder of Amy Baker<\/strong><\/p>\n

Police say the second murder occurred in March 1989, when 18-year-old Amy Baker disappeared while visiting family in Falls Church, Virginia, Fairfax County police said.<\/p>\n

Using DNA Evidence to Identify the Killer<\/strong><\/p>\n

Forensic evidence from both murders was collected and used to identify Baker and Lard’s alleged killer.<\/p>\n

Advancements in DNA Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2021, detectives with the Fairfax County Police Department’s cold case team submitted evidence from Baker’s death to DNA Labs International and a DNA profile was created and uploaded to Virginia’s state database, which allowed investigators to connect the two killings.<\/p>\n

Using Genetic Genealogy to Solve the Case<\/strong><\/p>\n

Detectives then used forensic genetic genealogy to identify the family name of a possible suspect, Stafford County Sheriff\u2019s Office said.<\/p>\n

Arrest and Indictment of Elroy Harrison<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Dec. 14, 2023, a family name for the suspect was identified and detectives followed up on the leads this technology created and ultimately obtained a search warrant for DNA from Stafford County resident Elroy Harrison, Stafford County Sheriff\u2019s Office said.<\/p>\n

Charges and Legal Proceedings<\/strong><\/p>\n

Harrison was indicted on Monday in connection with Lard\u2019s death by a Stafford County Grand Jury for the first-degree murder, abduction with the intent to defile, and aggravated malicious wounding of Jacqueline Lard, as well as breaking and entering with the intent to commit murder.<\/p>\n

Ongoing Investigation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Harrison has not yet been charged in relation to Baker’s murder, Fairfax County officials said, but an investigation is ongoing.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n

He was arrested at his Stafford County residence Tuesday and placed in the Rappahannock Regional Jail without bond. It is unknown if Harrison has entered a plea or obtained legal representation. Inside Edition Digital has reached out to the Stafford County Courts and Stafford County Commonwealth Attorney for more information and has not heard back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DNA Evidence Leads to Arrest of Virginia Man in Connection with 1980s Cold Case Murders Virginia Man Arrested After DNA Links Him to Cold Case Murders A Virginia Man’s Arrest for Cold Case Murders A Virginia man has been arrested after DNA has linked him with the cold case murders of two women who were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":183819,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4273,10,105],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/DNA-Links-Virginia-Man-to-Two-Cold-Case-Murders.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183818"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183818\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}