A teenage girl was murdered while trying to find help after her car broke down
On the evening of March 29, 1989, 18-year-old Amy Elizabeth Baker, a Caucasian female, was driving her blue 1970 Volkswagen Beetle southbound on Interstate 95 in Fairfax County, Virginia, after visiting family in Falls Church. Her car ran out of gas, forcing her to pull over near the Backlick Road exit ramp. Authorities believe she then left her vehicle to walk towards a nearby gas station for help. It was during this walk that she encountered her attacker.
Two days later, on March 31, after her family had reported her missing, her mother discovered her body in a wooded area near the exit ramp. An autopsy revealed that she had been sexually assaulted and strangled. Investigators found her personal belongings, including her purse and wallet, still inside her abandoned car, which had been towed from the roadside. The case remained a cold case for over three decades, despite ongoing efforts by detectives.
A significant breakthrough in the investigation came in 2021 when Fairfax County Police Department's Cold Case detectives submitted forensic evidence from the scene for DNA analysis. The resulting DNA profile was uploaded to the Virginia state database, which unexpectedly linked Amy Baker's murder to the 1986 unsolved homicide of Jacqueline Lard in Stafford County. This connection prompted a renewed and collaborative investigation between the two jurisdictions.
Utilizing forensic investigative genetic genealogy, authorities were able to identify a suspect in both murders. In March 2024, Elroy Neal Harrison, 65, of Stafford, was arrested. He was subsequently indicted by a grand jury and charged with the first-degree murder, abduction, and other charges related to the death of Jacqueline Lard. While forensic evidence has also linked Harrison to the murder of Amy Baker, charges in her case are still pending as of late 2025, awaiting action by the Fairfax County Office of the Commonwealth's Attorney. Harrison has since been sentenced to multiple life terms for the murder of Jacqueline Lard.
