Cold Case Murder: Arrest Made In 1986 Killing Of Jaqueline Lard In Stafford Co.

STAFFORD, VA — With the help of DNA evidence, a suspect is in custody in connection with the 1986 killing of Stafford County resident Jaqueline Lard, according to the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office.

On Monday, Stafford County resident Elroy Harrison, 65, was indicted by a grand jury for the first-degree murder, abduction with the intent to defile, and aggravated malicious wounding of Lard, who was 40-years-old when she was killed.

Harrison was arrested at his Stafford County residence on Tuesday and placed in the Rappahannock Regional Jail without bond, the sheriff’s office said.

Meanwhile, the analysis of DNA linked Lord’s murder to the unsolved 1989 murder of Amy Baker in Fairfax County, according to the sheriff’s office.

Cold case detectives from the Fairfax County Police Department are working alongside the Fairfax County Office of the Commonwealth Attorney to seek charges against Harrison for Baker’s murder, officials said Tuesday.

In the case of Lard’s death, she was working at Mount Vernon Realty on Garrisonville Road on Nov. 14, 1986. She was last seen that evening at 9 p.m. as the business closed.

On the morning of Nov. 15, 1986, the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office said employees of other businesses in the area prepared to open for the day but “discovered a crime scene at the realty office, which indicated a horrific struggle.” Lard and her vehicle were both missing.

The following day, two juveniles were playing in a wooded area near Railroad Avenue in Woodbridge and discovered a body beneath a pile of discarded carpet. Police identified the body as Lard. Her missing vehicle was found abandoned in Fairfax County on Dec. 18, 1986.

As part of the investigation, the FBI created a task force combining the efforts of the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office, Prince William County Police Department, the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

DNA was extracted from the evidence, but repeated searches of the Virginia and National DNA Databanks via CODIS in addition to direct comparisons against submitted persons of interest and familial searches failed to identify a suspect.

After leads were exhausted, the investigation into Lard’s killing was moved to cold case status, the sheriff’s office said.

More recently, though, Stafford County Sheriff's Detective D.K. Wood explored forensic investigative genetic genealogy to help identify the killer, according to the sheriff's office.

Thirty-seven years later, on Dec. 14, 2023, a family name for Harrison was identified using DNA evidence. Detectives ultimately obtained a search warrant for DNA from Harrison. Last month, the Department of Forensic Science reported the DNA was a match.

“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 sheriff’s office said Tuesday.